A Village 14 reader writes..
I moved to Newton from Cambridge a year ago, and I was pleased to hear there is a 311 system and especially that it’s connected to SeeClickFix.com. I’ve used it quite a bit and appreciate that I can open a ticket about an issue and have it routed to the right person.
But I’ve noticed that the 311 center frequently closes requests without any resolution indicated.
For example, I noticed this one on SeeClickFix recently: https://seeclickfix.com/
I also submitted one via 311 online (ref W241582-090517), where all I received was an “issue closed” notification, but no indication of what happened. (I can’t tell that anything has been fixed on that issue, by the way.)
What is the process for closing issues and ensuring the requester knows what happened? What do you do if the issue can’t be resolved? Is there an “unresolved but closed” status?
I has a similar experience with the online app this summer. I had requested curb pick-up of my old gas grill, followed the automated directions to leave it at the curb on trash day. Trash day came and went, my grill was not picked up but I revived a second automated email, saying my ticket was closed.
It was only after making placing a second request did I learn that I needed to pay a pickup fee in advance, information that was never included as part of the standard automated process.
They close issues often without explanation (or “no problem found”), and that’s really annoying. Or they might tell you “It’s state property, contact them”, as if a pothole on Route 9 is your personal problem. And good luck with any correspondence after the request is closed.
Here’s the thing with SeeClickFix and 311: When you use SeeClickFix, the request gets forwarded to Newton’s 311 system, but from then on, you won’t see the progress on SeeClickFix, only on the Newton system. On SeeClickFix you will only see the acknowledgement that Newotn has received your request. That is unlike other cities, where everything is tracked on SeeClickFix. If you ever report anything in Needham, for example, you will clearly see the difference. Requests cannot be closed arbitrarily, and everything is publicly visible and transparent. Compare that to Newton’s atrocious 311 mobile app. Newton should switch to full integration with SeeClickFix (AKA Commonwealth Connect).
Just as much of a concern — there’s no “reopen” button if the issue is not resolved, so if one were keeping score, those tickets and any subsequent duplicates were all successfully resolved. For an executive who strives for a data-driven city, these stats aren’t going to provide any meaningful data.
Overall, my experiences with 311 have been decent but usually I’ve had to use it for missed garbage pickups. However, this past winter I reported a city-owned sidewalk for not being cleared after a snowstorm. Nothing happened for a week or two, and then we had a pretty big thaw so all of the snow melted, clearing the sidewalks. I received a notice saying that my report had been resolved. No thanks to the city!
No that’s impossible. The 311 system is perfect and that’s why we never need ward councilors to help us navigate City Hall. Or at least that’s what the Charter Commission has been telling us!
I would like to hope that when one of our elected leaders hears about a problem constituents have with a taxpayer funded technology that works well in other communities, her first reaction would be “I’m going to look into this and see how this system can become more accountable to residents” as opposed saying “See this is why you shouldn’t vote me out of a job.”
Ticketing “complaint” systems are a great tool for any business to use. They provide data and tracking to ensure issues are resolved and to track repeats fo the same issue so you can quickly identify what is causing the most noise and get those issues resolved. It can also create a known issue database and eventually if the system is intelligent enough automate the process, so when you as a customer open a ticket it bypasses a person who assigns the ticket to the department that will make the fix.
However the ticket system is just a tool. In the background their needs to be an underlying process flow like ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) which directs the ticket step by step until it is resolved. The 311 system is still fairly new and the process flow behind it may not be fully developed. Additionally each group who could possibly be tasked to do work via a ticket would need access and notifications so they are aware when the is a queue of work to be done, then they in turn do the work and resolve the issue. The reason there is no reopen button is that when you reopen an issue it should be handled differently that the original issue because it was not fixed the first time. It lends itself to trending of a key metric with a system like this called FTR or first time right. Basically how many times did it take us to fix the issue. Most companies shoot for an FTR of 92%-93%. I would bet if 311 or the city tracked and published these numbers people might be surprised how well the city performs.
However I am just speculating, I would need to see numbers from the city.
Emily is correct in that if an issue is not resolved after using the 311 system your Ward Councilor is always available to find out what may be delaying things.
I have NEVER used the 311 system. I pick up the phone and call Newton city hall and have ALWAYS gotten my issues resolved. Maybe those of you having issues should try it – it might save you some time and aggravation.
I use the 311 system and I call City Hall when I have an issue that needs to be addressed. Both approaches work are effective in resolving issues,
Ugh – Both approaches are effective in resolving issues.
@Greg
Emily didn’t make it about “her” job, but the role of Ward Councilor.
I wish you and others (e.g. Bryan) would stop assuming the worst of people’s intentions. Defending the role is different than self-interest.
Its unproductive discourse on an important issue.
When I use SeeClickFix in other communities (which by the way is its strength: report anything to the right place, anywhere), I get cordial and informative feedback. “Thanks for your report (Mayor’s office)”, “Forwarded to the water department”, “crews had already been addressed because of another call and fixed the problem this afternoon”.
It makes the effort of reporting random problems more rewarding.
Yes, you can call things in to City Hall, but you can’t send a picture easily, you can’t compose your thoughts as easily. Plus it doesn’t scale as well as a system where those who want to enter issues directly, can. I am very happy the city hall option exists.
Can someone post a thread on the upcoming teardown of the Bullough’s Pond skating hut?
There are a lot of oldtimers who miss the days of skating on the pond. What a shame that the city couldn’t find a way to maintain and save it.
@Fig: I’m not familiar with this, please share details using “contact” on the top right corner.
That’s a great question. Yes, I have noticed that occur too.
Have you looked into the “Details” of the ticket to see what feedback there is?
In general the 311 is getting better and better. We use it all the time not just for trash but when we see a street light out, when street signs are not clear and require clarity, or missing, a sign needs to be moved for safety’s sake, the city’s website has some misinformation or navigation issues, and on and on. Recently I saw ivy strangling several large city trees in a prominent place and ticketed that too, and soon the ivy was cut down, thereby saving the trees. I’ll generally submit a photo and when more than one photo is necessary, I put them into a .pdf and upload that single file. Hence I love the online version with that capability. But yes, this I’ve noticed lately.
What I do when this occurs, when the issue is actually NOT resolved, is email Mr. Garrett Ross at City Hall and explain the situation. He looks into it and can investigate and open the case back up if warranted. In fact he just did that for an item I submitted this morning (and I know of somebody whose case was reopened a few weeks ago by the same process). Sometimes just replying and submitting your feedback to the ticket (click “details”) will help reopen it, but when that fails, I contact Mr. Ross.
Why has this been happening? Best I can guess is that these departments know the Mayor stays on top of them for what has not been done, wanting to know why, etc., – which is why the 311 is so effective – and so they think that closing out a ticket even though the actual work has not been done will look good for the stats. It’s just a guess.
Yesterday I submitted a SeeClickFix request for a sidewalk section pulled up 2-3 inches by a Norway maple. Got a message in the afternoon saying it was closed.
Checked it this morning, and sure enough, it had been patched with asphalt. Nothing permanent (I hope) or ADA compliant, but a quick response and fix. And it’s in the system so hopefully it can be dealt with permanently sometime.
@Greg: Keep hope alive!
The 311 system and the SeeClickFix feature are extremely important to us. Since we implemented the system, we have been committed to improving performance for our residents whether requests are entered online or through calls made to Customer Service. This thread is helpful to the City as we strive to continue to make improvements, including researching how systems work in other communities. Jim McGonagle, Commissioner of DPW, actively engages in ongoing evaluation of the program and would welcome feedback from residents at [email protected].
@Dori Zaleznik, thank you for your comment. Please please please take a look at SeeClickFix and how it works in Needham.