Customer Service Excellence

Dawn Dancy
Solid Waste Management
When there was a shortage of replacement residential garbage containers, Dawn Dancy worked with customers on a case-by-case basis to alleviate complaints.

One of those she worked with, Rae Wagner, called to thank Dancy for work well done.

Ron Churchill
HPD
A boy was stalking Elizabeth Hankins’ 17-year-old daughter and making threatening phone calls. So Hankins contacted HPD, and Ron Churchill was assigned to the case.

“From our first conversation with Officer Churchill, we believed he took Ashley’s plight seriously and that we had an ally,” Hankins wrote. Over the next five months, the family often called Churchill to report another phone offense or to add new information. If Churchill didn’t answer the phone when they called, he called them back within an hour.

“This kind man handled our case that must have been routine to him with a compassion that softened our angst,” Hankins wrote. “Whenever we called, Officer Churchill listened as though we were the only people he was working with.”

Finally, the Hankins scheduled a sit-down with the boy and his family. About 15 minutes before that meeting, Churchill called with new information, including details of a conversation he’d just had with the boy.

“The new information was the key to finding what we hope is a permanent relief in this situation,” Haskins wrote. “And it was the result of Officer Churchill going above and beyond the call of duty.

“Houston is a city where the safe are endangered and the innocent sometimes pay what the guilty should. But in this great metropolis we find, too, strangers who become unexpected friends, living reminders that justice and integrity and human kindness are yet possible.

“Ron Churchill is one such man,” Hankins wrote.

James Anderson, Bobby McMahon
Fire
Although his mother suffered a stroke, she was reluctant to go to the hospital, wrote Everett Hargrave. James Anderson and Bobby McMahon were patient with her and encouraged, rather than forced, her to take a ride in their ambulance.

Throughout the day the two men periodically stopped by the hospital to check on his mother, Hargrave wrote.

“I am sure you’re familiar with the loss of independence our parents feel as they get older,” Hargrave wrote. “Bobby and James showed great concern for my mother’s well-being and took her under their wing.”

Mona Conner
Public Works & Engineering
Mei Neihouse
Planning and Development
A colleague told Dennis O’Neill that the city had a computer-generated database on compact disk that contained the accurate map information he needed for his project. Thinking to quickly get the disk, O’Neill visited the second floor of 611 Walker. The clerk there didn’t know about the disk, so she sent him to the surveying division.

There, O’Neill met Mona Conner, who also didn’t know about such a disk. But she made it her responsibility to find it, O’Neill wrote. Conner talked to several people in her office and finally got a referral to the Planning and Development Department.

O’Neill thanked Connor for her help and told her he could handle the search from there. But Connor insisted on accompanying him to the planning offices so she could learn about the disk in case anyone else asked about it.

Mei Neihouse knew exactly what O’Neill was looking for and gave him the disk. Then, she gave him a thorough demonstration of the information on the disk, O’Neill wrote.

“I want to commend these city employees for doing an excellent job of service for an ordinary citizen,” O’Neill wrote.

David Sims
Public Works & Engineering
Alicia Woods needed verification quickly of water line work the city had performed on one of her properties. David Sims said she should receive a fax with the verification in less than an hour, Woods wrote.

Ninety minutes later, Woods called to say she still hadn’t received the fax. Sims again answered her call. He told her the customer service area was swamped, so he had tried to fax the letter to her. But his supervisor wanted to review the verification letter before he sent it, and that was causing the wait.

Less then two hours later, Woods received the fax, which included the information she needed.

“Throughout this entire process, Mr. Sims was very professional and, in fact, called later to make certain the fax was received. Professionals like him are in short supply, and I commend his efforts and great service!” Woods wrote.

Victor Venson
Public Works & Engineering
Beverly Adjei’s water bill kept escalating each month. Eventually, she determined it was due to a leak, and she had it repaired.

She called the city to order the necessary paperwork to adjust her bill. She was told the forms would be sent out, but she never received them, Adjei wrote.

Then, even after her leak was repaired, her bill continued to increase. She called the city again, this time requesting that a meter reader come out. When no one came, she called again and was told that a meter reader had visited her home and left a note on her door.

But, Adjei wrote, she’d been home that day and there was no note. Frustrated, she called the city again and asked to speak to someone who could figure out why her water bill kept increasing.

That someone was Victor Venson.

“He made sure my meter was inspected,” Adjei wrote. “He even apologized for the numerous times I was either transferred or given another number to call.

“Mr. Venson didn’t say to me, ‘that’s not my area.’ He went the extra step for me. If the city has a customer service award program, I am recommending Mr. Venson win it.”

Anthony Camilla
HPD
HPD stepped up patrols along Crawford between Elgin and McGowen in response to complaints about speeding vehicles, wrote Sid Vinyard. Unfortunately, the patrols weren’t increased during the morning, when the problem was the worst.

So Vinyard contacted Lt. Anthony Camilla. A few days later, residents awoke to find several officers working the Crawford corner, Vinyard wrote. Residents watched with satisfaction and called each other as the officers ticketed drivers as fast as they could pull them over.

“Let me thank the South Central Patrol Division, and especially Lt. Camilla, for this prompt and successful response,” he wrote. “It has not gone unnoticed to area residents, many of whom would have cheered the officers and offered coffee if we thought it was appropriate.”

Christine Robinson
Public Works & Engineering
Pal Realty experienced delay after delay when its employees tried to get a wastewater permit for a tenet build-out, wrote Pal president Paul Leviner. The delay was costing the company $1,400 per day.

Calling the city’s permit section didn’t help, and neither did anything else the company tried, Leviner wrote. “We tried everything, from hiring experienced contractors, architects and permit expeditors to begging and pleading.”

Finally, Leviner talked to Christine Robinson and the permit problem was solved.

“Ms. Robinson’s efforts were above and beyond the call of duty,” he wrote. “She listened to our problems with a pleasant attitude and resolved the confusion in hours, not four weeks or more as we’d been told.”