From Deseret News archives:
Short week spurs some long faces
Drivers find empty DMV lots and buildings
A steady stream of drivers pulled into the empty parking lot of the Salt Lake area office at 380 W. 2880 South Friday morning, only to be greeted at the door by a neon closed sign and a poster advertising the governor's new "Working 4 Utah" program.
"I was so excited because no one was here," fumed Marisol Lopez of Salt Lake City, who had hoped to register her car on her day off; she works four 10-hour days for a nutritional supplement company.
"There's a lot of people who have Fridays off," Lopez said, adding she had not heard anything about the new schedule for state employees that started Monday. "It's not fair because a lot of us will have to miss work now."
No doubt Elliot Christensen's teenage daughter will also think the Friday closures are unfair. Christensen, who lives in Sandy, had taken time off from his property management job in Salt Lake to register his daughter's first car Friday, only to find the DMV office closed.
Christensen said he already was aware of the shortened workweek for state employees but didn't believe that would apply to vehicle registrations, one of the state's most-usedr services.
Huntsman announced the new schedule for the executive branch in late June. Shutting down some 1,000 state buildings on Fridays some only partially is expected to save taxpayers an estimated $3 million annually in utility costs.
All but a handful of state services are now available only Monday through Thursday, from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m., although many of those services are available any time at the state's Web site, utah.gov. State courts and both public and higher education are not affected.
Earlier this week, Huntsman toured the Department of Commerce in part to publicize the longer hours state services will be available to the public Mondays through Thursdays. Friday, he was interviewed on CNN about the shorter workweek.
Commerce Department officials took the unusual step of stationing themselves outside their closed offices Friday morning at the Heber M. Wells Building in downtown Salt Lake City. Armed with doughnuts, they were ready to calm any concerns caused by the Friday closures.
Recent comments
Susan:
Good analysis. However: the heating/air conditioning bill...
Steve | Aug. 11, 2008 at 2:08 p.m.
Every story I heard or saw about this always mentioned the DMV as...
Cave dwellers | Aug. 9, 2008 at 6:43 p.m.
There is really no savings anywhere except maybe for commuting. The...
Susan | Aug. 9, 2008 at 4:39 p.m.
- Getting serious about seat belts 1:15 a.m.
- Witness describes '99 killing 1:15 a.m.
- Police increase presence at Skyline 1:14 a.m.
- Cougars cruise past Southern 1:03 a.m.
- Utes fall to Seattle U. at home 1:01 a.m.
- Utah celebrates Real Salt Lake Day 12:59 a.m.
- Y. focused on 10-win season 12:54 a.m.
- Thunder rolls by Jazz 12:49 a.m.
- Sloan remembers Abe Pollin 12:47 a.m.
- 'Cats get past pesky D-II foe 12:33 a.m.
- Utah, BYU are top choices for bowls
- BYU would like friendlier rivalry
- Protests against Phoenix LDS temple
- KSL: Prostitution in Utah County
- Best prep football games of 2009
- Man trapped in own body for 23 yrs
- Kirilenko climbing blocks list
- Witness describes '99 killing
- Boys basketball rankings
- 'Dancing' will fill out finale
- BYU would like friendlier rivalry
229 - Glenn Beck to enter politics?
224 - RSL wins MLS Cup on penalty kicks
202 - Protests against Phoenix LDS temple
189 - Bronco, Kyle rubber match
137 - BYU records with win
133 - Letters: Rushing to judge Palin
122 - Hall, Johnson matchup key
102 - Jazz finally win in San Antonio
99 - 4A: Timpview wins 4th in 4 years
93
needs to get a dunk!
First of all, the Thunder aren't known for being a great outside shooting...
And if BYU didn't lose any games, they could have been in the BCS. And if...
OKC = 16 Jazz = 24. Boozer and Millsap had 10 and Okur had 2. That is...
to To KF 9:35 PM My 42% increase may seem insignificant, but I have a...
Nice........
This is so weird. You see how stacked it is to include Nebraska,simply...
Mike, don't take it so personal. We know you are a Utah homer, but let's get...
I am a Seneca Indian from Western NY and find the meso America theory hard to...
If the chances are slim to none, why is this even news?? Trust the D.N. to...



