Watsonville has recently announced a partnership with SeeClickFix, a software company based in Connecticut that partners with local governments to provide a tool for citizens to alert city staff of non-emergency issues such as graffiti, sidewalk issues, potholes, broken streetlights and more. Among the California cities that use SeeClickFix are Milpitas, Morgan Hill, Foster City and Seaside.
The way SeeClickFix works is as follows: Passersby who see a non-emergency issue they want to address can go to the SeeClickFix mobile or desktop application and press the camera icon to take and upload a picture of the issue. The app will use geolocation to locate the problem, or the reporter may manually indicate the location by using the map tool. They can then press the “Issue Title” tab to select from various government issues and type up a brief description of the problem. City staff will then work to resolve the issue. Users can submit issues as a guest or sign up to receive updates on the status of the request.
SeeClickFix received a soft launch in Watsonville in January.
“Just by the soft launch, we’ve already had 40 requests that we have managed,” Courtney Lindberg, director of public works and utilities, told the City Council last week.
Lindberg said the benefits of the app included increased public engagement, the ability to track requests through completion, quicker resolution of certain types of requests and a reduction in the number of service calls or emails.
“We’re starting to rely more and more on technology,” she said. “I’m an elder millennial and I will go out of my way to not talk to somebody, and I would rather send something through an email, through a text or through an app, so this is us evolving. Also, we still have, of course, people who will answer the phone and be at the counters for customer service requests, but this is a really easy, on-the-go way to submit your issues.”
The app can be downloaded through Google Play and Apple’s App Store.
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