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Residents and commissioners press city on customer service, phone system and aging infrastructure
Summary
During the budget hearing, residents and several commissioners raised long-standing concerns about customer-service responsiveness, a new phone system, and deferred infrastructure maintenance including storm drains and canal dredging.
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — Public commenters and commissioners used the Sept. 25 budget hearing to press city officials on customer-service responsiveness, the usability of a new phone system and ongoing infrastructure maintenance.
A resident identified in the public comment period as Ralston told commissioners she is frustrated with the new phone system, repeated dropped calls and long waits for public-record responses. Ralston also urged the commission to include ongoing infrastructure maintenance in budget planning, saying canal dredging and stormwater upkeep had been neglected and citing an instance of canals being closed and dredged for five months only last year. She said that in 41 years living in the city she had not seen similar dredging until recently, and that stormwater drains in her neighborhood were not identifiable.
Commissioners and the city manager acknowledged the concerns and tied them to broader budget priorities. Several commissioners — including Commissioner Collier and Vice Mayor Quintana — said customer service is a central concern and encouraged staff to make it easier for residents to understand how tax dollars translate to services and to improve responsiveness, including return calls and emails. The city manager and Assistant City Manager highlighted investments in process improvement, a new compliance position and a planned enterprise asset/property management system intended to help inventory and maintain city infrastructure.
No formal action on phone systems or specific infrastructure projects was taken at the meeting; the remarks were made as public comment and as commissioner feedback during budget discussion. The city manager said staff are pursuing technology and process changes to reduce response times and improve service delivery and that many infrastructure projects will be addressed through the adopted capital improvement plan.
