Boston City Hall: Productivity FAIL

So much for productivity in the workplace….employees of the City of Boston are being paid with tax dollars to go on Facebook, Twitter and admittedly, do nothing.

Bored Boston government workers are goofing off on Facebook and other popular social networking sites on taxpayer time, boasting of napping during meetings, playing “Mafia Wars,” creating anagrams of their names and planning Halloween costumes.

The poster girl for the on-the-clock cyber-slacking is Amy Derjue, who earns $39,000 a year as Boston City Council President Michael Ross’ communications director.

The former Boston magazine blogger regularly updates her personal status on Facebook and Twitter throughout the work day, brazenly joking to her online pals about snoozing at a hearing, writing snarky comments about the reality TV show “Jon & Kate Plus 8,” opining on an article about Boston being one of the best cities to meet guys and babbling about her Halloween wig.

“Amy Derjue is going to sit in the Council meeting and nap,” she wrote on Facebook at 11:49 a.m. last Wednesday. The next day, she spent the morning complaining about her chilly City Hall cubicle on Twitter. “Somebody bring me a hot coffee and fluffy sweater, please,” she wrote at 9:32 a.m.

Another workday posting was a link to a cartoon “menstrual flow chart,” to which she commented, “Look at the uterus. It is so cute.” And she was apparently eager to punch out that day, writing at 4:40 p.m.: “20 minutes and I am OUT. Gone. No longer present. Do not contact unless you want to drink, shop, or watch sporting events.”

Really? Must be nice to be communications director at Boston City Hall…goof off all day, and leave early.

Ross said one of the reasons he hired Derjue was to “broaden” his social networking and develop a personality for his office.

“I like what Amy’s doing,” said Ross, adding he encourages Derjue to use Facebook and Twitter to spread his message to constituents. “It’s not so that she’s fritting away her time. . . . She doesn’t have time to waste.”

It think Mr. Ross has a bit of disconnect here. Do you want constituents to know that their tax dollars are being wasted on employees like Ms. Derjue to leave work and go shopping or hit the bars? I certainly wouldn’t. If you want her to use Facebook and Twitter, and other social networking sites to connect with constituents, then Facebook status updates and Twitter tweets would perhaps look like, “City Council President Michael Ross is in a meeting,” or “Boston City Council wishes you a Happy Thanksgiving,” or “We launched our official iPhone app, Citizen Connect,” not links to xkcd, failblog, Texts From Last Night or Graph Jam (to name a few).

In an economic climate that has resulted in fewer services and higher taxes, how can you justify this poor use of tax dollars? You can’t.

This kind of behavior would be completely unacceptable in the private sector, and would be grounds for being dismissed.

iBoston

As an iPhone user, I was interested to see that the city of Boston is creating their own iPhone application.

The city of Boston is set to launch an official iPhone application for residents to file complaints about “neighborhood nuisances–nasty potholes, graffiti-stained walls, blown street lights,” according to The Boston Globe.

Called Citizen Connect, the app will let Bostonians send pictures and tips right to City Hall.

The app was built with the help of a New Hampshire mobile development firm called Connected Bits.

Citizen Connect has been submitted to Apple but hasn’t made it into the iTunes App Store just yet. When it does, it will be free.

The Boston Globe said Citizen Connect is the first app of its kind, but other cities have also been turning to new technology to make the minutiae of municipal government run more smoothly. New York’s 311 nonemergency hotline for residents now has a presence on Skype and Twitter. New York also now accepts photo and video submissions for 911 and 311.

But the iPhone app has a few advantages. Per the Globe: “The application, which will be free to download from Apple, will allow residents to use the Global Positioning System function on their iPhones to pinpoint the precise location of the problem for City Hall. After submitting a complaint, users will get a tracking number, so they can pester city officials if the problem persists.” Ooh! Pestering city officials sounds like fun!

In concept, it’s a very interesting idea, and I look forward to testing it out upon it’s release in the App Store. I look forward to taking pictures of tax dollars being wasted by city workers, and, of course, a picture of the State House to let someone know that Governor Patrick and all the other Democrats need their pipes cleaned.