Let's let Bartell's run the Department of Licensing

Foreword

On the way home from the state Department of Licensing office in South Seattle, we heard a snappy Bartell's jingle in which a young couple talks about how they never have to wait in line and the store advertises its rich employee-to-customer ratio.

That happy state was so different from what we had just experienced that I thought, "Why doesn't the state of Washington hire this local drug store chain to renew driver's licenses and do other clerical Department of Licensing tasks?"

Other heretical thoughts crossed my mind, like, "I wonder what the state employees we just experienced are paid compared to the nice clerks at Bartell's?"

The Story

I had picked up my daughter, with her expired driver's license, at Sea-Tac Airport and we went to the DOL location on Rainier Avenue South because it was on the way home.

This station is a large, flourescent-lit room with rows of plastic chairs. Some 30 citizens were patiently waiting.

Only one of the seven license windows had a person working there. A small sign off to the side said, "We are short staffed today and thank you for your patience."

There was an electronic screen showing "number being served," but no place to take a number.

Within a three-sided enclosure in the center was a clerk rolling in a wheeled office chair between television monitors. He was "customer service," dealing with all kinds of initial questions — License revoked? Out of state? — and handing out numbers when one reached the head of his line.

We were given No. 31 and the screen showed No. 26 being served. When we asked how long, he came over, called up a display, studied a matrix and announced that each renewal took four minutes, so it would be 20 minutes.

A further detail: The one operating window displayed No. 280, which didn't jibe with our double digits. Apparently, this was for more complex problems than simple renewal, which explained the waiting crowd. So, where was the line for just plain renewals?

We fidgeted as 10 minutes went by and a mechanical voice over speakers said, "No. 281 is now being served at Window 6."

Where, we wondered, are the simple renewals being done?

Suddenly, there was no line before Mr. Customer Service, so he went over to his station at Window 4, taking a moment to activate the computer there. The mechanical voice called out, "No. 26 is now being served at Window 4."

No one came forward, so we hoped to speedily advance. When No. 27 was called, a person appeared and was processed, after which he moved to a set of chairs in front of Window 6. We noticed that the man at Window 6 does renewal photos, but only when there is gap between people with high numbers at his desk.

A line had formed at customer service, so Mr. Customer Service closed Window 4, having done just one renewal before taking up his original post.

Clearly, the computer matrix, with its four-minute service time, was an unreliable indicator of wait time.

We decided to leave, but not before asking the central figure why he stopped doing renewals. "These people require customer service," he replied.

Bartell's would do so much better.

Postscript

The next day (a Saturday) my daughter went to the DOL office in Greenwood just as it opened. There was the same size crowd as at Rainier Avenue South site the day before, but what a difference.

A "take a number" machine stood just inside the door, several windows were in operation, everyone was courteous and efficient, and her mission was accomplished in less than a half hour.

So, citizens of our North End had Bartell's-style DOL service, but at least on that Friday, South End residents were not so fortunate.

All Seattle area citizens should be served equally well, and the state should ensure its DOL offices are provided adequate resources and sufficient staff, as any customer-friendly business would.

Chris Bayley is the former King County prosecuting attorney and currently chairman of Stewardship Partners, an environmental group based in Seattle.