Citizen blogger Albert Yee focuses on the Ethics Group discussion that was part of the May 15 "A City That Works" neighborhood forum held at Einstein Medical Center. He writes:
The Great Expectations crew headed up to Einstein Medical Center for a forum on making the city a better place with city staffers listening attentively to 75+ citizens who came out for the discussion. This was my first time seeing new Budget Director Steve Agostini in person (Inquirer appointment story) as he was unable to make it to the two previous forums I attended in this series. He struck me as a person who genuinely cared. He was at ease in front of the room with a mic; he was glad to chat with anyone and everyone in the room no matter the topic. Along with Agostini, there were 9 other city staffers from various offices including a large contingent from Councilwoman Marian Tasco's office, but the councilwoman was not in attendance. Once the pleasantries were out of the way and the staffers got through with their quick presentation [.pdf], the attendees broke themselves up onto five groups to tackle an issue important to them. I listened in on the largest group of the night: Ethics.
With ethics being one of the big points of the new mayor's campaign, I thought that this would be an interesting group to listen to and perhaps their views on the new mayor and what his promises meant to them would come up. The group quickly got to work defining what it thought ethics was. Keisha, from East Oak Lane, [speaking above] defined ethics as honesty and transparency within the government. Barbara thought ethics went hand in hand with accountability. Ken, a pastor from the area, said that ethics is resolution. He also wanted people in government to be honest enough to admit that they don't know the answer at times. The group wanted people in government to be willing to take risks to do the right thing. I thought Nutter's signing into law of five gun bills (Inquirer article) in defiance of the state was a step in the right direction. Philadelphia, being a city of first class, should be able to enact more stringent laws than the state feels necessary.
So with the group's definition/expectations in place, how to quantify results? While one person wanted 100% satisfaction, Keisha would settle for 75%, or simply, an improvement from the current situation - a decidedly low bar for many. Moderator Harris Sokoloff of UPenn asked the group how that improvement could be measured. The group wanted to be able to see fewer repeated mistakes like trash not being fully picked up from each block. They wanted to be able to track all of the complaints. Barbara wanted a follow up call to her more serious complaints.
One woman wanted physical letters generated with pertinent information from each call automatically mailed out within 30 days of each call. Joyce, a former PGW employee on the customer service side, said that was something PGW enacted after their customers demanded it. If PGW could do it, the city should she added.
Cheryl wanted simple expectations met: if she's told she'll receive a call in 5 days and gets a call back 14 days later, that's not good enough. She also wanted to see the city employees treated wll by their bosses. After all, if they're not treated well, how can they be expected to treat people over the phone well. The group added that incentives may be the way to go. Joyce suggested bonuses in cash, vacation days or free meals as possible incentives for good customer service.
My favorite part of each night has become watching people go around and reading over the notes of the other 4 groups. Seeing citizens interact with city staffers about points brought up in the breakout groups; people scribbling down notes; people taking cell phone photos of the notes like above. The interest in each others' thoughts makes it that much clearer that everyone in the room really cares and wants to make things better in their city - they're not simply showing up for some free grub.
The panel of city staffers took their seats at the front of the room after everyone had some time to look at the notes around the room. From left to right: Derek Green (Councilwoman Tasco's office and 2006 At-Large City Council candidate), Anuj Gupta (Budget office), Julie Wertheimer (Budget office), Agostini, Dana Wilson (Budget office), Steve Kennebeck (Chief of Staff, Managing Director). Sokoloff asked what struck them while listening in on the groups and looking at all the notes. Green said he was made even more aware as to how hard it is to get things done for the average citizen. He said he receives calls in Councilwoman Tasco's office every day from people who need help after exhausting calls to various city agencies. He can end up helping the people with their problems, but he agrees that it shouldn't take a call from a council office. The Inquirer's Chris Satullo asked the panel to tell the group a little more about the city's soon to be 311 system. Agostini said that the call takers would be housed on the 1st floor of City Hall and that initially, the room would hold about 60 people and have the capacity for 100. The system will be 24/7/365. Gupta added that Philadelphia is the 50th or so city to institute a 311 system and that there is a tried and tested rollout schedule of functionality.
Walter wanted to know how the citizens could be assured that things would actually get done - no empty promises. Agostini said that the PhillyStat program has already yielded results. In a recent meeting, it was revealed that the homicide rate was down in the first quarter as compared to last year.
The funniest part of the night was when one participant asked who they should call if they had a complaint in regards to a 311 operator. Wilson laughed and said she had no idea (neither did anyone else on the panel). Gupta came to the rescue with a suggestion: Baltimore's CitiStat system has their operators call back, randomly, 10% of the incoming calls at the end of the day for citizen feedback. That functionality is built into the PhillyStat software and could be activated down the line.
Sharon, from East Oak Lane and a Tasco staffer, asked what the police force was doing in terms of diversity training. Agostini asked the room to look at the front panel. Before them were people of a mix of backgrounds: Indian, gay, Puerto Rican, Jewish, white, black, male, female. "We are diversity" he said, and they were committed to it. This guy is a leader.
After the Q&A session was over, people milled about the room. Not one, not two, but three city officials took time to speak with the woman above who wanted some additional clarification on one of the questions she asked. The rest of the panel was roaming around the room talking to various groups as well. The Great Expectations staff was busy organizing all the notes for transcription and tidying up the conference room graciously provided by Einstein. I made my way out of the maze that is Einstein and hopped on the Broad Street Line back to Center City thoroughly impressed with the city's new Budget Director. If he's this passionate about things partially related to the city's budget, I can't imagine what he's like when jumping into the numbers.
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