The citizens of Greensboro dodged a bullet on Tuesday, March 16, courtesy of the Greensboro City Council.
Following a unanimous vote of the City Council, calls to the Greensboro Water Resources Department will not be answered by someone in Costa Rica.
Water Resources Department Director Mike Borchers presented a proposal to the City Council to have the water department’s call center “outsourced” to the CRG Corporation at a cost of about $300,000 year.
Borchers offered some of the advantages of having the call center out sourced – cost was one. But he also noted that when the water department has emergencies, such as a recent major waterline break, that the call center gets overwhelmed. He said that if the call center were outsourced CRG could provide sufficient lines for calls to get answered.
Borchers noted that if the water department call center went down due to a weather event or other emergency that they had no backup, while the CRG call center did have a backup call center that could take over. He also said that it was becoming more common place, and Charlotte, Winston-Salem and Guilford County had all outsourced call centers.
Mayor Nancy Vaughan said, “I have a problem outsourcing customer service.” Vaughan said she would rather see the city’s customer service personnel beefed up.
Councilmember Michelle Kennedy also noted that “call centers are notoriously low wage employers.” And she said that she was also concerned about the quality of the customer service.
Councilmember Sharon Hightower expressed concern over the diversity of the workforce at the call center.
It was left to Councilmember Marikay Abuzuaiter to ask the key question: “Where is this call center located?” Borchers said the CRG was headquartered in High Point but the actual call center would be in Costa Rica.
If there were any undecideds on the City Council before that statement, there were not any after. The idea of having to explain to constituents why a call to the Greensboro Water Resources Department was being answered by someone in Costa Rica was a bridge too far for this City Council.
It was odd that a proposal from staff that was so unpopular with the City Council ever made it to on a City Council agenda. In the past, this kind of proposal would have been floated out in a City Council work session. The council would have discussed the proposal long before it got to the point of approving a contract for $870,000. In this case, Borchers would have been told “no way” by the City Council long before the proposal went through the request for proposals and contract negotiating process.
But with only one City Council business meeting a month and infrequent, hastily held work sessions, the city staff is left with few avenues to communicate with the City Council other than at that one business meeting a month.
Mandate Mayor against outsourcing for the city? What about funding and outsourcing control of Downtown with former councilmember Zack and DGI? What about outsourcing homeless services to nonprofit run by a council member? What about outsourcing pretrial intervention services or crime preventing counceling services provided by nonprofit run by yet another councilmember.
So Costa Rica gets no love but local political class laughs.
There is no measure, for this level of stupid in Greensboro.
Council woman Hightower had to throw race into the discussion wow that’s a shocker I’m sure it was because the call center was in Costa Rica and she was concerned there would be no white people answering the phones
Hightower only sees in black and ain’t black. Most of us call that racism, but nowadays that’s a broad term to describe anyone who disagrees with a Democrat.
Outsource management of the water resources department. What they have now sounds like Beavis & Butthead @ the Hoover Dam. I mean dam, Costa Rica? Really? Where’s the accountability in that?
Mr. Hammer,
Good morning and I hope this note finds you and your family well. Thank you for covering this story and I like your reference to a “bridge too far.” It was a big ask and City Council shared some very good points that our department needs to consider so we can provide the highest level of customer service to our residents. I believe we certainly can do that by looking at how we can strategically partner with the Contact Center.
It was a valuable learning opportunity for me in how I should always keep the needs and best interests of our customers front and center. Adrian Rogers has a quote that comes to mind. He said “when you get what you want you don’t always want what you get.” Glad I didn’t get what I wanted. Stay safe and thank you for your service to our community!
Sincerely,
Mike Borchers
Maybe Water Resources Department Director Mike Borchers should be required to answer the phone for 90 minutes a day and spend the rest of his time solving the problems he hears that tie up the phone lines in the first place.
Or maybe he’s looking to become an expatriate and relocating to Cost Rica himself.
This would have been another reason to raise water rates!
Mr. Borchers,
As a resident of North Carolina, tasked with providing clear clean water to hundreds of thousands of people that ultimately pay your salary I find it unconscionable that you even considered turning customer service over to a company specializing in low wage off shore services. Taking jobs from local taxpayers and sending them to Costa Rica furthers the unemployment in our community and speaks poorly to the talents of local taxpayers.
Shame on you!
Also “American Believer”:
You need to lower my taxes while increasing the cost of operation of services that are paid for by taxes because ‘Merikkka!
No Pal, You totally missed the point. We want them to eliminate services to pay for the stuff! Printing money and appointing trannys to cabinet positions obviously isn’t doing anything to help matters.
Also “American Believer”:
Under no circumstances should tax dollars be used until we resolve our inflating debt, but may my lord bless the soldiers and please lord send them another budget increase so they can continue to protect my right to say and do stupid things. Because ‘Merikkka!
Also “American Believer”:
Make ‘Merikkka Great Again like the good ‘ole days when the great state of North Carolina was United under white leadership and wages weren’t necessary because you don’t pay wages to a machine you own to till the farm! ‘Merikkka!
The fact that this came up in a regular meeting of the Council tells me they wanted to get more publicity on how they manage the department heads. Problem is, Borchers should have seen this coming.
The Greensboro water department has become a cash cow for some indivuals except for the water customers.