Rep. Scharf perfect quote on agency call program fail

State Representative Anna Scharf makes great statement on agency failed phone delays
By Taxpayers Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com

Republican lawmakers have called on the Oregon Governor to take action on extended call delays (sometimes months!) from the Oregon Department of Employment.   The Department is not even answering calls on Mondays, it is so bad.

During a hearing, Oregon State Representative Anna Scharf grilled the Director of the Oregon Employment Department. KATU-2 News reported on State Representative Anna Scharf’s exchange;

“She noted the phone calls started around the time the department rolled out a new software called Frances and complained that the software was not doing a good enough job at keeping claimants informed on the status of their claims so that they would not have to call in.”We must have bought a mediocre software program, because I can buy a Domino’s pizza on my phone, and I can watch them putting the toppings on it and know exactly when it is going to hit my door,” she said. “I can’t figure out why Frances [new call system] can’t allow tech savvy applicants to login and look and say, ‘Oh, they are putting pepperoni on my claim, it will be here on Wednesday at 3 o’clock.'”

Read more on the story here.

As stated, the Employment Department is planning to be closed on Mondays

The Taxpayers Association previously featured the Oregon Employment Department and three other agency mistakes…

Even as this story made the news this weekend, we see another call delay fiasco when Oregonian columnist, Steve Duin, tried to call the local City revenue office.

Here is what he said “The letter then directed people with questions to call the city at 503-865-4748. When I dialed that number Tuesday morning, I was put on hold and told I was 106th on the waiting list… “and many called the Portland Revenue Office to learn more – only to face hold times of two hours or more.”

Also, Governing magazine featured Oregon’s failure to handle calls with the Paid Leave program.

Clearly, this is a problem across governmental bodies in Oregon.

We commend Oregon State Representative Anna Scharf and her observations on why taxpayers cannot receive timely phone service about their claims during a critical time of unemployment.