COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (KMTV) — Council Bluffs' new Mayor's 311 hotline has received more reports in its first six weeks than the city received in the previous year, Mayor Jill Shudak said.
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Since the tool debuted at the end of June, the city has received more than 600 submissions. Neighbors receive a ticket number to follow the progress of their submission, and a map shows all reports by location.
Shudak sees several reasons for the strong response.
"I think, different things. One: we have done a great job as a city promoting it to let people that this tool's out there and available. Second: the ease of the tool," she said.
Topping the list of complaints were concerns about unmowed weeds and grass. The mayor said the results surprised her in at least one way.
"It was very interesting for me to see that homeless encampments didn't make the top five of complaints that were submitted," she said.
Homelessness continues to be a major topic of conversation in the community and the mayor said it was sixth on the list. She says after the the city followed up with reports of encampments about half of those submissions turned out to be unfounded.
Shudak says the tool gives neighbors a single, user-friendly place to report their concerns,
"If you don't report in, we don't know to fix the problem," she said, noting that city workers don't always know about every problem in the community.
"We take these issues seriously," Shudak said. "I think it's a good balance to show the community, 'Hey, we are looking and we want to make the changes. We're out here to make those changes for you."
Residents can access the 311 reporting tool through a link on the city's website.
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