Madison resident services office opens at City Hall

By Staff
Thomas Tingle
Record Managing Editor
If you want to report a pothole on your street, an inoperable traffic signal down the road, or perhaps a missed trash pickup at your home, there is a person you can call at the Madison Municipal Complex who will take down your concern?
The city of Madison has opened a new Office of Resident Services.
"If there is a problem and you want to call someone here at City Hall, we've got a telephone number and a person who will answer your call," said Mayor Jan Wells. "If there is a problem at one of the city's parks, or property in need of maintenance, all you have to do is call 772-5680, or by a link from the city's Web site at www.ci.madison.al.us."
Wells said the Office of Resident Services is the first resort in bringing problems to the city's attention and getting them resolved quickly.
"No longer will residents have to make several phone calls to locate the right person in the right department to address their concern. Instead, this new office will make sure the caller's concerns are brought to the attention of the right person, and track the issue through its resolution," Wells said.
The mayor said the creation of this office is part of the on-going plan to make City Hall a customer-friendly place to do business in.
Mandy Davis, who operates the Office of Resident Services, explained what she does.
"We officially opened this service on March 3," Davis said. "Once a call is taken, I will send an e-mail to the contact person for the department with details about the complaint or request. I will then complete a resident request for services form and send the complaint or request to the appropriate department by interoffice mail."
From there, Davis will communicate with the department's contact person to find out what solution has been proposed and an estimated time of completion.
"After communicating with the specific department's contact person, I will call the resident back to tell him what department is handling the complaint or request and the approximate timeframe it will take to solve the issue and a contact person in the department who will be assigned to handle the request."
Davis said after sufficient time has been given, she will check back with the department's contact to see if the solution was implemented. If the solution was implemented, Davis will call the resident back to let him know the status and make sure the resident is satisfied.
"If the solution was not implemented, I will call the mayor's office to report that the request was not completed and the reason," Davis said.