HOLYOKE — When living in a city or town, residents may have complaints about certain things like potholes or debris and may not know who to report the issues to. Holyoke introduced a program in 2013 called SeeClickFix, that Mayor Joshua Garcia would like to remind residents about.
On the website, residents can report issues online for the city to monitor and fix.
Garcia said, “We have a shared responsibility to keep our city clean and safe, not only because it’s required by our city laws but because it’s the right thing to do for each other and for our environment. The SeeClickFix system is just another tool we are using to make reporting easy and efficient. The tool is a good way to help the city keep our finger on the pulse on issues reported directly from constituents.”
There are several ways the community can communicate quality-of-life concerns to the city like potholes, streetlight outages, graffiti, park maintenance, litter and debris, crime and any other concerns affecting your neighborhood.
One of those ways is the availability of the SeeClickFix system, a user-friendly platform where people can report quality of life issues in our city directly to city leaders.
Readers interested in reporting an issue and accessing the SeeClickFix system can visit seeclickfix.com/holyoke.
After clicking on the link, residents can click on Holyoke and then “new request” and a list of categories will pop up to help title the complaint.
After that, users will be asked to confirm the location of the complaint and add a photo and/or description to help better identify the complaint.
Users can also view current or previous complaints that are still open or have been closed.
Garcia explained after constituents report an issue with the appropriate category related to the concern, submitted tickets go directly to the appropriate departments of which the matter involves.
City staff monitor submitted tickets to be sure nothing is missed. Once the appropriate party receives the submission, that department can acknowledge receipt and report updates regarding response to the concern.
“Sometimes, certain issues are a little complex and don’t have an immediate response beyond an acknowledgement of receipt, however it keeps the matter on our radar. And more often than never there are other issues reported that we are able to take immediate action. When matters are resolved or are ongoing, but an update is provided, tickets are closed,” Garcia said.
Most of the issues the city has seen reported so far are animal control related tickets but other reported items include potholes, graffiti, park maintenance, litter and debris, crime, tree maintenance, loud music and other concerns affecting their neighborhood or quality of life.
Garcia said the tool is a good way to help the city keep its finger on the pulse on issues reported directly from constituents.
He further explained, “We encourage the public to use it. Either way, information is important, and the city appreciates the community bringing matters to its attention concerning situations that can be reviewed and navigate resources to address.”
