Yo, Mike! Yo, Al!: Make city agencies accountable

Aug. 26, 2007
The Philadelphia Inquirer

Yo, Mike! Yo, Al! The one thing I need you to do is ...

Aaron Goldblatt and Laura Foster
Philadelphia

Yo, what we really need you to do is . . . get the city agencies to work - through direct public accountability.

Every city agency has smart, committed, capable staff. Every agency also has rude, disengaged staff. When confronted with the latter, citizens have no credible recourse and often throw up their hands in frustration. There is a pervasive lack of professionalism and public accountability by city employees.

People rely on constituent services from City Council because they see no other viable method for fixing problems. This is poor public policy and drives City Council to act as retail vendors for city services.

The Mayor and City Council should be focusing on creative, systemic solutions to the challenges that face Philadelphia and citizens should be able to depend on the city agencies to do their jobs.

Appoint an ombudsman for each city agency, who reports to the director of that agency, whose job is to field complaints.

The ombudsmen should understand the services and operations of their departments and they should be empowered to take action on behalf of citizens – to resolve problems and to set the highest standard of customer service.

 

---

 

I remember calling the Department of Licenses & Inspection and being put on hold for 15 minutes. I wasn't happy about that. Taxpayers have a right to expect service from city agencies. We pay their salaries. We pay their benefits. We're entitled to be treated decently.

Now, you're reading this and saying, "Can you fixthis?" I don't know. But I'm hopeful. I'm willing to try. The managing director is supposed to be on top of this. I'll be calling my managing director and saying, "Are we taking care of people? We just installed a monitoring system. Is it working?"

She would probably tell me about all the fires she's putting out, and about how busy she is. I would tell her we're being paid to serve the people. (I'm sure she'll get the messsage.)

I have a great deal of curiosity about how thingswork, and I like to meet people. So, I'll make the effort to visit every city office and facility. Nothing would be off limits. Even the Sanitation Convenience Centers like the one at 1600 S. 51st St.

Places like this perform a vital service and I want to make sure people are being taken care of.

I intend to hold meetings in each councilmanic district on a regular basis. My commissioners would accompany me and concerned citizens would get a quick response to their questions. If commissioners couldn't give an immediate answer, they'd be expected to get back with answers within a week.

I have to believe the city has honest, dedicated employees. They just have to be motivated.

The ombudsman suggestion is a good one, but I'm going to try to do everything I can to get the public better service before I spend additional taxpayer dollars.

 

---

 

This is a great issue that you've raised. We need to change the relationship between public officials and the people they serve.

Philadelphians make an investment in their city through tax dollars and they expect a return on that investment in the form of high-quality city services.

City government must be in the business of providing superior customer service to the people of Philadelphia. If I am elected mayor, we will develop a customer service training program for all public employees, making public satisfaction with city services a priority.

Just last month I visited Baltimore and had the opportunity to see "Citistat", a program which gives government managers and citizens the ability to track the performance of city departments and analyze responses to complaints and service requests. We need a similar system in Philadelphia, which will allow me and other government managers measure government service delivery. creating a "real time" report card for city services and workers.

Last week I was in Chicago where I learned about their 3-1-1 system, a telephone number people can use to contact public officials a non-emergency. Need information about a traffic closing? Call 3-1-1. Want to report a leaking fire hydrant? Call 3-1-1. Cat in a tree? Call 3-1-1.

In Philadelphia we only have the 9-1-1 system which many people unfortunately use for non-emergencies. Non-emergency use of the 9-1-1 system takes away from valuable police resources that must be directed at fighting crime. The 3-1-1 system provides an all-purpose point of contact. I am committed to implementing this system here.

We need to change the culture of government. If elected Mayor, I will work with City Council to bring 3-1-1 and Citistat to Philadelphia.