Hunting Down and Killing Bad Bureaucrats

Minor, specific, targeted rant.

99% of bureaucrats give the other 1% a bad name... or something like that. As I've tried to say, there are a good contingent of us pencil pushers out there who are committed to, if not upholding the law, avoiding being captured on camera violating the law [which is, of course, Rule #2]. There are also a lot of bad bureaucrats who are at it for the petty power mongering, the secured pensions, or because they can't be employed somewhere else. Those of us in the 1% who are actually trying to give a damn get pretty frustrated with the other 99% sometimes.

Fortunately, at THE BUREAUCRACY we are proud to say that we are staffed with over 80% of the 1%.... which means that somewhere in Western Pennsylvania there's a bureaucracy with a dearth of good bureaucrats.

My limited reasearch indicates that it is a certain Public Authority X in Pittsburgh.

I got into a conversation with a contractor friend the other day about a job he was doing in the City of Pittsburgh, where he went to get a necessary permit from Authority X to do construction, only to be turned down. Authority X said that Contractor needed to go do Ludicrous Process Y in order to get the permit done. Contractor got his lawyer and politely camped out at Authority X's office demanding to see where in their regulations Ludicrous Process Y was required. Authority X couldn't find anything written down in their Great Big Book of Bureaucratic Rules. Contractor went back down to resume camping and demanded that Authority X provide a written letter confirming that Ludicrous Process Y was not required. Grudgingly, and apparently under threat of lawsuit, they acquiesced.

And I only relay this story because those of you that have paid attention will remember that I've had a similar problem with Authority X before. So I'm a bit...erm, how do you say... angry at them. The stories that I hear from other similarly angry parties lead me to believe that there is a systemic problem going on at Authority X. [Notice that I'm not violating Rule #5, people.]

So, whoever is selected as Mayor (Bob O'Connor, Michael Lamb, Bill Peduto, Louis Kendrick, Les Ludwig, Daniel F. Repovz, Gary W. Henderson, and Joe Weinroth THIS MEANS YOU!), should undertake an Engineering Audit of Authority X to make sure that their rules and regulations are WRITTEN DOWN and ON THE BOOKS. That would be most helpful and appreciative to those who are trying to do construction in your City.

And when you have these regs written down... please provide me a copy so I know what the rules are. I can't STAND it when people violate Rule #1... it makes me all cranky and hungry.

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Follow up from Yesterday: So... Jeff Habay's attorney is Jim Ecker, huh? Jim gets a lot of tough clients, it seems.