State Representative involvement?

[InfoTechCHL2007]

OK. I have a question or two...
I have recently perused several of the threads on this forum and two points are painfully obvious when compared to my experience applying for a license this time last year. First, the wait time has apparently increased astronomically and, second, applicants apparently have to contact their state representative sometimes to receive answers or to just get things moving.
I understand the wait time being a result of the substantial increase in the number of applicants without a corresponding relative increase in DPS staffing, but when did it become more of a trend to engage politicians to get an answer from DPS? Has DPS become that unresponsive? Just curious. Best of luck to all of you.

[Rub N Smoke]

Basically DPS is reading from a book and anytime you call you basically get the same answer as 100s of people get. Its almost like they are reading it from a book. They wont answer any pointed questions and their normal responce to those questions is "Its out of our hands sir". It DOEs sound like they are being a little more responsive and actually catching up though so thats a good thing!!

[wrinkles]

I emailed DPS twice and waited 2 weeks with no answer before contacting my Rep.

[Oldgringo]

E-mails to the Gov, Lt. Gov, a hard copy letter to Ms. Jan Coffey along with an E-mail to our State Senator is what apparently released Mrs. Oldgringo's plastic some 160 days and four (4) sets of fingerprints after initial submittal. The e-mail to our democratic representative didn't even get a reply.

[InfoTechCHL2007]

Just my two cents...
I have worked in various types of resource management over the years and this looks pretty cut and dried to me.
You take X numbers of employees who have been hired at DPS and allocated to handle Y number of applications. Throw in required third party responses (background checks, etc) which vary in response times and you have some complex resource management issues.
Simply because of the time and effort it takes to interview, hire, and train staff, when the number of applications suddenly spikes, DPS cannot rapidly respond in kind with adequate, trained staffing to adjust to the increase. Then, unfortunately, when applicants become unsatisfied with the consequent lack of progress, a vicious cycle comes into play. Specifically, when external pressure (political, etc) is brought to bear by some applicants and not others, this forces attention on some applications over others and further introduces delays into the overall process. Limited staff means limited effort hours are available, so someone's got to lose.
I completely understand the frustrations, since I was one of those who checked the website several times daily; however,
I am not convinced that applying political pressure to move one application ahead of the pack is necessarily a good thing in the long run.
Again, just an opinion and no offense intended to anyone.

[sprmx199]

I have a question for you guys about this. I want to contact my local rep, bud sadly he has passed away, Buddy West West Texas Area, now how would I call? Please let me know if you guys can help me?
This is where I stand:
Packet mailed April 15
Packet @ DPS April 16
Pin Received July 14
Processing App since July 11
105 Days and counting

[KaiserB]

I imagine you have a State Senator for your area ... You may start there.