The Use of Social Media in Public Works

One of staff’s primary goals is to improve communication with our residents. Currently we use Cable TV, the Ramsey Resident, the City of Ramsey website and Face Book to some extent to accomplish this goal. Staff has also begun to look into CRM systems (Citizen Request Management) to track and respond to service requests more efficiently. Public Works would like to also include the use of Facebook and Twitter in our department, as a means for residents and staff to communicate service requests and to inform residents of maintenance activities in their neighborhoods.

One of the more traditional methods of residents reaching us is to pick up the phone and give us a call. In the winter we use a spare phone line in the system for our “Snow Plow Information Line”. We use this line to communicate start and end times and some basic weather information. Residents in turn can leave messages about icy conditions or damage from snowplowing. This gives us a central place to collect phone calls, so we don’t lose track of the service requests. This line is not used during the summer and could easily be changed into the “report a pothole line.” With a little marketing on Cable TV, Council meetings and the Ramsey Resident, people would soon be familiar with the phone line.

The next communication tool is our website. Residents can use the access phone numbers and email addresses of City staff and other basic information here. Anoka County uses an interactive page on their website for pothole reporting. Residents fill out the basic information and submit the request for repair. We could do something like this as well, but it is fairly cumbersome. You have to go to the web page find the form, fill it out, and then submit it.

The City of Ramsey also has a Facebook page. Currently it is used to announce public meetings and City events, etc…. but nothing to do with Public Works operations. Public Works staff feels this could be expanded to include information on larger Public Works operations such as water main flushing, street sweeping, street improvement projects, storm water repairs and road closures.

Twitter is another avenue that could be used to get information out. Staff believes this outlet would work well for Public Works. People could leave short messages asking for service or reporting problems they see throughout the City. Staff could use the service to inform people of what projects we are working on. Plowing start and finish times, what areas we will be sweeping, what road we will be patching, water main flushing, etc… could all be explained quickly. Some days in Public Works our priorities change quickly and this service is based on instant communication.

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Begin using the social media as another way Public Works can communicate with our residents.

Based on discussion