MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis summers and long lines outside do NOT go together.
For people in line, prayers would be answered if a firefighter came by and just hosed them down.
Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert has had a wing-ding of a year. Two times, all clerk’s offices were shut down because somebody tested positive for coronavirus. They’ve been catching up since then.
Motorists have been lining up to get registrations renewed, or new plates.
“We have directed our teams to stop the line,” she says. “We are not allowing the customers to stand in long lines. We are having them come up and register the customer, get their phone numbers, and we call them.”
It is not the perfect solution - Halbert knows it.
“We know customers are frustrated. But you know, again, I apologize and remind them we are here to serve them and at the same time keep them and our employees safe.”
Branch offices differ. At the Poplar Plaza branch, in the middle of the day, I had my temperature taken, given a wristband, and was allowed in. I got my registration renewed without any problems. The entire experience took MAYBE five minutes.
It is not the same elsewhere.
Halbert says, “If you take our Germantown location, there are normally five employees who work inside. Because our facility doesn’t have the needed six feet of space between them, I can only have two or three employees working in there.”
The State of Tennessee was allowing a grace period for people who had not renewed registration. According to Halbert, it ended on June 15th.