Bill Lynn - 5th Ward Alderman - Davenport, Iowa  » Discussion Points » Improving Services In Davenport

Comments On Improving Services In Davenport
by Bill Lynn, Fifth Ward Alderman

One of the complaints I often hear is that things don’t get done in a timely fashion in Davenport or they don’t get done at all. Further, I sometimes hear about the demeanor with which people are treated in our city. One of the best indicators of this is the number of calls I receive. When things are not being done, I receive calls. When they are getting done, I don’t receive calls.

There are actually two parts to this issue. First is the general treatment people receive when they call in to the city. Let me say that many of our employees are very good, but some simply do not know how to handle complaints or requests. Some provide excellent service to constituents, and we need to use them as roll models and reward them. The ones that do not provide superior service should first be sent through training. Knowing how to handle requests and complaints can be taught. On the other hand, there should be a policy to deal with those that continue to provide substandard service. The first time there is a substantiated complaint about an employee, we should provide them with some type of evaluation; the second time there should be a reprimand; and the third time we should consider some type of short suspension. Any further problems should lead to loss of their job. As we know, no private company would allow their employees to speak disrespectfully to a customer, and the people living in this city are customers of the city. We simply cannot allow people to mishandle citizen requests.

We also need to create a Citizens Review Committee to deal with complaints against employees and departments. Too often these issues are handled internally and we never know the outcome and often there is a strong bias in support of the employee.

The second issue is getting the job done. I do believe our new technology is helping in this area. Previously we could not track requests, so if they got lost we simply had no idea who to hold accountable. I have asked for, and to some extent received, a system that would allow us to know who is responsible for completing a job. Now we need to establish benchmarks for how long jobs should take and follow up to see if they are done in that time frame. We also need to keep data on how many jobs are done on time. Further, we should always strive to see they are done more quickly, i.e. there should be an attempt to continuously improve on our services. Departments should be judged on these criteria. One of my great frustrations in government is the attitude that if we are not doing the job well it is because we need more resources, i.e. money. This actually encourages poor performance. When departments are run well, we need to give them more money and more responsibility. If they are run poorly, the opposite is true. In order to do this, we must decide what we are really trying to accomplish. In many cases I do not believe departments are clear on this. That is the reason each department needs to develop a strategic plan with measurable outcomes. This has not been done yet. Organizations that run well do this whether they are private or government.

A related issue in how well we get things done is a general attitude in the city of ‘it is not my job.’ We all see things that are not right in our neighborhoods. Our city employees see them also, but nothing is done. If they are reported to me or I find them, I report them, but I can’t know everything this is going on in my ward--that is humanly impossible. We need to have employees reporting these things. For instance the garbage trucks go down our streets weekly. When they see an environmental problem, they need to report it. All they need is a cell phone or radio. That would go a long way to improving our city.

When I was first elected, I went to a presentation in Dubuque. One thing that really struck me was the statement, “We don’t allow our employees to say ‘it is not my job’.” We need to begin to change our city culture to encourage that attitude.

We need to use the approach of surveying citizens who use city services. When I go to Genesis, I receive a questionnaire concerning their service--we can use this same approach for our citizens. Although we do an annual survey, it is too broad. I have had the city improve it, but nothing takes the place of immediate response for a situation. For instance you may have had a bad experience, but by the time you do the survey you forgot.

These approaches will help us reduce cost and improve service in the city, and that is important. When people receive bad service from the city, it discourages them from staying here. We are in competition with other area cities and if they provide better service, they will get more residents. As I discussed in another document we can see the cities around us that are growing when we aren’t. This is a signal to us.