We had to repost this announcement from the City of San Diego about the city being awarded for excellence in “Data-Driven Government” for “establishing exceptional data capabilities to inform policy, allocate funding, improve services, evaluate programs and engage residents.” The city received a Silver Certificate from Bloomberg Philanthropies as the award.
This award is so laughable and so sad at the same time. The OMG announcement claimed the city won the award “in recognition of its continued efforts to build a smart city, using data to increase transparency and improve residents’ lives,” plus the following:
Specifically, the City’s Performance and Analytics Department was recognized for its Open Data Portal, through which the public can access more than 109 datasets with information ranging from the location of parking meters to street repair plans. The Open Data Portal promotes civic engagement and, through predictive analytics, improves service delivery and increases opportunities for economic development.
Part of the award was for the infamous Get It Done app, that has been notoriously inept:
The City was also lauded for its continuing improvement of the Get It Done app, which the public can use to quickly identify needs across the City, from potholes to graffiti. The system automatically assigns work crews to each issue, which effectively increases the City’s responsiveness to quality-of-life matters that affect all San Diegans.
Time and time again, the Rag has received complaints from residents about how the Get It Done app has failed or hasn’t responded. Other complaints focus on the total lack of transparency in the city and how city officials, mayor and council aides fail to get back to people when they call their respective offices for assistance or just simple information, or how the city no longer allows city employees to directly answer residents.
We would have ignored this self-congratulatory expression from the city but for all the complaints we’ve seen or heard over the last few years, and just couldn’t let it go by without comment.
Here’s the rest of the announcement:
The What Works Cities Certification program, launched in 2017 by Bloomberg Philanthropies and led by Results for America, is the international standard of data excellence in city governance. The program is open to any city in North, Central or South America with a population of 30,000 or more.
The certification standard measures a city’s use of data based on 43 criteria. A city that achieves 51–67% of the criteria is recognized at the Silver level of certification, 68–84% is required to achieve Gold and 85% or more is required to reach Platinum.
With today’s announcement, 104 cities in North, Central, and South America have now achieved the What Works Cities Certification distinction since the program began in 2017.
“At a time when people are questioning the role of government, and what good government looks like, governments must be better at using data to know what is and isn’t working – and that is what the Bloomberg Philanthropies What Works Cities Certification stands for,” said Rochelle Haynes, Managing Director of the Bloomberg Philanthropies What Works Cities Certification. “Over 100 cities are now showing what is possible by investing the time, energy and political capital to shift the culture of how local government works.”
“The Bloomberg Philanthropies What Works Cities Certification is one of the largest-ever philanthropic efforts to improve how local governments use data to improve people’s lives,” said James Anderson, who leads the Government Innovation program at Bloomberg Philanthropies. “This work is helping reform-minded mayors across the Americas bring their organizations into the 21st century. Whether to stem housing shortages, reduce traffic fatalities or improve resident service and responsiveness, these city halls are tapping data, digital and artificial intelligence to rise to the challenge – and we are thrilled to support their progress.”
Readers: let it rip.
Not sure why you’re dunking on the Get It Done app. I have submitted almost 650 entries and can only find a handful that are either still in process or not handled appropriately. Give credit where credit is due. Yes it might have some issues, but overall it’s a great way to report issues around San Diego.
Thanks Gail for your experience. Others, unfortunately, haven’t been as fortunate. Yet, the rest of the criticism holds — San Diego government officials are some of the least transparent (do you agree?) and are notorious for not getting back to people who call for help or info. Plus, Gloria a while back ordered all city workers not to respond to individual inquiries from residents.
It is my experience that the Get It Done portal entry is always closed when it is referred to the department. A problem with a pothole in a street is closed at the point when Get It Done has referred your pothole problem to the City Streets Dept but the hole in the pavement is still there. I cannot possibly imagine what you have seen to cause 650 different Get It Done entries.
The Open Data Portal is pretty useful as the data gets updated pretty frequently. I don’t think it gets used as much as it could. The only problem I have with Get It Done is things are frequently marked completed when I think what has happened is the problem has been transferred to a different department to handle. The App itself works for me, but I can never tell if anything has been done on the issue. But that may not be the app but the way they are using it.
My experience with the “GET IT DONE” app is that it depends on what you are reporting as to whether or not it will get remedied. If you are reporting a pot hole, they will eventually get around to fixing it. If you are asking a curb to be painted red, it usually gets done within six weeks. If you are reporting cars parked longer than 72 hours, forget it! They simply close out the report without taking any action. The vehicle could be disabled and sit there for months and they will not take action. If you are reporting a red curb violation, no action is ever taken on those reports either.
I have reported on the app and get so frustrated with response time that I often don’t report.
300 to 400 days for ANY report is a City problem not the app.
Toddler looks like he’s suppressing his laughter.
And let’s not forget this other award: San Diego’s Society of Professional Journalists Grant Mayor Gloria the wall award for stonewalling the press.
https://obrag.org/2024/04/san-diegos-society-of-professional-journalists-grant-mayor-gloria-the-wall-award-for-stonewalling-the-press/
I had to contact CBS8, working for you to get the city to fix a broken/missing light post, that Get it done took 4 years. I also reported a vehicle that parked in front of my house for 2 months and after reporting it 5 times, the city finally came out after the vehicle moved. What a laughable honor!
The other cities must _really_ be in bad shape.
Here is a slightly different example of a laughable *business model* used by San Diego agencies: If you have an audible burglar alarm in your home, you need to have a Police Department permit. This requirement has been in place since the 1980s. Over the years since the 1980s, I have paid an annual permit fee of $10, which I submitted to the PD when I received an invoice from them. I have no problem with that.
Yesterday I got a Delinquent Account notice from the City of San Diego, which had just days before received a referral from the PD that I had not paid the $10 permit fee in 2021. As a punishment for that, there is also a $25 penalty. I must now pay the City. $35. The problem is, I didn’t get a PD permit invoice/bill in 2021, nor any kind of reminder over the remainder of that year or an invoice in 2022, 2023, or 2024. On the PD website, for alarm permit FAQs, they have this:
“Why didn’t I receive an invoice reminding me my permit renewal was due?
San Diego Permits and Licensing will attempt to send courtesy reminders regarding permit renewals approximately 30 days before the permits are set to expire. These notices of expiring alarms are sent out the 2nd week of each month. This is a courtesy only, and it is not required by law to send the letters. We cannot guarantee you will receive a courtesy reminder. It is ultimately the permit holder’s responsibility to remember when their permit expires, and when permit payments are due.”
In 2021 and subsequently, coping with many personal issues, illnesses, and covid, it didn’t occur to me that I didn’t get an invoice. How laughable is this business model? “We don’t have to tell you you owe us money, but you better pay us.”