I read last week’s letter about DMV “bureaucrats” who have “no motivation – zero – to serve customers” with great interest. After all, I’m the bureaucrat in charge of Jeffco’s DMV.
To the author: I’m sorry you had a bad experience. We failed to inform you what we’re doing and why. So please allow me to do that now.
When I was elected two years ago, our team began a dramatic transformation to bring everyone’s least favorite government agency into the 21st century. All of our staff, including those frontline workers you observed, have been hyper-motivated to get it done. Here’s what we’ve accomplished:
Expanded online options, increasing e-service use by 60% last year. Nearly half of our customers now complete DMV business wherever and whenever they like. Installed grocery store renewal kiosks that 40,000 customers used last year. Launched a live chat for faster remote service. We have asked all 46,000 people who used it for feedback – 95% gave it rave reviews. Switched to appointment-only to control crowds during COVID, which has been a runaway success operationally and with customers. It allows us to have some frontline staff processing remote work and answering chats, as you observed, while still serving thousands of customers in-person each day with 0-minute(!) wait time. We have asked every recent in-person customer for feedback – 90% gave five stars. Here’s one review (public on Google, from the Arvada office you visited): “Holy Cow! I have never had such a GREAT experience at DMV before. COVID changed policy of appointment only should remain forever! I was in and out in 10 minutes.”
There’s no question we still have room to improve, and we won’t stop trying. It’s why we ask every customer we serve for feedback. This team is motivated, and we’re here to serve.
George Stern is the elected Clerk and Recorder for Jefferson County.