MEMPHIS, Tenn. — What's really going on at the Shelby County Clerk's Office?
We can debate all day whether the new Riverdale location has the right kind of safe, the right kind of furniture or bulletproof glass. But at least we could show you on the surface, it seems ready to go.
With the year the clerk's office is having, opening a new office to cut down on ridiculous wait times should be a priority. It would seem Halbert would not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. I'm told what's really going on here isn't so much about the furniture as it is the revolving door at the clerk's office.
Workers there are leaving in droves.
The mayor's office said right now, the clerk has 35-40 vacant full-time positions. That's 33% of the staff she should have. It's not that people are applying. There are 1,700 pending applications right now.
Let's not blame the safe, the furniture or the computers. It's about hiring enough people to staff the place and there's a certain county clerk who's in charge of that.