You know me — always (or at least usually) complaining in some form about errant Police Chiefs and odd goings on in connection with acquisition of parcels for big league baseball … yada yada yada.

But I have to give credit where/when credit is due. And yesterday — it was due to Sarasota County.

Below is an email I sent yesterday to Sarasota County Commissioner Nora Patterson who represents the District I live in; unbelievably I heard back from Commission Patterson that same night and from another Commissioner the next day. Color me impressed by the responsiveness from the County — from the phone call to a nearly-anonymous call center operator to the headline-making folks that help run the county — it was a very gratifying experience, and I really appreciate the insight into some very good things about the County.

Not thinking everything’s perfect, now, but just appreciating what is good and the hard work that a lot of County workers are doing so that citizens can have a certain quality of life (like water!).
———————————–
Dear Commissioner Patterson,

I believe you represent my district within Sarasota County. I’m writing to let you know of my experience today in dealing with the County – tried to find a “customer comment” section on the scgov.net website, but could not, so I’m hoping you can pass this email on to whoever is best.

Today, I had an emergency situation at my home. Water was gushing from the place where the meter is read and I was a bit frantic. I called the 861.5000 number because I know it by heart and didn’t have access to a phone directory. The woman who answered the phone at the call center – I believe her name was Ann (hope I got that right) – was so calm and helpful and concerned with addressing my inquiry. She took all the information and promised to find out what to do and call me right back.

And she did – literally within minutes, she had found the right person at the County to address the problem and she called me back with that individual’s name, phone, and even a cell phone number. She had told that person – her name was Vicki in the water department, I believe – all the facts about my situation and Ann told me Vicki would be calling me soon.

I was prepared to wait a long time but within less than 10 minutes, Vicki called and reviewed the problem with me. She promised to get someone out to my residence but explained it might be awhile. She was super nice and just very attentive. I only waited 20 minutes before a man from the County showed up to investigate the problem. His name was Dave and he was super too. He went right to work and got it all taken care of with a minimum of drama and I’m not kidding, less than an hour after my initial call to the County, my problem was resolved completely satisfactorily.

But what was really impressive is that from the call center to the man who arrived at my home – everyone was so professional, courteous, helpful, and just very nice.

I really hope these people somehow can be given my thanks and perhaps some recognition from their bosses and/or the County administrator. I did try to call Vicki back to tell her, but could not reach her directly. This level of service may be all in a day’s work for these folks, but it was a big deal for me on a very trying day.

So anyway, thanks for your consideration of this email and hopefully you can get my thanks and appreciation into the right hands.

Best regards,
Sarasota County Resident
MC Coolidge