Weston, CT in the News

Focusing on solving problems

Residents can now ask questions of town online

By Brian Gioele
(The Weston Forum, reprinted with permission)

Got a problem only a local government department can fix? Bringing the issue to a quick and satisfactory resolution is only a mouse click away.

That's because the town of Weston is one of three Connecticut towns participating in CivicRADAR, a pilot program of the Connecticut Policy & Economic Council (CPEC).

CivicRADAR, financed through a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, is an Internet tool specifically designed, according to the program's Web project manager, Scott Jackson, to help improve communication between governments and citizens.

"We are continually seeking to improve the quality of service we deliver to the public," said First Selectman Woody Bliss. "I fell that local government has always been responsive to handling citizen concerns, but this new program will give us specific data on a request. It will be a major benefit and will make us more efficient in resonding to citizen requests."

The town of Weston, along with municipalities in Manchester and Wethersfield, began participating in the program in late July. Since the town of Weston participated in the initial pilot program, it will not be charged for its usage.

"Based on our work with e-government innovators across the United States and in Europe, Weston's launch of CivicRADAR will put the community at the front of the pack in government use of the Internet to deliver better service to citizens," said CPEC president Michael Meotti.

"Weston town leaders deserve a lot of credit," Mr. Meotti added, "for taking an innovative approach to quality of service to residents."

What the program does is allow residents, through the town of Weston Web site (Weston-ct.org) to submit requests on various issues - such as potholes, broken playground equipment or damaged street signs - which are immediately distributed via e-mail to the appropriate department.

But Mr. Jackson said CivicRADAR goes beyond basic e-mail communication and provides both the resident and participating local governments with the latest in Web technology to communicate and measure citizen satisfaction with local service.

"Traditional, information or citizen requests can go into a black hole, and it can be difficult to reach the person you need on the phone to answer questions or seek assistance," Mr. Jackson said. "This program will provide better interaction between the government and its citizens. It will give the local government a tracking tool for service requests."

Weston was asked to participate in the program, according to Mr. Jackson, because of the stable nature of the town's citizenry as well as the number of homes with access to the Internet.

"This town is one of the state's wealthiest communities, meaning there are more access lines into homes, " he said. "When I saw the numbers (with Internet access), it leaped out at me as an excellent testing ground."

To access this service, a person must log on to the Weston home page. Once on the page, click "Problems? Click Here." That will take you to the "Problems" page, where the user can then click on "Email Town Hall" to send a service request. According to site, the e-mail will be sent to the appropriate Town Hall department, and an official from that department will reply with an update on the request within three business days.

Since elements of CivicRADAR are available to the public via the Internet, citizens can check the resolution status of service requests they have initiated, thereby reducing staff time not only in the collection of these requests, but also in follow-up calls and information gathering. Residents using the service will receive a specific identification number in relation to the request, the status of which can be checked 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

"As a town government, we are always seeking continued improvement in our dealings with the community," Mr. Bliss said.

"To best serve the public," the first selectman added, "we need the best information from the point in time the problem was first reported. With that we can hopefully fix the problem. This service will make that process better for everyone."

The Project Coordinator
Visit CPEC, the Project agency