AUBURN — Opening early on Monday mornings doesn’t help the city run more efficiently if there’s nobody available to answer the phones, City Manager Glenn Aho said.

Beginning Monday, Auburn’s municipal offices will open at 8 a.m. daily and close at 4:30 p.m. Before, city offices opened at 7 a.m. and closed at 5:30 p.m. Mondays.

The only department with a different schedule will be the City Clerk’s Office, which opens at 1 p.m. and closes at 5:30 p.m. on Mondays. That office will be open from 1 to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.

“The problem we were having was we just didn’t have enough people to answer phones,” Aho said. He said one resident contacted him after testing the system, following voice mail prompts and transferring from department to department.

“He said he let the phones ring for 30 minutes straight, and I don’t doubt it,” Aho said. “When you consider staff size, we’re stretched thin to begin with. Then, if a person is out because they’re sick, that’s one more person that can’t answer a phone call.”

Aho said the city has cut staff size by 15 positions in the last year.

“So the choice we had was to increase staff size or to reduce hours,” Aho said.

His staff is working to create friendlier telephone directories as well. They’d list Auburn Hall phone numbers by person and department but also by function.

“If people want a license of some kind, they probably don’t know who they need to call,” Aho said. “We can clear that up, tell them exactly who they need call.”

Aho said he’s also encouraging staff to update their voice mail messages daily, making sure to include the date.

“That way, people that are calling have a way of knowing that a live person is there and will try to call them back,” he said.

staylor@sunjournal.com

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