Marshall, MI (September 29, 2011) - Today, Director of Public Services Carl Fedders announces a new partnership that will allow residents to report non-emergency issues and request city services through an online and mobile platform. Powered by SeeClickFix, the place-based reporting platform allows residents to document neighborhood concerns and improvements alike, ranging from potholes and graffiti to tree requests and broken streetlights.
“With this comprehensive and accessible platform, we’re able to increase our efficiency when responding to constituent service requests and improve the city’s infrastructure along the way,” Fedders said. “More important, we’re hoping SeeClickFix will empower our citizens to become actively engaged with each other, their neighborhoods, and local government.”
Through SeeClickFix, residents can report quality-of-life concerns through service request categories via the city web site, custom mobile phone applications (iPhone, Android, Blackberry), SeeClickFix.com, and/or the SeeClickFix Facebook app. 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 reporter, the city, and anyone ‘watching’ the area will receive alerts. The city of Marshall can then acknowledge the service request, route it to the proper department, and update the request—and residents following the issue—once it’s been resolved.
“We expect a very positive response from our citizens because SeeClickFix will not only highlight the city’s emphasis on holding itself accountable, but also help improve the quality of life for citizens,” said Tom Tarkiewicz, City Manager. “It will further enhance the lines of communication between local government and the citizens it serves.
The partnership allows residents to not only report community issues, but also view, comment on, and vote to fix problems submitted by others through SeeClickFix’s interactive maps. Citizens can even create their own “watch areas” to receive notifications about all issues reported in their neighborhood or city, enabling them to follow the progress of all service requests and not just the ones they report.
“We’re excited to see how Marshall promotes citizen involvement and enacts offline results with our technology,” said Ben Berkowitz, SeeClickFix CEO. “With the online and mobile platform, we place the power directly in the hands of the city’s residents.”
The Marshall SeeClickFix website can be found
here and residents can download iPhone, Android, and Blackberry apps
here.
Staff will be presenting more information to City council at the October 3rd work session at six PM inside the council chambers located at 323 W. Michigan Avenue.
About SeeClickFixSeeClickFix 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. Over 40 percent of issues reported on SeeClickFix are ultimately resolved. For more information or to report an issue, visit www.seeclickfix.com.
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