A Snapshot of TEXAS Government in My Life - Assignment Example

A Snapshot of TEXAS Government in My Life Introduction It is on Friday 26th June of 2015 at 11 am. Everybody is busy in the streets of Austin. I am concerned with the government’s ways of serving its citizens. Both the state and the local government’s agencies are all over doing their normal chores in line with their nation building agenda. It is evident that the government is responsible to make sure that its citizens are living comfortably and safely. This gives a clear indication as to why there are numerous agencies based in the offices and others in the streets. I was interested in the way they were serving the Texans (Duncan 4). I did this by considering three crucial agencies namely the environmental protection agency, Texas health and human services agency and the Texas Commission on Fire Protection Agency. Discussion Question one I am walking along the 6th street in Austin, Texas. Everybody is busy in their normal economic activities. While others are in the offices, businesses, schools, and industries, others were just walking around the streets meeting people and other under shades holding small meetings (Duncan9). This created an interesting scenario bearing in mind that all these groups of people are doing constructive things based on the nature of their jobs. One can be sure that I was curious in understanding how everybody was executing his or her mandates in a manner that will satisfy the authority. This triggered my movement to various government offices and just I could just watch when on the queue the way citizens were being attended to. I also welcomed myself in various forums and meetings that were being run by the government agencies. They helped to attain a broad picture of how these agencies do things. Similarly, I gained an opportunity to interact with the citizens who were the attendees of those meetings and the offices. I also managed to interact with the officials of these agencies, and this gave me an opportunity to understand their roles, policies and how they fitted in the government’s structure (Duncan 19). I, therefore, gained a golden opportunity of interacting with the main stakeholders of these government agencies and hence understood very well how service delivery was being done. My interaction with their clients helped me to judge their service delivery as well as the importance of their jobs to the society. Question two In my snapshot, I was interested in environmental protection, Texas health and human services and the Texas Commission on Fire Protection agencies. The environmental agency is a state agency whose mission is protecting the human health as well as the environment. Their main purpose is ensuring that all the Texans are protected from the significant risks to the environment and human health where they work, learn and live. They also try to reduce the environmental risks on the basis of available scientific information. The agency also enforces effectively and fairly the federal laws that aim at protecting the environment and human health (Duncan 27). The agency also educates the members of the society how well they can manage the environmental as well as human health risks. This is an agency that has a very significant role in the society and any discrepancy in their mode of operation can put many people at risk. I found the agency in an open forum where they were educating the public on environmental management. I also found that there were several government officials who were being taught alongside the social workers. The other agency that caught my attention is the Texas Health and Human Services Commission agency. It is a state agency. The agency is obligated to oversee various departments of Texas State which deal with health and human services. These departments include the Department of aged people and people living with a disability, department of health services, the department of the family as well as protective services and the department of rehabilitative services and assistive (Duncan 43). All these departments under this agency are very essential. The fact that they are catering for the affairs of even the disadvantaged members of the society indicates that the agency is of great importance in the society. I happened to go to the offices of this agency after noticing a group of elderly members and disabled coming in and out of the office. The third and the last agency that caught my attention is the Texas Commission on Fire Protection. It is a governmental agency of the Texas state. It has been obligated to oversee and regulate all the firefighting standards as well as all the fire departments. Everyone is aware that fire is a real disaster, especially in a congested region. This implies that fire management awareness is essential. Alongside overseeing fire departments and fire standards, they educate the public on the firefighting strategies (Duncan 47). They also offer people as well as firefighting departments with standard manuals, curriculum manuals, and injury reports. I found the agencies officials issuing the standard manuals to a group of people in a forum at an open ground while they also expounded on what was written on the documents they were issuing. Question three The environmental protection agency is doing a good job. Management of environmental and human risks is a crucial aspect, and the first way of ensuring the public is safe. The fact that they are creating time to go and teach the public how well they can manage the potential risks is a commendable job. It also indicated they are mobile and hence they can ensure the federal laws on human safety are strictly adhered to (Duncan 50). I thus commend their job. Texas Health and Human Services Commission agency has been given a crucial responsibility to serve the Texans. It is a crucial organ of the government since it is dealing with disadvantaged or marginalized people. However, I was against their immobility. I believe there should be a better plan for them to be going and visiting these people. These are citizens who are expected to be met at their homes by these officials. Irrespective of the essentiality of their job the government of Texas needs to restructure their task in that direction. Finally, the Texas Commission on Fire Protection Agency is doing a commendable job by moving around checking and ensuring the firefighting standards are met (Duncan 52). I believe they are performing their job as expected bearing in mind that they are finding time to teach the public the firefighting strategies. Conclusion My snapshot which took approximately three hours considered those three agencies. It found that all these agencies are appropriate depending on the intentions of the government. Some of them have understood how they are expected to execute their obligations while others are yet to learn. However, the government of Texas needs to structure all agencies such that they are as mobile and interactive with the public as possible. By so doing, the general public will have been gained an opportunity to be served in line with their expectations. Works Cited Duncan, Marilyn P. Guide to Texas State Agencies. Austin: LBJ School of Public Affairs, 1996. Print. Read More