Members of an ad-hoc group exploring how to improve civic engagement in Springfield, Massachusetts have received some suggestions.
The message from more than a dozen participants during a roundtable held remotely by the Springfield City Council Working Group on Civic Engagement was loud and clear, said the group’s chair Ward 5 City Councilor Lavar Click-Bruce.
“One of the main themes is communication and better communication with our constituents,” he said.
Speaker after speaker pointed to examples where they said Springfield City Hall is lacking when it comes to communicating with residents.
“There’s like a black hole,” said Deborah Huber, who lives in East Springfield. She said communication is a one-way channel with no reply to emails or phone calls to report streetlight outages, snow plowing problems, or other concerns.
“The checks and balances are not happening.” Huber said. “The city needs a ‘Department of Accountability,’ if you will.”
The city has a 3-1-1 call center, but Nancy Francisco told members of the working group that it lacks a system to follow-up with a caller to notify them about the status of their inquiry.
“I would say to excel at customer service because everywhere it is abysmal,” Francisco said.
Just finding out when a meeting of a City Council Committee or a municipal board or commission is taking place is a challenge unless someone has the time to frequently check the city’s website, complained Betsy Johnson, President of the Armory Quadrangle Civic Association.
“Talk about a barrier, that’s impossible,” she said.
Finding ways to make local government more accessible is one of the goals of the 15-member working group that was created by City Council President Jesse Lederman.
“This is exactly what we want – an honest dialogue about how folks are feeling about their interactions with the city right now,” Lederman said.
Another suggestion during the roundtable was to get young people more involved in city affairs.
Click-Bruce called for the public schools to help out.
“If my dad was not so heavily involved in politics, I’d never know what’s going on because it is not taught in our schools,” Click-Bruce said.
The working group is expected to issue a report with its suggestions by the end of this year.
