Low Morale Might Be The Least Of City Hall's Problems

 

I do my best to stay away from entering the Code Enforcement Office on Washington Street if only because the workers there tend to act like thugs.  They just don't seem to want to be bothered, and they tend to be unfriendly.  Even the attire the workers can be seen in is often, well.... how can I best describe it?  How about inappropriate?  How about unprofessional?  Shocking? Off-putting? At times frightening, even?  How about unacceptable in any other city?

Yesterday, after weeks of putting up with the contractor working on the Pocketbook factory failing to clear their gravel stones that constantly wind up in the street from the end of Prospect Street well into 6th Street, I entered the CEO offices reluctantly to file a complaint about the stones.  After slamming closed the open door that I had just knocked on (the door with the "Please knock and go to service window" sign on it) and telling me, "Don't knock on my door," the part-time CEO clerk approached me at the service window.  He wore a black T-shirt (possibly long sleeve) with small white letters at the top that read: FERNANDINA, FL.  

"Is this the Hudson Code Enforcement Office, or am I in Florida?" I asked him, with just the slightest hint of snarkiness.  

"What do you want, William?" was his only response (the level of humor there is pretty low, too!).

When the civil servant turned around to get a clipboard, this is what was facing me:

While Craig Haigh was not in his office at the time, apparently he is perfectly fine with this type of attire on his workers at any and all times of the day, whether they are in his offices or out keeping the city from looking like shit, possibly even interacting with residents.

One wonders if Kamal Johnson is okay with his city workers dressed in such inappropriate and despicable attire, too.  (Not that he would know, or care to know, what goes on or doesn't over on Washington Street at the CEO offices.)

I can tell you two things for sure.  First, a woman would never, ever feel comfortable working at Code Enforcement, especially if it meant being the clerk, stuck in that office all day and not being able to get outside to do actual code enforcement.  Second, I can't imagine that most men would want to work there either, including those who are code compliance professionals and especially those who know inappropriate and unprofessional work attire when they see it.