260 likes | 415 Views
New Ways of Communicating to the Public. Mike Ascher Bob Fernandez. Brief look at West Des Moines. Suburb of Des Moines, Iowa Current Population of 57,909 with a Daytime population of 126,415 Median Population Age of 33 Current Area is 47.3 Sq. Miles Over 700 miles of streets
E N D
New Ways of Communicating to the Public Mike Ascher Bob Fernandez
Brief look at West Des Moines • Suburb of Des Moines, Iowa • Current Population of 57,909 with a Daytime population of 126,415 • Median Population Age of 33 • Current Area is 47.3 Sq. Miles • Over 700 miles of streets • Over 48 miles of trails
When did we realize we needed new forms of communication with the public? • The Statewide news paper created a web based application to map potholes throughout the Des Moines metro • Likes • Easy to use • Mapped data • Dislikes • Was on the front page of there Website • After work was done there wasn’t a follow up process • Only tracked potholes
Benefits from a citizen request application • New way to engage and improve communication with our population • More and more people are getting mobile devices • More transparent Government • All requests are visible and track able • Have information more real-time • Data is updated every time a change is made to the request • Save on Staff Time • Don’t have to log information • Direct them to a our Website or app • Changing or Creating workflows to have data streamlined
YourGOV • Cartegraph Product • ESRI partner • City utilizes other cartegraph software to track resources, maintain asset inventories, and manage workflows • Ties data in with our current cartegraph database • Can be accessed via the web or mobile device • Information is accessible in Arcmap and Cartegraph
Input a new sign request in YourGOV via the web http://yourgov.wdm-ia.com/YourGOV/YourGOV.aspx
Viewing Request while in the field • West Des Moines is currently able to access Arcmap and Cartegraph using Netmotion. • Utilize GPS toolbar in Arcmap • Use a usbgps unit • The city plans to make improvements in their workflow for field crews.
Current Stats since implementation in June 2012 • There have been 182 requests submitted using YourGOV • 2 Construction • 9 Drainage • 50 other • 2 Sanitary Sewer • 4 Snow & Ice • 14 Street Light Outages • 65 Street Repairs • 15 Street Sign • 19 Traffic Signals • 2 Tree Limbs or Shrubs
Current Stats since implementation in June 2012 • Priority of the Requests • 4 High Priority • 23 Moderate Priority • 155 Low Priority • Average Length of time to full-fill or close a request was • 3.18 Days • Longest/Shortest Request • Longest was 72 days to replace broken street sign • Shortest was 30 min to notify Mid American of a streetlight outage
The future of YourGOV at the City • Internal Training on Observe and Reporting Initiative • Report issues before they become bigger problems • Charcoal B-B-Q grills on apartment Decks • A new fence or building within the “vision triangle” • Mud or debris in the street from construction • Sump Pumps draining across sidewalks • Downed trees/hanging limbs in parks • Etc. • YourGOV primary tool for initiative
The future of YourGOV at the City • City sees benefits and wants to encourage citizens to use it more • Promote the YourGOV app • Publish articles in WDM Magazine • Show a segment about YourGOV on the city’s cable channel • Create YourGOV signs and place them in strategic areas of West Des Moines