"No appointments available":

I counted 82 people waiting in line.

It isn't easy to get a TSA-compliant driver's license in Oregon.

The Department of Motor Vehicles was on my mind because my wife's driver's license is expiring in November. A driver's license is the most convenient form of ID. Soon one will need a "REAL ID" that meets TSA standards to get onto an airplane. To acquire it one needs to go to a DMV office in person and show them a passport, a utility bill, and other documents that demonstrate your identity. 

The Medford office is too overworked and backed up to allow any new appointments for a REAL ID, but they do accommodate walk-ups, which they handle as time permits over the course of the day. The DMV closed its office in Ashland, 15 miles away. The office in Grants Pass, 30 miles away, is open but does not have appointments available. Today the closest office with appointments is in Roseburg, 100 miles away. This isn't a disaster, but it is a four-hour round trip inconvenience on a workday, and 200 miles of driving. Or she could wait in line and take her chances.

The Department says it is a workforce issue. They display this sign at the Medford DMV office where people standing in line can read it:

When the coastal city of Brookings abruptly closed its DMV office in May, DMV spokesperson David House explained that they simply could not staff it any more:

DMV, like so many employers, has been experiencing a staff shortage the past few months. We have not been able to hire and train as fast as we lose people to retirement or just changing jobs. Almost every day now we have to close at least one of the smaller offices where there is no backup available — because nearby offices are understaffed. In Medford, for example, we’re down to six employees from the normal 14 to 18.

Bloomberg News posted an article this week titled "No one wants a government job." They posted this chart.  A million jobs have not been filled.

One of the points of distinction between Democrats and Republicans is the role and efficacy of government. Democrats are more likely than Republicans to support government solutions to problems. In Oregon, Democrats have the advantage and burden of incumbency. Democrats hold the statewide offices and have majorities in both houses of the legislature. Democrats own the successes and failures.

I see Republican campaign advertisements citing encampments of the unhoused and how they are going to get something done. Tents and unhoused people are a conspicuous problem common throughout West Coast states. There are no easy solutions. If Republicans were in office they would be unlikely to cure mental illness, end addictions, make housing inexpensive, or persuade un-persuadable people to go to shelters any faster or better than can Democrats. But it is easy to say, and people want something done.

The DMV workforce issue may not have easy solutions either, but it is more directly the responsibility of the people in charge of operating state government.  Since a government agency demands something, they should staff offices so people can comply. That seems simple. 

I did not hear people in line griping about Democrats. This is 2022, so most people were silently looking at their mobile phones. Still, the wait times and inconvenience from the DMV may be one more source of generalized discontent I sense about state government. That adds to the political vulnerability for Democrats in a state where Democrats are in charge.

Former Oregon governor Ted Kulongoski, a Democrat, said that since Democrats are the party of government, Democrats have the responsibility to be good at governing. No one loves the DMV, but it is best for the party running things if people don’t actively hate the DMV.

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