Yoon Calls for “Prime-Time Government”
Offers Plan for New Business Hours for City Hall, Council
August 18, 2009
BOSTON – City Councilor-at-Large and mayoral candidate Sam Yoon offered a plan for extending business hours at City Hall at least once a week by shifting the hours to offer later services on Wednesdays and close earlier on Fridays.
“We should be doing government business in prime-time hours,” said Yoon. “This is your City Hall, and it should be open and accessible beyond the work day. The current hours speak to a mentality of treating taxpayers as an afterthought, and that’s wrong. Boston’s residents are our customers and our bosses. We should treat them that way.”
City Hall closes to the public at 5:30 p.m. on weekdays. Some offices, like that of the Parking Clerk, close at 4:30 p.m. Under Yoon’s proposal, City Hall would stay open until 8:30 p.m. on Wednesdays and close at 2:30 p.m. on Fridays. Regular City Council meetings on Wednesday would move from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Yoon said a simple shift is one of the most appealing options to expand access to City Hall services, but the decision should be based on data.
“This is exactly the kind of performance-based management we don’t have in Boston,” said Yoon. “If we have data on consumer demand for city services, we will know exactly when and where we need staffing. This approach is cost effective for the city and customer friendly for residents, but the Mayor has shown no interest in doing it.”
Neighboring cities and towns have similar schedules. Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Dedham, Newton, Somerville, and Watertown have arranged their employee schedules to keep municipal services open at least one evening a week.
Yoon spoke on the issue last week in a video on the new YoonTube channel on his campaign website.
“City Hall is not the prettiest building in the world, and often it’s not the most welcoming,” said Yoon in the video, speaking in front of City Hall. “When you come in here, you should feel this is your City Hall and that you’re welcome to do business with us.”
