A couple weeks ago I had a few people call me regarding lighting in Barry Square. One business owner claimed he had had called 311 repeatedly for weeks and the issue had not been resolved. Another resident also claimed to have been calling 311 numerous times to no avail.
I still think 311 is a huge waste of the taxpayers money and I have yet to hear anyone sing the praises of 311. I constantly hear from people that claim they call and call and call with nothing being done. I still firmly believe that 311 was created by the Perez Administration as a data mining operation and used more for political purposes than a service to residents.
I called the Department of Public Works and spoke to Rhonda Carroll regarding the lighting issue and asked if she could look into it. She assured me that she would and actually called back the next day and told me that the bulbs that the people had thought were burned out had been replaced. The day they went out was two Thursday's ago and was a day that we had extremely heavy rain. I was a little surprised that they would be out in that kind of weather, but I was pleasantly surprised at their prompt response.
Rhonda Carroll also told me that replacing the bulbs didn't correct the problem and it appeared to be a wiring issue. She informed me that they had requested the blueprints for the project to trace out the wiring and they were working to correct the problem.
A few days later I received a voice mail from Rhonda Carroll that I should save to show people how business should be done in Hartford. She left a message that said "Mr. Brookman, this is Rhonda Carroll from Public Works for the City of Hartford. We Have found the wiring problem and the issue has been corrected. Please let me know if there is anything else I can help you with.".
I was happy and the people who complained to me were thrilled that someone had actually taken action and the issue was resolved. That's not common in Hartford government.
She probably regrets that she asked me to let her know if there was anything else she could help me with. The next request from a resident came a few short days later. A resident complained to me about a dead tree on City property in front of their home. The resident had called 311 and the City repeatedly with little response or results. They felt the tree was in danger of falling and causing injury or damage to vehicles parked on the street.
I was impressed with Rhonda Carroll's response the previous week so I called her again last Wednesday about the tree. She took the information down, called me the next day to verify the address. I spoke to the homeowner today and he was very happy that the tree had been cut down Monday and the problem was addressed. Even though he had tried for a while to get it done, he was impressed with the quick response from Rhonda and the DPW. Three days from the call to problem solved.
Rhonda Carroll is not only a City of Hartford employee, but she is also a City of Hartford resident. I'm not sure what makes her so responsive, but just maybe she gets it and realizes that residents of the City deserve a timely, prompt and most importantly a polite and courteous response. These are her neighbors she is helping, the same neighbors she meets on the street, in the grocery store and at city restaurants.
Maybe we should disband 311 and find a few more Rhonda Carroll's.
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