Improvements in 311 response: still has a ways to go

Years ago I "complained" in a blog entry that the way the city reported on citizen service "requests" through the 311 system was inadequate, because the report merely said the item was "closed" with no information on disposition.

With two requests over the last couple months I see one big improvement, but problems still exist.

Not only has the notice been reformatted to be more like a letter, they have added a new field "Case Closure Comment."

In May I reported an abandoned likely stolen vehicle on the next block.  The car was moved, but the service request "case comment" was gobbledygook.  Likely what it is saying is that someone else reported this as well, and they already or were in the process of responding.

They should say that. Still, compared to having no comment line reporting on what happened, this is a step forward.

Just yesterday, I reported a dead animal in the street.  The response "comment" was more direct, that the "item," in this case a possum, was picked up.  That's direct and easy to understand.  (Sadly, it's so direct because likely I'm the only person who reported it, and it wasn't even in front of my house.)

Interestingly at first the city employee couldn't find the possum and called us, since I included my phone number on the request.  I went out there, showed him where it had been--you could still see the mark on the street and tufts of animal hair--and then he noticed that it was moved off the street, likely by another animal who fed off it.

=====
Last year, I was somewhat dismissive about the city's touting its use of a grant to fund a center on innovation in public services on "form redesign."

-- "Five new forms: is that all you've got?"

But it is important.

But I am not so content to take pride in helping to foment such change, when it isn't second order change (Change: Principles of Problem Formation and Problem Formation).