"What bothers you? Now our Web site allows you to See It, Click It, Fix It!"
While it's nice to see that they've finally tied into SeeClickFix - directly on the heels of one HelloTorrington.com, I might add - it was inevitable that some dissenting opinions would arise in the same article.
“Not to say ‘don’t do it,’ but they’ll get the same treatment if they contact me (directly),” says Mayor Bingham.
Lt. Michael Emanuel of the Torrington Police says, “It’s a nice little addition. We’ll have to see how it grows. It might be a bit redundant, but that is not so bad at the end of the day"..
That's true, I'm sure - but the subtext here, as interpreted by Pete, is that we already have the infrastructure for community feedback, and perhaps people just don't take advantage of the channels available...
While I can't say the same for City Hall, anytime I've had to call the police department, my call/concern has been acknowledged and followed up promptly with a polite officer on the other end of the phone and an inconspicuous recording device whirring away in the background. I think they have a decent feedback system, and ultimately: the more, the merrier, right?
But what they've totally missed here, is the visual nature of human beings. You can't just call or email the city about a local concern, and leave it at that, trusting that someone will promptly address the issue at hand - we need to see the progress, to know that other people have directed their attention to the matter, and that a situation is being monitored. That's why SeeClickFix is such a great idea. It really does empower the citizenry by giving an interactive and visual representation for the summarized weight of their concerns. You know that other locals are concerned about the same problems, and have a potential medium for further organization if the issue isn't resolved through the pace of local bureaucracy.
You just can't get that through a shot-in-the-dark call to City Hall. There's no follow-up or way to track progress online. If the City of Torrington really had these capabilities, only then would SeeClickFix even approach a level of functional redundancy.
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