New RMV Head Touring Western Mass. Branches
 |
"It was my decision to come west first and work my way east," said Rachel Kaprielian, who was sworn in as state registrar on May 30. "Because I am aware that there is a sentiment at times that people in the Berkshires don't feel like the people in Boston are always thinking about them."
The Watertown Democrat, who served seven terms in the state House before being named registrar by Gov. Deval Patrick, said she's following the governor's lead in ensuring that the western end of the state feels like it belongs.
Kaprielian's not the first registrar to head west, but she said, "there's seems to be a great deal of gratitude of my coming to see these places ... I think there should be more [visits by officials]."
She's reviewing the regions and individual branches to find out what the issues are as she seeks ways to keep serving citizens efficiently.
"I'm really learning about specific regional problems, such as truck driver's licenses and road tests that are harder to come by the farther west you get," said Kaprielian on Thursday afternoon at the Registry branch in North Adams.
She's also learning how much time it takes to get from there to here and in-between. Scheduled to be in North Adams in the morning, the visit got delayed until the afternoon and Kaprielian stopped at the Pittsfield Registry office before finally making it to the state's smallest city.
Her tour included a stop at the proposed future home of the Registry branch that is now located on Curran Highway. The Planning Board has approved the move into the first floor of the former Roberts Co. building on Main Street, in the same complex where the office was located for many years.
The state has not yet signed a lease with Scarafoni Associates for the space, but Chris Brasie, a customer service representative, happily showed Kaprielian a diagram of the space and told her how much she liked her job.
.JPG) Registrar Rachel Kaprielian shares a laugh with customer service representative Chris Brasie. |
Rumors about possible closure of the local branch office have risen every so often for years. Shuttering the office would mean driving an hour or more to get road tests or driver's licenses at the closest branches.
"I think we have to be very mindful of how hard it is to get to Springfield from the Berkshires. It is a very long way to Springfield ... I know that. I appreciate that. Even from North Adams to Pittsfield," said Kaprielian. Any discussion about consolidations or closures, should they arise, would have to take that into consideration, she said.
Instead, moving the Registry back to Main Street may be a boon to the downtown since people going there may also stop at stores and eateries.
Ann Dufresne, senior communications adviser for Kaprielian, said it was in line with the governor's policy of positioning Registry branches as "job multipliers."
"By going downtown we bring our business downtown to the merchants' benefit ... we're creating more economic activities in the central downtown area," she said.
While the branch office seems safe for near future, there are ways to provide services quicker and more efficiently.
One obvious way, Kaprielian said, "is just to expand the technological solution so people can do more on the Web."
The Registry saw some 1.1 million transactions last year but that might not be the answer for this region just yet, she said, because "a lot of communities out here are not wired, that do not have broadband and the Web."
Kaprielian attended Watertown High School and later graduated from College of the Holy Cross. She earned her law degree from Suffolk University Law School and holds a master of public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She was elected to the House in 1995 at the age of 26.
She replaced Anne Collins, who was named to a senior staff position in the Executive Office of Transportation.
After chatting with Brasie and her colleagues Dir Giamborino, Joseph O'Neill and Colleen Chaloux, Kaprielian hit the road again, back to Main Street to check out the Registry's presumed new digs.
On Monday, she'll be back in Western Mass. to visit Chicopee and Springfield.
There's been some flack that the veteran lawmaker doesn't have the background for the job. Kaprielian naturally disagrees, noting her degree from Harvard and long years in the House, and that "a lot of things go into a job of this nature."
"I have been a member of the Legislature for 13 1/2 years and that is sort of the ultimate constituent/customer service kind of job ... and I believe the Registry is the same. It is first and foremost about customer service and a I feel I have a skill set that can translate well."
