Joel Silverman, BMV commissar, is taking a note from casino design. The BMV has adopted a rule removing all clocks from customers’ views. “This will help alleviate additional stress from customers who are constantly watching the clock.” That’s what the text of the rule says. Silverman went out of his way, apparently, to take a shot at his employees.
The reason for the rule, Silverman said, is “the tendency of government employees to be clock-watchers.”
He doesn’t want employees to be ready to go home, he said, just as 10 customers come in the door at 5 p.m.
Maybe he’s just trying to avoid any DST/time zone issues. Call me crazy, but I think the bulk of clock-watching customers are going to have their own watch. For that matter, clock-watching employees will probably want a watch that matches their spiffy new Silverman-mandated attire (khakis with a dark blue suit.)
While I tend to like Mr. Silverman’s autocratic ways when it comes to dealing with the legislature, it seems he is similarly heavy handed when it comes to dealing with his employees. Maybe not, I only have the newspaper articles I’ve read to go by. Maybe he’s a Prince when the reporters aren’t around.
(The reason I tend to approve of his approach to BMV branch cuts is that the legislature is simply not going to eliminate unnecessary branches in a rational manner. Left to the legislature, either nothing will get done or the branches will get reduced according to the political clout of their representatives. Therefore, Mr. Silverman’s approach makes sense, provided he’s even-handedly applying criteria that are well considered.)
Leave a Reply