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Mayor Slay uses Twitter to ask for change at a city department he controls

Author:Steve Patterson December 7th, 2009

I’m a huge advocate of elected officials using Twitter to communicate with constituents.  But for Mayor Slay to use Twitter to suggest a change in a department under his authority seems odd:

If I could text complaints to the CSB, I could attach photos taken by my phone. How about it, CSB? #fgs 6:16pm, Dec 03 from TwitterBerry

Many of Mayor Slay’s tweets are written by staff but I’ve been told by his staff that tweets with the hashtag “#fgs” are by Mayor Slay himself.

Mayor Slay's Twitter profile pic

Mayor Slay's Twitter profile pic

CSB is the Citizens’ Service Bureau:

The Citizens’ Service Bureau is the customer service department for the City of St. Louis. Citizens may contact the Citizens’ Service Bureau to register complaints or compliments regarding City services or neighborhood concerns using the form provided at right.

I like that the mayor wants to make it easier for some of us to communicate a problem to the bureaucrats in city hall but I’m disturbed at the method he is using to express this to the bureaucrats under his control and located next door at City Hall.  The mayor’s office is room 200 and the CSB is room 234.  And asking rather than pulling together the staff to make change happen.  My guess is it was just a show to look like he was on top of the latest technology.

How can I register a complaint with the Citizens’ Service Bureau?

Call (314) 622-4800 Monday through Friday between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm and your call will be answered by a Citizens’ Service Representative or Click here to request City services electronically.

So the CSB has a weekday phone number and an online form.  I agree with the mayor that being able to send pictures would be helpful but texting of pictures seems very old fashioned. If the mayor wanted to really move St. Louis forward he’d forget texting pictures, he’d contact Boston’s Mayor Menino about licensing their technology that was announced back in July:

Boston City Hall, a drab concrete monument to 1960s Brutalism run by a self-described urban mechanic who despises voice mail, isn’t exactly known as a hotbed of technological innovation.

But within, a few young, tech-savvy aides are trying to drag municipal government into the age of mobile gadgetry. And they think they’ve hit on something big: a “killer app” that marries 21st-century technology with Mayor Thomas M. Menino’s old-school devotion to pothole politics.

City officials will soon debut Boston’s first official iPhone application, which will allow residents to snap photos of neighborhood nuisances - nasty potholes, graffiti-stained walls, blown street lights - and e-mail them to City Hall to be fixed.

City officials say the application, dubbed Citizen Connect, is the first of its kind in the nation. It was designed as an extension of the city’s 24-hour complaint hotline for the younger set, making the filing of complaints quicker and easier for iPhone users.  (full story: Boston Globe)

I downloaded the free app to see how it worked.  I’m not a fan of “pothole politics” but it rules here in St. Louis as in Boston.

Categories are few:

It uses GPS to pinpoint the location and allows for the user to add a picture.

You can post anonymously or leave your contact information:

This is how you bring city hall into the 21st century on the eve of 2010, not sending images via a text message.  And I’d suggest emailing Mayor Menino rather than using Twitter.

A benefit on the back end is using the GPS data to see where complaints are concentrated on a map.  Integrating with maps a department could easily see if several potholes are concentrated and could therefore be handled by a single crew on one trip.  Complaints received via phone/web would need to be added to the internal map tracking as well to ensure everyone received the same level of service.

In a recent poll here on mobile phones the iPhone was the most popular answer among smartphones with twice as many votes as the BlackBerry.  Many iPhone apps are being ported to other platforms such as the BlackBerry and Android so others could report issues.  Of course not everyone has a smartphone, for those you can call during the week or use the online form.

Such an app for St. Louis would also potentially start to break the habit of calling your alderman about petty problems such as potholes.  With improved customer service from the bureaucrats it would let the elected legislators legislate.  Now that is a radical idea!

Charter reform advocates point out our city has a weak mayor organizational structure.  True, but this is an example of a weak mayor.

- Steve Patterson

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  • darondierkes
    are you familiar with www.everyblock.com?

    they've been steadily working on a block by block statistics, services, and complaints system.
  • jeff707
    I don't have an iPhone and I certainly don't want to have to create a Twitter account to contact the CSB. Every phone can text, so them having the capability to to receive texts seems like a no-brainer. The app and twitter capability are nice, but only providing those options leaves a lot of people out. Steve, by discounting texting I think you are making a huge assumption about a lot of people based on a very small (and self-selected) sample. Most people I know text a lot.
  • We currently have two methods to contact CSB - phone or web form. The ability to text a photo (MMS) to a land line may be possible but I'm not aware of anyone that has systems that use that ability. The cost/benefit doesn't seem worth it.
  • Guest
    CSB can sign up for a free Google Voice account and can receive text messages with pictures there. They should look into using Google Aps for their email and get with the 21st Century...that way they can be able to chat live too!
  • When I started at Saint Louis University in 2006 they had their own email system. It was so horrible few used it. We'd email assignments to professors at their personal accounts because the slu.edu accounts weren't big enough. A couple of years ago they switched to Google Apps and it has been wonderful. I fully agree the city should use Google Apps as well as Google Voice. Excellent suggestion!
  • jeff707
    You can text to an email address.
  • I've been told by some at city hall their antiquated email system removes attachments. In trying to email pics to one bureaucrat I had to send them to his personal email account. If they had a modern email system and published an email address I could email in complaints or others could text to the email address. But that would be a mess to manage -- long diatribes but no location info. Apps for the leading smart phones is the best long term solution. Twitter in the meantime.
  • the other guy
    A weak mayoral system will draw weak candidates.

    Would, say, a business person who is used to putting their vision to work be attracted to a job with such decentralized power? I doubt it. I recognize that 'dictators' can wreck things, too, but St. Louis is small enough that one person should be able to do the job.
  • Fitropolis
    Actually CSB has moved over to the Abrams building at 1520 Market, along with the NST, DOH, City Courts, SLATE, and the city counselors. Maybe he had to Tweet because it’s long cold walk half a block away. We shouldn’t be calling the Alderman with pothole complaints anyways, because 9 times out of 10 they will just turn around and call their Neighborhood Stabilization Officer. Your best bet is to contact your Neighborhood Stabilization Officer or CSB directly. Generally speaking there is an NSO in each ward (with the exception of two wards which share an NSO). For the most part these “bureaucrats” are a hard working honest bunch that answer their phones regularly, respond to emails, and get things done. They are required to drive every street and alley in a month in their respective wards. If they don’t get your issue solved, then call your Alderman but chances are the NSO will work closely with the Alderman to solve citizen complaints, and they already know about it. If your issue isn’t resolved because you think an NSO is not responsive then I suggest you use CSB to file a complaint. Government workers are just like the workers in any industry, some a great, some are lousy, and most fall in between. I'm glad we have a complaint system in place and I’m not convinced that every program and system we have in place downtown is broken. I think the biggest problem facing CSB and the NST is a lack of public recognition. They need a big ad campaign or something to get the word out that these programs are in place. I believe they also recently switched to a new dispatch system. The past few times I have called CSB they mentioned something about a new service request system they are working with. Maybe it will allow a “Tweet your Bureaucrat” application.
  • The CSB web page still says 1200 Market Rm 234. When you get around the city as I do, you don't always know who the NSO is or even what ward you are in. The first thing the CSB form asks for is an exact address. GPS location is more precise.
  • Michael
    The app could also let you enter your position to find out the name and number of the NSO. Some people with smart phones will still want to talk to an actual human being. In fact, often even a photo does not fully explain a code violation.
  • I like the idea of the app being able to tell you who to speak to based on your location. It could give you the option of calling or emailing the appropriate NSO based on your location.
  • You are making an assumption that he did not direct the department to look into doing something like this in writing direct to CSB. He may have just tweeted about it in a cutsey way of using the technology that he is suggesting to get the idea out to his followers as well.
  • True enough but I don't want the leader of our city to be cutesy and suggest already outdated tech - City Hall has too many yes men to stop the idea. Before long we'd have an expensive system where you can text photos. That would have been good in 2001 but not now. If the mayor wants to tweet do it about the new changes at CSB such as a Twitter account and/or mobile phone apps.
  • MEanerness
    I totally agree with your comment about a weak mayor. He's all about the tv coverage.
  • plus, using Twitter allows everyone to use it, not just people with iPhones, who are still the vast minority of mobile device users. An alternate iPhone app is nice, but this is a quick, easy fix.

    I wonder, too, Steve, if by putting it out in public via Twitter, the Mayor is trying to get a response from the department in a way that he couldn't otherwise. Sometimes big bureaucracies are very slow to change and he may not have the time to micromanage every department that answers to his office. However, making a reasonable suggestion - in public - to a public entity might provoke a more immediate response.
  • The Twitter vs app is a both in my mind - why limit the options for contact? The app route gets the information directly into a management system for tracking and action whereas the Twitter would require input.

    I'd hope Slay has a staff person he could direct to look into the issues he can't micromanage. Was anyone at CSB reading his tweets after 6pm? Doubtful. The tweet was likely a message to his own staff to look into the issue.
  • electroponix
    iPhone only? Twitter already does GeoLocation and Images. just put a hashtag on it and have the staff that tweets for the mayor follow the channel. ie, #stlcsb Of course it will have to be re-entered into the "system", but that is another giant can of worms...
  • I like it but rather than depend on a hashtag have a Twitter account for CSB (such as @STLCSB). Then we just reply with a pic and brief description of problem. I still want the iPhone app because it lets you see complaints you've submitted and you can get notifications when it is resolved.
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