* Warning: This is an unofficial, introductory copy of the bill.
The official copy considered by the City Council is the first reader copy.
Introductory*
City of Baltimore
Council Bill R
(Resolution)
Introduced by: Councilmember Pinkett
A Resolution Entitled
A Council Resolution concerning
title
Informational Hearing: “Closed Means Closed” - Clarifying 311 Services’ Approach to Resolving Requests
For the purpose of inviting representatives from 311 Services, the Department of Public Works, the Department of Transportation, and the Department of Housing and Community Development, the Department of Recreation and Parks, BGE, and the Mayor’s Office of Performance and Innovation to appear before the City Council to discuss the effectiveness of 311 resolving complaints and referring tasks to other agencies.
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Recitals
Baltimore pioneered the use of centralized call centers for non-emergency complaints, as the first city to launch a 311 service in 1996, that went on to serve as a nationwide model. The expansion of 311 to include a much broader range of services around the turn of the century, under Mayor Martin O’Malley, and the introduction of a free 311 smartphone app for reporting and tracking service requests continued Baltimore’s path-breaking role in the field. During its existence, the 311 system has created over 13,000,000 service requests on behalf of Baltimore City residents, businesses, and visitors.
However, citizens still raise concerns about the efficiency of 311’s centralized complaint system and their ability to track the City’s progress towards resolving complaints. Some feel that the current system does not provide sufficient transparency as to who is responsible for a particular complaint or exactly what has been done to “close” a service request. In other instances, citizens are simply not made aware of what tools are available for tracking service requests and are left in the dark about the results of their calls.
All of this raises the simple question - is 311 working? How many service requests are satisfactorily resolved and how many instead go unanswered or are “closed” by the system but then require follow-up requests by residents who aren’t satisfied by the initial response? When service requests are referred to other City agencies, are customers connected to the proper people at those agencies to follow-up on their requests? Does 311 Services make repeated efforts, if necessary, to determine whether agencies have fulfilled service requests? If 311 Services directs a service request to the wrong agency, does it have a system in place so that similar service requests will be reported to the correct agency in the future? The City Council is interested in learning the answers to these and similar questions at an informational hearing.
Now, therefore, be it resolved by the City Council of Baltimore, That the Baltimore City Council invites representatives from 311 Services, the Department of Public Works, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Housing and Community Development, the Department of Recreation and Parks, BGE, and the Mayor’s Office of Performance and Innovation to appear before the City Council to discuss the effectiveness of 311 resolving complaints and referring tasks to other agencies.
And be it further resolved, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to the Director of 311 Services, Director of the Department of Public Works, Director of the Department of Transportation, the Commissioner of the Department of Housing and Community Development, the City Arborist, BGE’s Vice President of Support Services, the Director of the Mayor’s Office of Performance and Innovation, and the Mayor’s Legislative Liaison to the City Council.