A scathing audit of the city Department of Customer Services’ Motor Vehicle, Licensing and Permits Division found the often-criticized agency lacking — largely in the area of customer service.

Customer Services Director Sheri Kajiwara said her department has tried to reduce long-standing complaints about long lines and waiting times for driver’s licenses and state identification cards, implementing many of the initiatives suggested by city Auditor Edwin Young. But those efforts have been stymied, Kajiwara said, first by the refusal of a respected veteran administrator to make changes and, more recently, a change by the state that requires people renewing licenses to show proof of residency.

Young’s report to the Honolulu City Council last week placed much of the blame on the longtime bureaucrat, who was not named, for stalling or ignoring planned improvements and for placing higher priority on following procedure and completing transactions efficiently over improving customer service.

"The inability of (department) managers to provide oversight or direction to a former MVLP administrator affected driver licensing operations," the audit concluded.

Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s administration and Kajiwara initiated several projects designed to reduce the lines and wait times, the audit said.

"However, the MVLP Division did not support the initiatives …; did not consider the long lines and long waits as valid concerns; and did not support or fully implement initiatives to reduce waiting times and lines," Young said in an Aug. 28 cover letter that accompanied the audit.

Division managers were mostly reactive and could have been more proactive by applying queuing concepts to anticipate demand and improved window coverage and staffing, the audit said.

Instead, the report said, "the MVLP staff and the former administrator’s emphasis on correct processing of documents contributed to the public complaints."

The administrator, recently retired Motor Vehicle, Licensing and Permits Division Chief Dennis Kami mura, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that he stands by his actions and denied blocking efforts by the Caldwell administration to improve customer service.

"The division’s staff is required to follow strict federal/state laws to successfully process the requested transaction," Kamimura said in an email. "Shortcuts and erroneous processing of transactions will result in customer inconvenience and possible legal liabilities for the city."

Long lines at Honolulu licensing offices first made headlines in January 2013 in the weeks immediately after Caldwell became mayor. The city not only was suddenly in charge of issuing ID cards, long a responsibility of the state Department of Transportation, but also tasked with enforcing new, tougher documentation requirements for those seeking state ID cards calling for proof of residency.

Later, news stories showed how people seeking new driver’s licenses were camping overnight in order to obtain a first-come, first-served slot for a driver’s road test.

A resolution introduced by Councilman Stanley Chang and adopted by the Council in March 2013 directed Young’s office to investigate and make recommendations for the troubled division.

The auditor’s report concluded: "The MVLP Division management and staff were not customer oriented and therefore unconcerned with providing high quality customer service to the public."

It cited department managers’ inability to provide oversight over Kamimura, largely deferring to his four decades of experience at the DMV and his recognized expertise in the field. In 2013, shortly before his retirement, Kamimura was recognized by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators with its award of excellence.

The division should have been more proactive in anticipating the delays and lengthy processing times in advance of taking on responsibility for state IDs, the audit said. Division managers even chose to not accept all nine of the transfers of state workers offered by DOT. Both Kajiwara and Kamimura said that at least initially, they did not have the information necessary to justify accepting all nine positions.

The audit reported that of 86 authorized full-time positions in the division’s driver’s license section in August 2013, there were 22 vacancies — a rate of 25.6 percent.

Kajiwara told the Star-Advertiser that as of Wednesday, there were 10 vacancies in the section. All told, the division has 15 vacancies that she continues to try to fill, she said.

A "queuing" system designed to help with waiting times for driver’s license renewal lines was installed at the Pearlridge and Koolau DMVs, but city officials failed to collect and analyze the data.

"The public perceptions of the MVLP services and operations were that city operations were inefficient and ineffective," the audit said.

The audit issued 13 recommendations to the Customer Services Department and the Motor Vehicle, Licensing and Permits Division. Among them were developing continuous in-house customer service training, establishing better communication and coordination between department brass and division managers, and providing more complete and accurate information to the public.

Praising the department’s Satellite City Hall Division, the audit also called on the licensing division to adopt its sister division’s "attitudes, practices and processes related to customer service." The audit said the department should consider merging the MVLP Division into the Satellite City Hall Division.

Kajiwara agreed with most of the auditor’s findings and recommendations. She noted that in the weeks after she and Caldwell took office, an emergency hotline was established to answer public questions about the new state ID requirements and emergency staff workers were contracted to deal with an influx of customers and questions. Cameras allowing people to view the length of lines from the DMV website were installed at all five locations in February 2013.

"Pull number" queuing systems were put in place at the Koolau and Pearlridge sites in July 2013 but put off at City Square because of a pending move, she said.

Kajiwara acknowledged "a difference in opinion and style" with Kamimura.

"Every initiative has pros and cons, and I do believe the administrator was operating under how he felt things should best be handled," she said.

Kamimura left the city on Nov. 1. The city is currently interviewing candidates for his replacement, Kajiwara said.

Kajiwara noted that the audit was conducted in phases, and that some of its information was collected when the administration was just beginning to implement some of the changes suggested by the report.

"I think in the last year, we have addressed many of these issues," she said.

The administration does not have statistics that can accurately measure how long it takes the typical customer to be processed. However, she said, observations by staff members show waiting times have increased by about three minutes since May, when the state began requiring the same proof of residency documentation for driver’s licenses that had previously only been required to obtain state IDs.

Kamimura said the audit failed to look into the reasons for the long lines, noting that both the public and DMVs are required to follow legal requirements beyond their control. The city was not unique among municipalities in experiencing longer lines caused by the change in federal and state requirements, he said.

Kamimura, pointing out that he is a retired military officer, denied blocking implementation of initiatives pushed by Kajiwara and the administration but acknowledged informing his supervisors of his concerns. Initiatives were evaluated by division administrators besides himself as well as by line supervisors, he said.

Chang, whose resolution led to the audit, said he also wasn’t surprised by the findings.

"Residents should have an organized, convenient and satisfactory customer experience," Chang said in a release. While the recom- mendations in the auditor’s report are a good starting point, Chang said he is looking into legislation that may be able to help reduce waiting times.

At the City Square DMV Thursday afternoon, the wait to process a driver’s license renewal was about two hours, according to those in line.

Waikiki residents John and Evelyn Fisher waited just under two hours — he to convert his Colorado driver’s license to a Hawaii one, she to replace her lost Hawaii license.

Evelyn Fisher said the line was much shorter than when she got her initial Hawaii driver’s license just before the New Year, an experience she estimated to be three to four hours.

"Things have definitely improved," she said.

John Fisher described his experience Thursday as "terrible," but noted that workers were friendly and informative.

Similar experiences at the DMV in Colorado, from were the couple moved several years ago, probably took a little less time.

However, they noted, at the time they did not have to follow federal requirements to provide documents that are now required across the nation.

The most popular person at the Kapalama office Thursday was not a DMV employee but police Sgt. Gerald Bento, who was stationed there primarily to keep the peace.

With no one to greet customers entering the large room containing four different sections and confusing signage, more than eight out of 10 people singled out the uniformed Bento to ask for directions. He obliged without hesitation.

A table with a DMV employee assigned to direct customers and check documents was eliminated several months ago. Instead, documents are now verified by employees servicing the Driver License Services line.

To see the full auditor’s report, go to http://bit.ly/1txIxzr.