Malden Mayor Christenson.
The city government in Malden, Mass., has one particular active citizen SeeClickFixing examples of small problems needing fixing: the government’s boss.
That would be Malden Mayor Christenson.
Christenson has taken to the web-based SeeClickFix problem-solving tool (developed by the New Haven company of the same name) some 1,000 times to call the government’s attention to street-level complaints. Another active user is the head of public works, Robert Knox Jr..
Knox and Christenson described the ways they’re preventing small muncipal problems from becoming big problems, during an appearance on WNHH’s “SeeClickFix Radio” program.
“It’s all about the little things,” Knox said. He said he’s looking to “set an example” that “this is our land.”
Some recent itizen complaints field over the platform have concerned drinking water; like residents throughout the country alarmed by the crisis in Flint, Mich., Maldenites with lead pipes have asked to have their water tested.
Knox said the city, which was settled in 1640 and has about 60,000 residents, was already gradually replacing its lead service lines, of which about 2,700 remain. It was already also randomly testing the water in people’s homes. So far none of the tests have shown anyone to be in danger, Knox said, though he encouraged people to run the water a while each morning before drinking it.
Christenson spoke of how he’s facing his toughest budget year so far in Malden because revenues can no longer keep pace with growing costs, especially in the schools, which educate far more special-education students and English language learners than in the past. As a result Malden is gradually shrinking government, splitting positions upon retirement into part-time gigs, eliminating the jobs of school librarians. (Parent volunteers are helping to pick up the slack.)
Click on or download the above sound file to listen to the full episode.
This episode of WNHH’s “SeeClickFix Radio” was made possible in part thanks to support from Yale-New Haven Hospital.
