Dear Editor,

It seems COVID has everyone’s attention again. Those that live in fear and are unable to make any decisions for themselves, those that ignore all the warnings and do stupid things like go to parades and cause the schools to be closed, and those that listen to warnings and go on with life in a responsible manner.

But you know one section of people has totally failed to do anything. That is the government. From the Congress and Senate that have failed to do their jobs at all to the state and local governments that are totally ignoring their jobs. Elected officials can eat where they want, participate in group functions despite rules to the contrary and participate in in-house bickering to the detriment of all and there are no repercussions.

On a more local level, all the state employees get full paychecks every month and many are supposedly working from home where citizens cannot go see them, and they are getting nothing done. Call any state department and you get no help. No one is available due to COVID messages play like elevator music on the phone lines. Leaving a message is impossible because all the voice mail boxes are full.

On a more local level, I know people that have serious issues with their DFACS assistance and there is no way to contact them. No phone ever gets answered. No one ever is at the office. All the voice mail boxes are full. And if you finally get someone to actually answer a phone at the headquarters in Hinesville, they lie to you and refuse to help. I have called Hinesville DFACS and asked for a supervisor only to be told repeatedly that there are none. On other occasions, I was told they were not allowed to put me in touch with a supervisor.  Guess they are all at home “working” too.

DFACS workers are staying at home and being paid full salaries but have not reached out to their clients since the VIRUS surfaced and everything shut down. Never mind the fact that these people are required to submit various items to obtain assistance, they are referred to a web site that does not work, does not have the answers, and assists in no manner at all.  Of course many of these people do not have smart phones and internet as they are in a group of people that do not have those luxuries. That is why they are seeking DFACS assistance in the first place.

Sooner or later, I, and others WILL get ahold of one of those absent politicians in Atlanta and make enough noise that something will be done here in our area to assist those people that need it.  Maybe one of the people locally that is supposed to be doing the job they are being paid to do will wake up. Of course that can only occur when the elected officials actually get back to doing their job.

Charles Woodall

Hinesville, GA