c/o seeclickfix.com
SeeClickFix, an app designed to help local governments respond quickly to constituent concerns, launched last November. The application allows Middletown residents to take pictures of and report problems, either online or via the app, to the city government.
SeeClickFix is a Hartford-based business whose platform is used by more than 350 municipalities to handle reports. Prior to SeeClickFix’s Middletown launch, Middletown Mayor Ben Florsheim ’14 emphasized how the app could make it easier for Middletown residents to notify local governments of local issues via a Facebook post.
“It means our residents will now be able to quickly and easily report issues—from potholes to trash buildups to tree-trimming issues and beyond—and receive a speedy response from city government as issues are acknowledged and addressed,” Florsheim wrote. “It will also streamline our internal operations at City Hall, ensuring that our hardworking staff is better able to respond to quality-of-life concerns throughout the city.”
Middletown’s Deputy Director of Public Works Christopher Holden handles every SeeClickFix report assigned to his department. Three months in, Holden says the platform is working well.
“Early on, everybody was getting used to it, and a lot of issues came in, and [we were] just trying to work through the hiccups,” Holden said. “But I think that it is starting to work a lot better now, to be able to get the issues in, and be able to show that they’ve been addressed.”
SeeClickFix has cut down the number of phone calls to City Hall and has been helpful in getting reports to the right departments.
Though total numbers were not readily available, Holden says there were 222 total reports on SeeClickFix between Nov. 2020 and Friday, Jan 1. At Public Works, Holden says he handles a few reports every day.
Middletown Resident Mike Maier filed a report on SeeClickFix back in November.
“When I saw that [SeeClickFix] was available, I went out and took a bunch of pictures of stuff that had bothered me for years in our neighborhood,” Maier wrote in a message to The Argus. “This was mostly just unpainted crosswalks where our kids walk to school.”
Maier is still waiting for the city to take action to fix the problems he reported.
“Nothing else has been done (though I imagine that is due to winter weather) and I am curious how long it will actually take for something to happen,” Maier messaged.
Confirming Maier’s hunch about winter weather, Holden says it is difficult for the city to make sidewalk or road repairs during this time of the year.
“We try to address them if we get that good period of weather, we’ll try to make those repairs, but we can’t always do that in the wintertime,” Holden said.
Even with his report still unaddressed, Maier is upbeat about SeeClickFix and is glad that the platform allows residents to report issues without calling City Hall or trying to figure out which department to contact.
“It’s very easy to use,” Maier wrote. “I’m cautiously optimistic.”
Ryan Jokelson can be reached at rjokelson@wesleyan.edu.