Tuesday, August 15, 2023
New System will Support Efficiently Addressing Top Community Concerns
Mayor Brett P. Smiley, Director of City Services Norelys Consuegra, and Chief of Policy and Resiliency Sheila Dormody today announced a new request for proposals, open now through September 11, for the City’s PVD311 system, allowing constituents to report concerns and requests for critical city services. Funding for this new system was championed by Mayor Smiley in the FY2024 budget which will allow staff to more efficiently fill constituent requests and offer a more user-friendly platform for neighbors and businesses.
“The first step in becoming the best-run city in the country is ensuring that the services our residents and local businesses rely on are done efficiently and on-time, every time.” said Mayor Brett Smiley. “Investing in a modern, accessible and easy to use PVD311 system is the most effective way to make sure City Hall becomes an asset to every resident and business owner within our 20 square miles. This investment will help us proactively share important information with our neighbors and make it easier for the community to bring their concerns to our attention.”
Beginning today, the City is now requesting proposals from interested vendors to revamp the existing PVD311 system so that it can more effectively and efficiently address the concerns of the community. The objective is to create a modern system that provides accessible and proactive information for the 81,271 registered PVD311 unique users and was a priority in the Mayor’s past FY24 budget submission.
“Our goal is to provide the highest-quality services to our neighbors and businesses from every department,” said Director of City Services Norelys Consuegra. “The Mayor’s Center for City Services exists to be an advocate for our residents and local businesses and the PVD311 system is the most efficient way for our team to address constituent concerns and relay important information. I am looking forward to launching a new PVD311 system that will help us more effectively meet the changing needs of our community.”
The City also announced the results of the community satisfaction survey that was distributed earlier this year to better understand the community’s satisfaction with city services. The survey represents Mayor’s Smiley’s commitment to investing in and improving the services that matter most to the residents and local businesses of Providence so that the city can meet the diverse needs of our community. The City used two methods to survey the community and collect feedback on city services, a telephone and text-based poll of 605 residents conducted by Public Policy Polling (PPP) and an online poll conducted by the city using Survey Monkey that had 3,425 respondents. The online poll was separated by businesses and residents and translated into seven languages to encourage accessibility and participation. Respondents could fill out the online survey from February 15 – March 15 and the PPP poll was conducted from February 16 through February 17.
“It is critical for our constituents to have a voice in the policy decisions that impact their daily lives,” said Chief of Policy and Resiliency Sheila Dormody. “The feedback we collected from these surveys will help our team build a framework of policy initiatives and investment opportunities to address the services that need improvement.”
Initial review of this data helped guide critical investment strategies in the FY24 budget. For example, 71% of respondents were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the condition of sidewalks. In response, the City is investing in dedicated staff to improve and maintain our sidewalks. The survey also asked satisfaction, accessibility and awareness of the current PVD311 system which 70% of constituents said they were unaware of. In addition to making the system more efficient and effective, the investments in this system are intended to encourage more residents to make use of this critical resource.
To view a summary of the results from both surveys, click here.