Open Government reporting with new technology can change the relationship between citizens and the government.

I'm trying to work off some of the backlog of overdue reports, and flag them to SF311 one, or at most two a day.   Too often, they have provide me with a new service number.   Then I suspect that the original SR was closed.   Do a time consuming search, and find out, that yest the original service request was closed.

I'm believing that this pattern of closing service request without ascertaining if the graffiti has been removed has been happening for years.  (one of my evidence is I made reports before and they were not acted up, but I did not keep the service record, and even less, I did not keep photographs that are undeniable before and after pictures.)  And it keeps happening to me.

I believe the unit of DPW that deals with this private property graffiti is not used to someone having dated photographic proof of the prior condition.   They thought with impunity they could close cases, because it is easier to do that.   And if someone complained, they would be complicity with the taggers, and claim that after it was erased it happened again.

But now the level of dated photographic prove, is 100 times easier, and 20 time less expensive.

The are going to have to get the idea that if they close a case that has been reported photographically, someone, ESPECIALLY if it me, is going to call them on it.   And if this blog and twitter is not a visible enough, there will be an #ogov solution.

Walked the stretch of Mission St between 18th and 19th, this morning. and ..

I Walked the stretch of Mission St between 18th and 19th, this morning.  and ..of the four buildings that DPW cleaned yesterday, only one looked like it had been tagged with graffiti this am.  eg 2293, and even there the graffiti was not so prominent.     I reported the newsracks at 19th and Mission NW.

Technology issue.

There is lots of graffiti in my neighborhood.   And although I don't report all of it, I have been making lots of reports.   I don't want to overload SF311 with the reports.  Sometimes they tweet back, that I already reported a graffiti.   I might feel bad, but not so much bad because it is hard to keep track of the reports

For reason, there are different time period.   48 hours for the typical street furniture. 3 days for parking meters.  Two days plus ten days for newsracks.   20 business days for signs.  30 days for buildings.  Supposedly 3 days for corporate graffiti, but that has never once happened.

Point is I'm going to sometimes report graffiti a second time before the clock has run.    And also importantly, I am deferring to report graffiti because I don't know if it is already on the clock.

Well my tracking solution is having problems.   My goto tracking solution has been the topsy.com web site.      But something is going wrong, and searches are not including all the reports.

So, today, there is some bad graffiti on the newsracks at 19th and Mission.   I'm paying close attention to that corner.  18th to 19th on Mission is my adopted space, and first step towards a better six block stretch of Mission.   But the topsy.com search engine is missing results when I search user, and newsrack.

Wow, getting frustrated, having a voice crack, but at least four buildings painted.

Thank you, Thank you, thank you DPW/


Well, as my posts suggest, I was getting frustrated by the lack of progress on many Mission Street buildings. four to five months.  It  carried over into my twitter reports as well, and I wondered was I losing some cool on this.    My tone sometimes had frustration ..

Whatever, it worked, or there was a coincidental timed reaction. Because at least four buildings were painted over their graffiti this morning.

The big one was 2298 Mission Street.    That building had graffiti that was signed from 2008.   Is in a promient location.  And was real ugly.

Also, nearly on the corner was 2293 Mission Street,

and 2270 /2272 Mission St also got cleaned this morning.  Some but not all of 2225 Mission St., was closed.

And even a building between 19th and 20th was cleaned.  I don't know the exact number.

What if pointing out that a report is 3 to 4 months overdue does nothing.

Recently, I have been resubmitting with links to the original, service requests for buildings that are four and five months old.    My thinking is an ambiental change won't happen where there are several large three year old tags in the same vista.   I also thought that undeniable photographic links that report is months overdue, would be a cause for something to happen.

I'm starting to increasingly doubt, that even sending to SF311 four and five months old reports on graffiti blighted buildings is going to have any effect.

Followup, Followup, Followup.

I've got some good news, and some bad news.
What do you want first.
The good news.

The good news is:

• DPW is doing a good job in cleaning the graffiti located on public items.  Real good job.  Thanks DPW.   It makes a difference in how people on the street feel.  Safer, Prouder, 
• Things have gotten much better at both Rec and Park facilities.  Not only graffiti I report is getting cleaned, but unreported graffiti is getting cleaned.  And most importantly, RPD painters are now buying into the view that if graffiti is timely cleaned, less new graffiti will come up.  (so their work is easier), and before it seemed to be the opposite- he said, since they are just going to re-tag this tomorrow, don't waste time painting it today.
• SF311 works great.   Thanks SF311.   Thanks twitter.  Thanks technology opportunity,  #opengov #gov20
• Post Office, response is good too as is other entities like Fire, Street signs, etc. 

The bad news is :

• Graffiti on private building is still a disaster, and the DPW process is not working..
• Commercial graffiti, as in llegal sign-age is not only a disaster, but is a disgrace.  Not a single reported building has been cleaned in four months.   

New follow up technique, in that sometime SF311 wants the original SR#.

Add the SR into the comments field of twitpic, it creates a new tweet, and when search will connect the address with the SR#

Follow up

I'm getting better at following up old reports that were not abated.   I think this could be a major breakthrough, it can "turn the corner."

haha, Strategery

So, you may have noticed, I am trying to rethink my strategery.

I've come to think that my initial graffiti plans, trusted too much that graffitweet to SF311 about building graffiti  would be timely followed up upon, and  in my excitement over this new technology, I made reports that covered more than a single block.  Then I was disappointed when too little happened.    It should have worked, . . .

Maybe, I threw a too wide of a geographical net on my reports, and diluted their impact.  Instead, I am now thinking the strategy of a beach head, toe hold,   (Think the current TV commercial about harlem children's nonprofit where bricks represent each block.)    For September and October, I'm going to concentrate on a single one block area, 18th to 19th, Valencia to Mission, (and yes, Lexington and San Carlos are important, but they are inside of my one adopted block.).

. . . If the beach head is achieved, from there I will "march" to 16th and 24th Street BART stations like Stanford told me would be necessary.

Dolores Park is still very much in my heart for improvement, but I am wary of being a force against graffiti there and being connected with the pro - motocop forces.   So, I'm lowering my attention on Dolores Park.    Sad that the politics is getting in the way....  

Updates.

Okay, today is an update post.

SF311 state that all the MUNI signs and poles in Dolores Park are to be cleaned by Muni.   The Rec and Park painter does not want to clean the MUNI stuff in Dolores Park.   Gonna have to repeatedly send these requests in.

Someone from Denver who is doing much the same thing as me, is starting to follow me on twitter.