Opinion: Wrecking Our Government Services | Meir Bergman

The New Jersey Department of Motor Vehicles Announced that the Lakewood MVC location, along with several other locations around New Jersey, will be by appointment only beginning November 2nd. 

Some people seem to think this is a good thing – they can simply go online and book an appointment, saving them from standing on line outside the DMV for hours on end. Well, it might keep you from standing in a line, but it can very well leave you without any services, too.

According to my calculations and by reviewing the appointment schedules online, by the state forcing the MVC to switch to by appointment only, they will be servicing hundreds of less customers per week. So, for the supposed convenience of making appointments, we won’t be serviced at all. So with services already backed up because of Covid, the state has decided that they will back it up even further by allowing fewer people to be serviced each week. Just incredibly stupid.

This insane decision is especially bad for people in Lakewood, which has a large Ultra-Orthodox and Hispanic population, many of whom don’t have reliable access to the internet. So many of the people who this move is supposed to be helping will just be hurt further. It’s an almost criminally-incompetent decision.

Once we’re at it, how about we point our another ridiculous move the state MVC did. We used to be able to take care of licenses, titles, and registration in one location – the Lakewood MVC office. But now the geniuses higher up in the department changed that, only allowing Lakewood to take care of titles and registration. If you need a license you have to go to Toms River. What sort of buffoonery is that? People need all these services done, so why not allow it? If it smacks of incompetence to you, it’s because it is incompetent.

We already know that the Department of Motor Vehicles completely messed up their response to coronavirus and led to mass frustration and confusion. Now their attempts to make it better will only backfire on the very people they supposedly want to help.

So, let’s say what has to be said. Department of Motor Vehicles Chief Administrator Sue Fulton has to go. I don’t know why she hasn’t been canned by Governor Murphy until now, but it’s about time. We cannot have someone who is clearly in over their heads being in charge of a department on which people need to work smoothly and efficiently. Enough is enough.

 

 

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10 COMMENTS

  1. Take a chill! This is not life threatening or earth shattering. Personally I think this is a much better Idea than having to get up early, make 2 trips and still have to wait.

  2. The worst run government bureaucracy in every state is moter vehicles, the service is the worst, the employees are horrible, now it is just worse.

  3. Last month when I HAD to go to DMV, I drove 30 minutes (each way) to the Manahawkin office. In and out in 20 minutes, lovely people. Well worth the drive.

  4. My drivers license is expiring soon , I mailed in my renewal with a $24 check nearly a month ago, the $24 check was cashed and cleared 3 weeks ago and I still did not receive my new license by mail; so I figure after my license expires I’ll print a copy of the cashed check and put it with my expired drivers license and drive like that; but now with this new policy if my license doesn’t show up within the next 2 days I’ll make an appointment.

  5. The appointments mean people will no longer wait hours to get in- to me, this is a big improvement.

    COVID has created many tragedies. Let’s focus on relieving the suffering, rather than focus on inconveniences.

  6. I think the point of the article which wasn’t mentioned is that if the government can’t figure out how to run a mvc/dmv office how can we trust them running the department of health or department of education?
    It’s not rocket science to run a motor vehicle office!

Comments are closed.