I mentioned the other day when I wrote about the new city website that an iPhone app was also available called Citizen Request Tracker. I downloaded the app and this morning I gave it a whirl.

The top of my garbage cart has a hole in it. A few different animals have been working on making the hole more convenient for them to get in and out of over the past few months and now it’s gotten to be a problem. Using the CRT app I created a profile for myself and began my request. The first thing I did was select my city, Wauwatosa. Then it used the iPhone GPS to pinpoint my location, my backyard. This feature would be much more useful for say a downed street sign or a pot hole. Next it asked for a description of the request, I entered-

“Lid on our garbage cart needs replacement. Critters and varmints can take garbage at will. They are also beginning work on a second hole.”

Finally using the built in camera I took a picture of the rodent altered lid. I submitted the request and was instantaneously copied on an email version request.

About an hour after that I received an email from the city informing me that my request had been routed to the proper city department. A few hours after that received an email from the Department of Public Works to tell me that next Wednesday the collection crew will assess my cart and determine whether it needs repair or replacement, very cool, very convenient, very fast.

For all you Wauwatosa iPhone geeks like me out there, download the app from the app store

 Before last night’s committee meetings I was treated to a preview of the city’s new website. The new website which is slated to go live next week Wednesday has many new features and is much more aesthetically pleasing than the old site. I am a believer that websites should be more than just information pieces, they should and could provide interactivity and in most cases perform a function. The new website delivers. I also think it raises our stock a few notches in that the profile of our web presence will be that much higher. As you know from this website I am a huge advocate of transparency and communication. The new website makes it even easier to contact your alderman and the mayor will have her own blog.

A neat new feature that the website offers is the ability to not only report a service issue to the city but you can track the progress of having it resolved. There are many basic issues that you can click on to start the process such as sewer problem, garbage not picked up etc. I plan on testing this feature out next week. One of our garbage carts needs a new cover, I am going to input that and track the progress. I will report the results here on my blog.

I have to say the coolest thing coming down the pipe is that there is an iPhone app related to the request tracking feature. What is very cool about that (I already downloaded the app) is that it adds the mapping and photo features of your iPhone, so for example if a citizen comes across a pothole they can take a picture and tell the city exactly where it is on a map, instantly! How cool is that? How sick is city staff going to be of Alderman Pantuso???

Look for the new website to launch next week, I’ll send out a reminder via Facebook and Twitter when it does…oh yeah, that’s something else you’ll be able to do too.