Canton, OH April 30th, 2013 - Today, the City of Canton announces a new program that will allow residents to report quality-of-life issues and request Canton’s services through an online and mobile interface. Powered by SeeClickFix, the place-based reporting platform allows residents to document neighborhood concerns and improvements alike, ranging from litter and flooding to damaged sidewalks and malfunctioning traffic signals.

“The City’s IT Department has done a great job at getting this up and running. With the online and mobile reporting platform, residents can report quality-of-life concerns through service request categories via the City of Canton’s website, mobile applications (iPhone, Android, Windows, Blackberry), and SeeClickFix.com," explained Patrick Barton, IT Director for the City of Canton. "When submitting issues via mobile app, for example, residents can provide locational, descriptive, and photographic information as they see the issue in real time. Once the resident submits an issue, the request originator, the City of Canton, and anyone ‘watching’ the issue will receive an alert. The City of Canton can then acknowledge the service request by routing it to the proper department, update the request, and ultimately resolve the request, thus alerting residents following the issue.”

The partnership allows residents to report community issues, as well as view, comment on, and vote to fix problems submitted by their neighbors. Citizens can even create their own “watch areas” to receive notifications about all issues reported in their community, enabling them to follow the progress of all service requests---not just the ones they report. The City of Canton’s Service Request website can be found at https://cantonohio.gov/servicerequests and residents can download iPhone, Android, Windows, and Blackberry apps. For citizens that prefer to call in their issues, a newly created citizen request number can be used by dialing 330 430-0311. The caller will be given the option to choose a department or leave a recorded message. 

My high school classmate and SeeClickFix user, Dan Kops, just tipped me off to an amazing interview with popular rapper Waka Flocka which all but mentions SeeClickFix.

The interview is here and to follow is the relevant part of the interview between Boombox reporter Cameron Matthews and Waka. While I personally appreciate FBombs as a form of emphasis I realize that some youngsters read our blog so I did blackout some of the language. Read the plain text do get the full effect.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Cameron in Bold. Waka not in Bold)
Is that going to be on your presidential platform?
Yeah, possible. That and fuckin' taxes. God damn ... Fuckin' taxes be killin' you. You can make a thousand dollars and after taxes, that's damn near $600. Who the fuck is gettin' my money?

But Waka, you're helping make roads and stuff.
Right right, but not in New York. That shit is dangerous. You see people's hubcaps flyin' off in the fuckin' street. His brother [points to a friend] was driving and hit a pothole. His fuckin' wheel flew [off]. I can't go for that. They need to fix it. If they take my tax dollars in New York, they gotta fix that. I'm complainin'.

You should complain. There's an App for that.
What?

You take a picture of the pothole...

Get the fuck out.

And then it goes to the government...
That'd be hard though.

I'm serious.

You dead serious?

It geo-locates your photo, so it uses the GPS in your phone and then they find out where the pot hole is and within like, five days, they go there and they fill it.
Seriously. Yo, we need that shit in New Jersey.

New Partners

The past few months have been great, as we've been proud to announce a ton of new partners who are out there effecting change and communicating with their citizens. Albuquerque, New Mexico launched ABQ 311. San Francisco City Attorney launched UP2CODE app. The list goes on, as we'd like to welcome: Patton Township, PA, Claremont, NC, Greensboro, NC, Eden Prairie, MN, Saint Paul, MN, Cote Saint-Luc, Quebec, New Westminster, BC, Albany, NY, and Canton, OH.







New Features for Government

We've been busy producing even more useful tools for governments to manage even more thoroughly and precisely.

• Reverse 311s: Governments now have complete control over how they communicate crucial community information to citizens. By adding notifications to map widgets as well as directly emailing registered citizens, you can directly get out information when you need to. From street closings to meeting notices, make sure everyone is informed.
• Internal-Only Service Requests: Based on popular demand, we've added the ability for municipalities to harness service requests that are only visible internally. From city staff in the office to field workers reporting and managing issues, SeeClickFix is an even more robust tracking system for all types of work orders. You can even include secondary questions to really dial in on internal reports. 
• More Info for Closed Service Requests: Secondary questions are helpful when trying to glean info when a service request is added, but getting details about closed service requests is just as important. You can now add secondary questions to be filled out whenever a request is closed. For example, if a graffiti request was closed by a staff member, they have the option to explain that it was removed, partially scrubbed, or that it wasn't in the location they were told. More info = more efficiency. 

Spread the Word

Looking to increase the use of SeeClickFix in your city or town but not sure where to start? Look no further than our partners St. Charles, MO and Eden Prairie, MN! Both cities have leveraged the reach of their resident newsletters for encouraging locals to use our web and mobile tools. Whether you're introducing SeeClickFix to residents for the first time, announcing new service requests, or simply reminding everyone of the fastest way to report and resolve concerns, your newsletter is a great place to get the word out. 

How does your city market SeeClickFix to residents? Interested in marketing but not sure where to get started? Contact us today and let us lend a hand! 


Welcome, Julie!

Last but not least, we're excited to announce the newest member of the SeeClickFix team: Julie Ramaccia. If you're a government client of SeeClickFix, you'll be getting to know Julie well over the coming months as she joins us as our newest Account Manager.

• Report areas of your neighborhood that could use a clean-up.
• Make your neighborhood more interesting by reporting suggestions for murals, trees, benches and other public amenities. If you’re looking for some help to raise money for a project let us know and we’ll help you with the fundraising.
• Search your neighborhood SeeClickFix page for words like "garbage" and comment on the issue that you’d like to organize a clean-up.

Today we're thrilled to announce something huge for all SeeClickFixers out there: major updates to our mobile apps for iOS and Android! These long-awaited new releases bring a ton of great features for both citizens and governments alike.

For citizens:

The ability to take and upload videos on the fly, right while you report an issue. This helps you give a totally clear report of issues you catch while they're in action.

Additionally, after listening to your feedback, we've included the ability to report an issue anonymously from the apps. It has long been a feature on SeeClickFix on the web, and now you can send in reports from anywhere, without having to attach your name.

SeeClickFix is excited to announce another great new city partner today: Eden Prairie, Minnesota! Coming in as the fourth city in Minnesota to partner with SeeClickFix, we're proud to help them provide great tools for their citizens to report issues on-the-go with EP SeeClickFix. 

The weather here is getting beautiful, and it's just in time for this weekend's main event: the 5th Annual Rock 2 Rock Earth Day Ride in New Haven. Just in time for Earth Day, this huge group event raises support for more than 20 local green groups.

Check out what they have to say:

The 5th Annual Rock to Rock Earth Day Ride
2 rocks - 1000 riders - 21 organizations - 1 cause

Saturday, April 20th, 2013 - New Haven, Connecticut

www.rocktorock.org

Join us for New Haven's largest Earth Day Celebration: You and about a thousand of your neighbors travel from West Rock and East Rock, with celebrations on both sides of the city. Along the way, eat tasty food, hear great music, take on environmental service projects, and explore our city's parks and neighborhoods. Choose between 8, 20, and 60 mile routes.

All Are Welcome: Families and college students, serious riders and weekend warriors are all part of Rock to Rock. Join our rock band & register now.  

Create A Greener, Healthier Community: Rock to Rock raises support for more than 20 local environmental groups -- working together to get thousands of city kids outside, sustain our community's parks, greenspaces and community gardens, create green jobs, get healthy food to those who need it most, fight for clean air and water, and more. 

Are you planning to ride this weekend?

Recently I told you about Chicago's PotholePalooza, a three-day event getting people to help report potholes in preparation for the upcoming slew of fixes this spring. Now, Oakland Mayor Jean Quan has  upped the ante: she's calling a city-wide Pothole Blitz!

She says:

Every year in late April, the city does a "Pothole Blitz" where we often rely on residents to provide the locations of some of the worst potholes. The blitz starts April 29th and goes until June 6th. If there are some that you have been noticing, now is the time to report them.

There are three ways to report potholes, but as she says, her "favorite" way is to use the SeeClickFix app for iPhone or for Android. So download the app, start reporting, and get the lingering winter potholes taken care of.

Though we haven't talked much about projects here on SeeClickFix, they're one of the most interesting features community groups are using to enact hyperlocal change that wouldn't otherwise get done.

As always, school budgets are tighter than ever which affects students of all types. This AP Environmental Studies class counts its members at only 10, yet they have big plans to study and improve Beaver Pond Park here in New Haven. With the chance for college credit as well as potential for huge, sustainable improvement this is a really great--and really inexpensive--project to help education and the environment here in New Haven.

All it takes is a couple of bucks (like, cheaper than a Subway sandwich) and these hopeful kids will be able to work on projects like:

• Eradicate the invasive species Japanese Knotweed to free up areas of land for planting of species that support butterflies, birds & small mammals.

• Test Beaver Ponds Park for unhealthy water chemistry through the seasons. Test for pH,  Nitrate, Phosphate etc.. Materials needed: testing kits have been donated, but consumable testing chemicals must be replenished.

• Bring bluebirds back to Beaver Ponds Park. Materials needed: wood and supplies for building bird houses.  

The City of Chicago just announced their "Potholepalooza", a three-day event to get as many reports of potholes as possible this weekend. Despite having already addressed over 20,000 potholes in Chicago the first week of April alone, they want to step it up. So this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, report your heart out through SeeClickFix.

#Potholepalooza is like any weekend festival, but about potholes. Use #open311 app @seeclickfix to report via phone: bit.ly/Z6CWg4
— ChicagoMayorsOffice (@ChicagosMayor) April 5, 2013

And just as awesome is the city's press release they put out about #Potholepalooza, cleverly written like the press release for a music festival like, say, Chicago's Lollapalooza:

This weekend, if you are motorist or a Motörhead, participate in the first-ever “Potholepalooza,”  the Chicago Department of Transportation’s (CDOT) call to Chicagoans to report as many street potholes as possible.  Then watch the show next week as CDOT has The Cure for your Moody Blues and fills all of the potholes reported from Friday, April 5 through Sunday April 6 so that your car doesn’t do the Harlem Shake and give you Divine Fits.

So if you're in Chicago, do it right by downloading the app and get started reporting. We have Android, too!

It’s been a long winter for a lot of us. Now that spring is here, neighborhoods have cleaning and beautification on their minds. From enjoying group bike rides to starting their own NeighborDay, get your friends on SeeClickFix to start reporting issues like these: 

When a cyclist hit an elevated crack in the road (and took a pavement-dive in the process), a concerned passerby took a photo of the scene, reported it, and got the whole thing fixed in less than a week.




You wouldn’t leave trash laying around your house, so why let it lay around your neighborhood? 





Just as you might make your house spic-and-span, cities are cleaning up graffiti. Are you reporting graffiti in your neighborhood?





In a lot of places, house maintenance can’t really begin until the winter weather ends. Though a neighbor thought this house was falling into disrepair, both LCI and the owner, Sergeant Lombardi, came together to confirm that work would be starting, well, a few hours ago.


Looking out for each other, citizens of New Haven are once again getting things done and coming together to get new bike racks installed.






Our government highlight of the week is the City Attorney of San Francisco, Dennis Herrera. Launching their up app UP2CODE, powered by SeeClickFix. This app encourages residents and code enforcement to proactively improve neighborhoods and protect the health and safety for all those who live in San Francisco.



Live in San Francisco, or know someone who does? Get the app and tell your friends and neighbors. 

New 311 App Engages Community via Technology 

Cost-saving initiative creates new venue for citizens to self-report issues

Albuquerque, NM (April 4, 2013) - The Citizen’s 311 center is expanding its services to accommodate service requests 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

ABQ311 is an application accessible on iOS and Android platforms, as well as online, allowing residents to report graffiti, weeds, or potholes through smartphones or computers. This application provides a venue for service with no wait time or worries.

“This is about creating innovated approaches to every day issues,” Mayor Richard J. Berry said. “Not only does this improve efficiencies within the City, but it provides a platform for addressing community issues with cost-effective technology. Through this new service, Albuquerque continues to show its progress as a technological and innovative leader in the Southwest and the nation.”

Once ABQ311 has received 6,000 reports, the program will have paid for itself. Recently, the city of Los Angeles paid about $150,000 for a similar application; the City of Albuquerque paid much less, about $13,000 to launch ABQ311.

SeeClickFix is a national leader that partnered with the city to launch the tool. "SeeClickFix is thrilled to have partnered with the City of Albuquerque in expanding access and improving delivery of services available through their 311 Citizen Contact Center," said Ben Berkowitz, CEO and Co-Founder of SeeClickFix. "The ABQ 311 app is an excellent example of how innovation and open communication in local government benefit both residents and city staff alike." 

The following issues can be reported through ABQ 311:

• Weed complaints
• Potholes
• Abandoned vehicles
• Large item pick up
• Missed trash pick-up
• Request for a residential trash container
• Lost animals
• Graffiti

SAN FRANCISCO (April 1, 2013) -- City Attorney Dennis Herrera today launched a new smartphone app that offers San Francisco residents an easy way to report and track non-emergency code enforcement and nuisance issues. Herrera's Code Enforcement Team has long maintained a code enforcement telephone hotline to enable neighborhood residents to report violations of housing, building, police and other local and state health and safety codes, but with the popularity of smartphones, the new mobile app leverages the latest in communication technology to improve government responsiveness and transparency.

Over a year ago, Herrera initiated a move to explore more innovative, user-friendly ways for the community to report and track municipal code and state law violations utilizing smartphone technology. The result is the UP2CODE smartphone app and web widget (web page) that is now available to residents via iPhone, Android and any browser with an internet connection.

"UP2CODE is an easy way for San Franciscans to report and track code enforcement issues to my office," said Herrera. "It encourages residents to be proactive by using the on-the-go smartphone app to combine efforts to improve neighborhoods and protect health and safety. Thank you to the community groups who helped test the app last year and provided feedback which refined the app. It's one tool we can all use to make San Francisco a safer and beautiful place to call home."

The UP2CODE app was developed to interact with SF311, San Francisco's citywide call and information center. The app utilizes mobile phone camera and global positioning system, or GPS, technology to streamline and coordinate code violation reporting with corresponding city departments. SeeClickFix, the New Haven, Conn.-based mobile application developer, worked in partnership with City Attorney staff to customize the app for San Francisco's codes and neighborhoods.

Data collected is used to better build code violation lawsuits, collect evidence and speed up remedies of nuisance code violations. It will help other city leaders, department heads and agencies better identify and prioritize code enforcement issues. In an effort to strive for transparency in City government, much of the data collected is accessible to app users in near-real-time. Reported violations are viewable on interactive maps, as is the status of each individual report. Users can even use advance features to set up "watch areas" -- from a single block to an entire neighborhood -- to monitor all reports within a specific geographic area.

For more information (including important safety tips), social media plug-ins, and to use the web widget, visit: http://www.UP2CODE.org.

To download the UP2CODE app on your mobile device visit:
 • The App Store for iPhones, or
• Google Play for Android

The Office of the City Attorney's Code Enforcement Team coordinates the efforts of the Building, Health, Planning, Public Works, Fire and Police Departments to identify and respond effectively to health and safety and other public nuisance issues in San Francisco's neighborhoods. When a code violation is reported, the Code Enforcement Team responds by coordinating the investigation and abatement process by the relevant city agencies and, when necessary, pursuing additional remedies against violators through civil court action.

 The City Attorney's Community Relations Division is available to make UP2CODE presentations and conduct group trainings on how to use the app and its numerous functions. Contact Jen Drake, Deputy Director, Community Relations at jen.drake@sfgov.org or (415) 554-4695.