Mayor Dave Cieslewicz has proposed a 311 phone service to give Madison residents an avenue to make inquiries or address concerns about various city issues. The line would handle anything from pothole complaints to snow-emergency-related questions.
The proposal is a direct result of growing civil dissatisfaction with the snow-removal system during this winter’s record high snowfalls. The primary goal is to increase customer satisfaction with city policies by providing “one point of contact with accurate information.”
A 311 line would be similar to the 411 information service. Unfortunately, 411 lines are not free and neither are 311 lines. Charges per call would be paid for by the city, as would the cost of training workers. At a time when the state is facing a $652 million budget deficit, more practical solutions must be explored.
New York City recently implemented such a service at a reported start-up cost of $21 million and a $27 million annual cost. Estimates for Madison are lower because of population differences, but even Milwaukee has turned down such an idea because of the high cost at a time when money is short. Madison would be wise to follow Milwaukee’s example.
Although the current “report a problem” system on the city of Madison’s website receives a great deal of criticism, there’s no guarantee that an expensive phone service receiving thousands of calls per day will get these complaints out of a computerized database and into city hall any faster. This service would provide yet another medium for citizens to complain in mass quantities while waiting for a solution.
Furthermore, a similar service exists at much a much lower cost. The United Way of Dane County currently has a 211 line that offers community resources at no cost to the caller. If Cieslewicz is serious about providing a service for Madison residents to voice complaints over the phone, Madison could easily offer a list of city departments to operators at the United Way to direct the caller to. Such a strategy would surely cost less than $20 million per year.
Cieslewicz is right to claim that he deals in customer service, but the customer is always right, and most Madison customers won’t like the idea of paying higher taxes for a service that already exists.
With the current state of the budget, city hall should be looking for ways to improve existing services rather than coming up with new ones for citizens to complain about
