Supporting and Enhancing City Services
College Park's excellent city services have been a source of pride and deep appreciation for many years now. The dedicated men and women of the Department of Public Works and the Department of Public Services work around the clock to make sure our trash is picked up, our city streets are plowed, our parks and buildings are kept in top condition, round up stray animals, and enforce our city's laws. Despite our City's high level of service, residents find low staffing in some city departments concerning, and have experienced frustrating delays and incomplete information in areas where the city's responsibilities overlap with those of the county and/or the state.
As a member of city council, I will seek to support and enhance our excellent city services:
As a member of city council, I will seek to support and enhance our excellent city services:
- Creating a "single point of entry" for city services. This could be either a service hotline and/or a phone app (such as that pioneered by the City of Seattle) which would allow residents to avoid the run-around when they are trying to report an issue with the city by quickly routing the request to the correct city, county, or state agency for resolution. Crucially, reporting an issue would create a "trouble ticket" via a process similar to IT call centers. Tracking this ticket would permit residents to receive updates about the status and resolution of their request.
- Staffing for demand and increased levels service. The city's approach to staffing certain positions such as noise/code enforcement officers, and animal control officers can mean that residents can wait an unacceptable amount of time in order to receive a call for service. If I am elected, I will pursue more staffing for these two departments (e.g. Animal control, and Code and Noise enforcement, so that College Park residents continue to be well-served by these two important departments. In particular, I am looking forward to engaging with leaders in Code and Noise Enforcement as well as in Animal Control, to identify high-demand dates and times of year, plan for them, and look for opportunities to bulk up staffing in these departments.
- Consideration of the College Park Police Study. The City Council commissioned in 2016 a study of College Park's police service, with the idea that they would present recommendations to the council in 2017. The authors of the study have completed its review and expects to get the plan circulated in the new year. As council member, I will work hard to quickly analyze the study, and work with residents to understand how best to implement its recommendations.
