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City webpage set to route concerns

The city has set up a protocol for its webpage that when open to the public will direct residents’ complaints to departments that can best handle them, allowing residents to track the progress of corrective action while enabling staff to avoid duplication of effort caused when residents make multiple calls.

“(The) implementation of the “Citizens Request for Action Module will increase efficiencies, eliminate re­dundancy and improve trans­parency for, and re­sponsiveness to, the public,” said Mayor Matt Pacifico this week in his “state of the city” address.

The protocol is working already, but available only in-house, according to In­formation Technology Dir­ector Victor Curfman.

Users fill out an online form that employs decision-tree logic to direct the complaint or concern via email to the proper city department — or if the issue is not a city matter, to notify the user what agency to contact to handle the problem, Curfman said.

The status of the complaint — who is handling it and what has been done so far — can be tracked by staff, which can keep complainants apprised, if complainants provide their contact information, Curf­man said.

The system will prevent duplication of effort that occurs when citizens call in a problem, grow frustrated at the response and call multiple times, expressing their concern with multiple staffers who may not be aware that other staffers have heard about it, according to Curfman and city clerk Linda Rickens Schell­hammer.

The protocol is part of the city’s new Management In­formation System, Curfman said.

The new system could be a way to notify the city about potholes, blighted buildings, high grass, piled-up trash, issues with animals, bushes blocking sightlines for motorists at intersections or streetlight bulbs that aren’t working.

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