4 ms·
There's a simple (but not easy) fix to this. After 30 days of no movement, permits are issued automatically and any fees paid are returned out of that departmen
by pc86 2y ago
There's a simple (but not easy) fix to this. After 30 days of no movement, permits are issued automatically and any fees paid are returned out of that department's budget, regardless of where the permit fees actually go.
The default response to government inaction is typically a) the citizen can't do whatever thing they're trying to do without violating the law, and b) nothing bad happens to the bureaucrats not doing their jobs. If those two things inverted you'd see government become more efficient overnight.
- asah 2y agoI like that but alas, bureaucrats will optimize this to happen frequently then use this to justify more budget.
- mensetmanusman 2y agoYes, and if you tie it to their paycheck, you might get more action.
- pc86 2y agoI think this has been tried before and there are issues with Constitutionality, qualified immunity, etc. but I am not an attorney. Better to make sure the penalties stay at the official level, but also to make sure the people in these jobs are elected and not appointed so there is real accountability.
- immibis 2y agoElections do such a good job of accountability...
- bombcar 2y agoElections suffer from the bobcat problem - if something like a permit is only pulled five times in your life, you'll rarely, if ever, be affected. But those who are may go through hell, and yet the approval rating remains high. https://xkcd.com/325/ https://xkcd.com/325/ - "You can do this one in every 30 times and still have 97% positive feedback."
- pc86 2y agoThey are certainly more accountable than someone appointed by a politician. If you have a real issue with an elected official they're at least somewhat incentivized to listen to you. This is especially true at the level we're talking about - local government where they're dealing with constituents dozens of times a day every day. These elections are decided by a few hundred people at most - often by a few dozen. Yes it falls apart when you start talking about US Senators and the like but I'd argue that's a problem of scale and not a failing of the electoral model generally.
- thmsths 2y agoI won't comment on the specific numbers or enforcement mechanisms. But I strongly agree that we need reasonable SLAs for the government. My only worry would be how to deal with abuse.