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Article published Aug 18, 2004
DMV, Treasury job swap hones engines of
cooperation
ROBERT W. DALTON
Staff
Writer
Because of their jobs, Tracey Miller and Christie Scott
often talk on the telephone. But they never met face-to-face until last
week.Scott and her fellow employees in the Spartanburg County Treasurer's Office
spent the week with Miller and her co-workers at the Department of Motor
Vehicles Office on Fairforest Road. This week, Miller and company are learning
how things work in the Treasurer's Office.The job swap is an experiment aimed at
improving service at the oft-maligned DMV. If it's successful in Spartanburg,
DMV Executive Director Marcia Adams said it could be implemented
statewide."We're trying to improve cooperation between agencies because we're
all serving the same customer," Adams said. "We don't want anyone to be sent
back and forth between the two offices."County Treasurer Oren L. Brady III said
the swap was first discussed more than a year ago. Brady said he supported the
idea because allowing each agency to see what the other deals with could improve
efficiency."Communication is the key," Brady said. "When you're seeing instead
of talking, it makes it easier to understand."Deputy Treasurer Glenda Wright
said it was beneficial to see what DMV employees see when they look at
information transmitted from the Treasurer's Office. She said there were no
major surprises during her time at DMV lastweek, but employees discovered some
technical issues that need to be resolved."We looked at our postmark dates and
how they effect penalties for some taxpayers," Wright said. "We'll be able to
alleviate some unnecessary penalties once we get our (computer) screens
communicating properly."Wright also said meeting the DMV employees helped
personalize the process."Now instead of just calling a name or a number, you're
calling a person," she said.Scott spent Tuesday morning in front of a computer
giving Miller, Catherine McFalls and Susan Herbert a glimpse at some of the
issues she deals with on a daily basis. Herbert said the newly acquired
knowledge could help her save someone some time."If I understand what she's
doing, it's easier for me to pick up the phone and try to work something out for
the customer," Herbert said.That, Adams said, is the name of the game."We want
to focus on the customer," she said. "They have to come to us and we want to
make it as pleasant as possible."Robert W. Dalton can be reached at 562-7274 or
bob.dalton@shj.com.