Martha King has yet to see any two days on her job that are exactly alike.
"It's never a dull moment. When the phone rings, we never know what kind of question or complaint we are going to get," said the Augusta Cares coordinator.
Ms. King has led Augusta Cares since 1998. The department receives calls from Augustans with complaints, questions about issues and requests for information about the city and its government.
"I consider it a one-stop shop number," she said. "People can call us and they don't have to figure out which department they need to talk to or worry about being transferred many times. They call us and we contact the appropriate department for them. We also give the person a follow-up call to let them know the status of their complaint."
Though the types of calls are unpredictable, a typical workday is guaranteed to have several calls, she said. Last year, the department took more than 15,000.
She said she enjoys interacting with residents.
"I think of them as if they are my neighbor and treat their concern as if it was my own," she said. "I treat them the way that I would want to be treated, so I strive to address all complaints and concerns with care, and I strive to get back to them in a timely manner."
The variety in each day makes her job enjoyable, she said.
"There's always something new to help resolve, so each day presents a new challenge that I can look forward to accomplishing."
Reach Nikasha Dicks at (706) 823-3336 or nikasha.dicks@augustachronicle.com.
PUBLIC SERVANT OF THE MONTH: MARTHA KING
POSITION: Augusta Cares coordinator
HOW LONG IN POSITION: 10 years
NUMBER OF YEARS WITH AUGUSTA-RICHMOND COUNTY: Since 1994
WHAT SHE LIKES MOST ABOUT HER JOB: The variety, interaction with residents
WHAT IS COMMUNITY COUNTS?
Community Counts is The Augusta Chronicle's collaborative effort to benefit the communities in our area. This multitiered program of involvement includes recognition of outstanding youths, teachers, volunteers and public servants in the area.
Nomination forms are available online at augustachronicle.com./communitycounts or you can contact Nikasha Dicks at (706) 823-3336 or nikasha.dicks@augusta chronicle.com.
Comments
I have always received excellent service from Martha King and the staff at Augusta Cares. However, it has been my experience that the various A-RC Departments that actually respond to concerns provide a lot of 'lip' service. e.g. Code Enforcement only needs a tape measure to check the height of a fence, but claims a 5-foot front yard fence is 'within code.'
Martha King is a very good PR person for the Augusta area. She has always seemed to do her best to get an answer for me when I have a question and refer me to the right departments. I found that code violations were taking too long to be addressed and the quality of life went downhill because of that in my old neighborhood & finally gave up and moved to a nicer neighborhood. It is so nice not to have to call in complaints that the Marshall's department seemed powerless to correct. Littering and overgrown yards were a discouraging problem. They would come, look right at the trash & I would look up the findings report later & it would say that there was none there. ???? Someone that had a stained mattress in plain view on her carport for months was reported to only have toys on the carport. ???? Her laundry laid over MY fence to dry remained, still a week later. I asked her to remove it, she said it wasn't my fence???? The bill for the fence sure came to our home when we had it installed. The marshall just asked her to remove it. She did, but her underwear, etc., was laid all over her front yard on bushes & a portion of her own fence regularly thereafter. Ewwww.
Thanks Martha for trying to help, I appreciate that. My new neighborhood is beautiful, the only problem has been one household that only mowed twice the whole summer. The weeds really took over. Seems like heaven here to me after the old neighborhood ran down.
I asked Martha King for help with a garbage problem in my neighborhood. She responded promptly, the resident was contacted, the garbage cleaned up and a hefty fine imposed. Problem resolved. Thanks for a job well done.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VoThMdRGJ4
Do you know these guys that robbed me?
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