Swampscott, Mass. (July 22, 2011) – The Town of Swampscott announces a new partnership with an online reporting platform that enables residents to submit non-emergency problems and request public services. Powered by SeeClickFix, the place-based reporting platform allows citizens to document neighborhood concerns and improvements alike, ranging from potholes and graffiti to barking dogs and streetlights being out.

“The goal of this partnership is to encourage residents and town officials to stay engaged with what’s happening in our community,” said Town Treasurer / Collector Denise Dembkoski. “We’re hoping to leverage the technology we have – cell phones, iPads, etc. – to not only improve communication between citizens and local government, but to improve our town services overall.”

With the online reporting platform, residents can report quality-of-life concerns directly to the town through custom service request categories via the Town of Swampscott website, SeeClickFix.com, or mobile applications for iPhone, Android and Blackberry. The platform allows citizens to provide additional information about the issue by adding a detailed description or including a photograph in their report. Once someone submits an issue, both the reporter and the town of Swampscott will receive an email notification. The local government can then acknowledge the service request, route it to the proper department, and update the issue page once it’s been resolved. All updates on issues reported through SeeClickFix are displayed publicly, allowing Swampscott to quickly and easily inform citizens of their progress.

“SeeClickFix will empower residents to become an integral part of the identification, prioritization and resolution of quality-of-life issues in Swampscott,” said Dembkoski. “Since the system encourages active participation from both government and citizens to efficiently address community issues, everyone wins. “

In addition to enhanced citizen reporting, Swampscott’s partnership with SeeClickFix also allows residents to view, comment on, and vote to fix problems submitted by others in the community. Citizens can even create their own “watch areas” to receive notifications about issues reported throughout the town or just in their neighborhood, enabling them to follow the progress of all service requests.

“SeeClickFix provides local governments with the tools needed to efficiently and transparently solve community issues, but the fixes come from engaged communities that collaborate to get stuff done,” said Ben Berkowitz, CEO of SeeClickFix. “We’re proud to be partnering with a town as committed to civic engagement as Swampscott and look forward to seeing how our online platform impacts their offline community.”

The SeeClickFix Swampscott website can be found here: http://seeclickfix.com/swampscott and residents can download iPhone, Android, and Blackberry apps here: http://www.seeclickfix.com/apps

About SeeClickFix

SeeClickFix allows citizens anywhere in the world to report and monitor non-emergency community issues ranging from potholes and planted trees to garbage and graffiti. Launched in 2008, it empowers citizens, community groups, media organizations, and governments to work together and improve their neighborhoods. Through mobile web, web, iPhone, Android, and Blackberry apps, the SeeClickFix platform is the most widely-distributed citizen reporting tool in the country. The platform is fun and easy to use for citizens while being inexpensive and easily adaptable for governments. SeeClickFix supports the Open311 standard that promotes improved communication between citizens and their local government. Over 50 percent of issues reported on SeeClickFix are ultimately resolved. For more information or to report an issue, visit www.seeclickfix.com.