Registrar Kaprielian Continues Assault on Mass. Drivers
March 17, 2009
First it was giving away state RMV jobs to corporate behemoth AAA, with no known benefit to the Commonwealth or consumers. Now it's slipping deep into the pockets of Mass. drivers to grab more money in jacked up fees—a significant increase in RMV revenue coinciding with a significant decrease in RMV services. When did the customer become merely the ATM, and when will Registrar Kaprielian learn the difference?
Registrar Rachel Kaprielian, who reported that her proposal to raise registry fees would cost the average driver about $6.50 a year, or “a couple cups of Starbucks,” would do well to invest in a calculator and a trip outside the environs of her tony Watertown neighborhood.
For starters, the fee increases she proposes to implement as early as April could reportedly raise $75 million from the state’s 4.6 million drivers—that’s an average of more than $16 per driver, not $6.50 as she stated.
And the use of Starbucks for reference works only if you actually buy your morning cup at Starbucks, which is an assumption Kaprielian presumably makes on behalf of all Massachusetts drivers because she happens to live in neighborhood with a Starbucks and can afford the cost of the expensive joe.
Kaprielian appears to be a bit out of touch, and her flippant attitude toward the Commonwealth citizens she serves is troubling.
Michael Graham, writing for the Boston Herald, reveals Kaprielian’s dismissive attitude toward her employees and the customers they serve. He reports that she views RMV customer service as an add-on that became too expensive to support—and anyway, just not that important.
This approach to management is short-sighted and does a real disservice to the employees who work for the RMV. Imagine the posture a customer might take who knows the registry clerk serving her works for a boss who gives little heed to service.
Registrar Kaprielian has shown a strong penchant for favoring quick fixes at customer expense (see "Kaprielian Giving State Jobs to AAA"). Maybe if she spent half as much time lobbying the legislature to adequately fund the RMV as she does cozying up to corporations like AAA, we would all be better off.