Yoon proposes extended City Hall hours
Offices would stay open Wednesdays
August 19, 2009
By: Martin Finucane
Sam Yoon, the Boston councilor at large who is running for mayor, proposed yesterday to extend the hours at City Hall one evening a week.
Yoon is proposing that City Hall offices that provide direct services to residents stay open until 8:30 p.m. Wednesdays. To compensate, the offices would close early Fridays, at 2:30 p.m.
He said his proposal was intended to make city government more customer-friendly, a regular theme in his campaign. He noted that some offices, including that of the city parking clerk, close at 4:30 p.m., which can make it difficult for people who work days.
“A lot of what we do is just customer service, so we should be thinking about how we can treat our customers better,’’ Yoon said. “If we’re doing our job right, we should be asking about how customers feel about the services we provide.’’
He said the proposal to keep city offices open later would not cost anything, because of the shorter hours on Fridays.
Dot Joyce, a spokeswoman for Mayor Thomas M. Menino, said: “Those would be issues that we would certainly look at. However, those folks need to be paid.’’
She also questioned the idea of closing offices early on Fridays, saying that a person who got his or her car booted on Friday might have to wait all weekend to get the car freed if City Hall offices closed early on Friday.
Joyce said the city was trying to move most services online, where they would be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Yoon, Menino, Councilor at Large Michael F. Flaherty Jr., and South End businessman Kevin McCrea will face off in a preliminary election on Sept. 22. The candidates are scheduled to meet for their first debate a week from today.
