Opinion: DeSantis Should Fix DMV Before Running for President
“You Need an Appointment to Renew Your License, but There Are No Appointments”
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By many measures, Florida will provide Governor Ron DeSantis with a strong platform to launch what seems to be an inevitable presidential run. The state navigated the pandemic better than most parts of the U.S., and Florida has flourished since. People have flocked to the Sunshine State, making its population one of the fastest-growing in the country; Florida’s economy is among the hottest in the nation; and DeSantis’s culture wars, which could be a double-edged sword in a general election, will certainly boost his chances in GOP primaries.
However, as 2024 nears, DeSantis best not forget that one of a governor’s main credentials is to have been a good administrator. My Kafkaesque experience with Florida’s Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles could pose a problem on that front for the governor.
I should first say that in more than 14 years as Floridians, my family and I have had no problems getting driver’s licenses or vehicle registration tags.
However, last week, veteran journalist Al Sunshine posted on Facebook about how he’d been flummoxed in his attempts to renew his Florida driver’s license. He needed a vision test, so he couldn’t renew online, and could not figure out how to get the required in-person appointment. I confess that I thought my old friend was technologically challenged (sorry, Al).
Al Sunshine sent me this picture from around 2009. It has little to do with this story but I couldn't resist using it. Courtesy: WFOR/CBS4 Miami.
His post reminded me that I needed to renew my license by December, something I thought would be a breeze online. Instead, I may turn bald because the Florida bureaucracy has me pulling my hair out. Why? Here’s a breakdown:
My confusion began immediately when confronted by government websites that desperately need a user experience designer.
I googled “Florida DMV driver’s license,” and the top result was the site for the FLHSMV. It asked me to plug in information, and four web pages later I was still struggling to find what I needed to do in order to renew online. Then, it told me to log onto another site, the “MyDMV” portal.
Once I managed that, I figured out that I too am stuck having to show up in person, because federal law and state regulations now call for all licenses to comply with “Real ID” requirements.
This screenshot of the FLHSMV website gives me the bad news: I have to show up in person to renew my driver's license. At least I find out that I'm a safe driver.
For a U.S. citizen, that involves bringing one of the identification documents listed in the picture below, plus a Social Security Card, and two documents that show your principal residence.
Sure, that’s a pain, but what can you do? The pain, though, was just beginning.
I then had to navigate to a site for the county I live in, Miami-Dade. You’d think that, at this point, you could click a link that would show you where and when appointments are available. Ah, but that would be too easy.
Instead, you have to determine which FLHSMV offices offer driver’s license appointments, because not all do. Once you’ve done that, you have to go office by office to find an appointment. I started with the office nearest me and either everything was taken or I couldn’t figure out how to schedule one. After failing at five offices, many quite far away, I gave up for the night, beginning to doubt myself and thinking I’m the one technologically challenged.
The next day, I decided to call the state offices for the FLHSMV. It took 36 minutes to get a human being.
I told the helpful customer service representative of my struggles and she immediately asked if I could go to Broward County. I said no, that I live in South Dade so Broward isn't close. I restrained myself from saying that it’s absurd to ask someone to waste half a day going to another county. I also stopped myself from mentioning that I pay a ridiculous amount in Miami-Dade property taxes so it’s outrageous to suggest leaving the county for something as basic as renewing a license.
To make sure I wasn't missing anything, I asked whether I could renew online. She confirmed that I could not because of Real ID and that I must get an in-person appointment. But she recognized that no appointments were available in Miami-Dade and that the calendars are closed.
It’s a perfect Catch-22: I need an appointment, but I can’t get one.
At that point, she suggested that I regularly check in, but admitted that I might want to wait until early or mid-September for the calendars to open because they are full until October. That will make buying tickets online to the Super Bowl seem like a breeze.
When I first started telling friends about this and posted about the experience on Facebook, a bunch of them expressed how frustrated they’ve been. One Miami-Dade friend wrote: “Getting my license renewal appointment taught me the valuable lesson of How To Be An Online Stalker.”
Some friends said they had surrendered and gone elsewhere in the state to get their licenses. Others mentioned that it was worth traveling because DMV offices outside South Florida appear to function more efficiently, possibly because they haven’t had the huge influx of people the Miami area has recently received.
A line forms outside the entrance to a driver license service center in Miami-Dade County on March 7, 2012. (Jeff Greenberg/Getty Images)
Still having trouble believing the bureaucratic nightmare, I reached out to the FLHSMV media relations staff, who responded promptly. They reconfirmed the Catch-22 and clarified that the state directly operates the problematic driver’s license offices in Miami Dade (and also those in Broward), while other counties are operated independently by their respective tax collectors.
They were a little defensive in acknowledging the higher demand triggered by the surge in population, adding that during the past legislative session, “Governor DeSantis and the Florida Legislature made historic investments both in the vision and people of FLHSMV, including critical market pay additives for driver license examiners to support the department’s efforts to recruit and retain these mission-critical positions. This has allowed the department to hire more driver license examiners and reduce vacancies.” Clearly not enough for Miami-Dade.
Finally, they said Floridians can request a temporary driving permit to extend the effective period of their licenses (they can do so at https://www3.flhsmv.gov/DDL/CQS).
But Floridians be forewarned: If you need to renew your license, you may want to start the process a long time before it expires, or, silly as it seems, you may want to schedule a vacation to another part of the state around a FLHSMV appointment.
Miami Dade is by far the most populous county in Florida, accounting for about one in seven residents. And, as anyone who follows presidential elections knows, the Sunshine State is crucial for candidates who hope to win the White House. A strong showing in Miami-Dade can determine who takes the state’s electoral votes.
If all politics is local, DeSantis shouldn’t forget to fix the DMV before declaring his candidacy for the highest office in the land.
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Cover photo: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks during a primary election night event in Hialeah, Florida, on August 23, 2022. DeSantis will face U.S. Representative Charlie Crist, a Democrat, in the general election for governor of Florida on November 8, 2022. (Chandan Khanna/Getty Images)