Friends,
This newsletter heavily focuses on the work our office has done to improve communication, clarity, and results around reporting and fixing quality of life issues. We’ll start with the new dashboard for Department of Public Works (DPW) issues, and touch on new communication protocols for street repairs. We have also increased the amount the Department of Property Management can spend on goods so the City can repair air conditioning units, elevators, windows, and other necessary things without an extremely long procurement process.
Best,
| | DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS DASHBOARD | | My office receives constituent complaints for nearly every department and issue across the city. But the Department of Public Works receives the most. Below is a snapshot of the number of calls/emails our office received from April – mid-July: | |
In our experience, issues that are reported to 311 are impossible to track. To show you how complaints are handled, I authored an ordinance – with full council support - requiring DPW to publish a dashboard on the issues they touch. This dashboard will allow residents to track their requests and show DPW’s progress on 15 significant items:
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Potholes: Create a map of outstanding service request locations, and update as repairs are completed.
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Catch basin cleanings: Supplement the current catch basin maintenance dashboard map to include date of maintenance request and scheduled maintenance date.
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Lateral drainage lines: Supplement current catch basin maintenance dashboard map to illustrate sections of lateral drainage lines cleaned and date of cleaning.
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Catch basin repairs: Create a map of outstanding service request locations, updated as structural repairs are completed.
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Streetlights: Create a map of outstanding service request locations, and update as repairs are completed.
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Traffic signals: Create a map of outstanding service request locations, and update as repairs are completed.
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Alleyway maintenance: Publish the regular maintenance schedule and map of outstanding service requests, and update as service is completed.
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Bike lanes: Create a map of the regular maintenance and cleaning schedule of bike lanes and bike lane crossing signals.
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Road striping: Create a map of outstanding service requests or planned road striping projects, and update as work is completed.
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Traffic studies: Create a map of outstanding requests, and update as studies are completed, including a link to the resulting traffic study and plan.
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Traffic signs: Create a map of outstanding service requests, and update as repairs are completed.
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Street signs: Create a map of outstanding service requests, and update as repairs are completed, and/or signage is replaced.
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School zone signs/lights: Create a map of outstanding service requests, and update as repairs are completed.
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Abandoned cars: Publish the current number of requests and the number of cars towed during the preceding two weeks.
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Parking tickets: Publish the number of parking tickets issued.
DPW has 120 days to publish this dashboard so residents can begin to track their requests. We expect this dashboard to be up and running by early December. You should still report these issues to the 311 system so that the appropriate work orders are generated.
| | JOINT INFRASTRUCTURE RECOVERY ROAD (JIRR) PROGRAM | |
One of the most common complaints my office receives from constituents is the lack of communication and transparency around road work projects being conducted jointly by the Department of Public Works and the Sewerage and Water Board.
The City uses the Roadwork website to keep residents informed about work happening on their block. In theory, any resident can visit the website, input their address, and see the overall scope and timeline of work happening on their block. As you’ve likely heard and/or personally experienced, contractors start digging up streets and find that the conditions are worse than originally expected, leading to plan changes and delayed timelines with no real explanation provided to the residents.
To be clear, this is happening across District A; from Uptown to Lakeview, Hollygrove to Mid-City, no neighborhood is spared.
I authored Ordinance Cal. No. 34,143 as amended – which passed with full Council support in July – to require the Roadwork site to include:
- the name, assigned personal office phone number, City-issued cell phone number, and assigned individual work email address for the DPW Project Manager and his or her direct supervisor;
- the Roadwork Outreach Specialist/City Contact and his or her direct supervisor; and,
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the Contractor representative such that the information is displayed on the Contacts link and under each "Project Outlook" information section when a "Find Work on My Block" search is conducted.
As of this newsletter, the Roadwork website has not been supplemented with the information that the law now requires. In the interim, to help you with as much information as possible, below is a list of currently active projects within District A, the contractor name, and the email address for the Roadwork Outreach Specialist assigned to the project:
| | | | | ROADWORK OUTREACH SPECIALIST | | | |
Hard Rock Construction, LLC
| | | | | Fleming Construction Company, LLC | | | | | Barriere Construction Company, LLC | | | | |
Murphy Pipeline Contractors, LLC
| | | | | Infinity Construction and Trucking, LLC | | | | | Hard Rock Construction, LLC | | | | | Boh Bros Construction Company, LLC | | | | | Murphy Pipeline Contractors, LLC | | | | | Roubion Roads and Streets | | | | | Hard Rock Construction, LLC | | | | | Murphy Pipeline Construction, LLC | | | | | Hard Rock Construction, LLC | | | | | Hard Rock Construction, LLC | | | | | Command Construction Industries, LLC | | | PROCUREMENT PROCESS UPDATE | |
One standout from recent quarterly budget meetings is the slow procurement process. Most recently, the Department of Property Management expressed frustration with the required paperwork to secure an HVAC contractor for dilapidated NOPD stations. And, recently we have heard reports of air conditioning issues at libraries, NOFD houses, and the Criminal Court building. More than a dozen city-owned properties are experiencing major HVAC issues.
One of the biggest hurdles stems from the city’s requirement that procurement of any item more than $1,000 must go through a public bid process. The bid process – at best – takes months. We need to help the City reduce red tape and unnecessary delays.
I authored an amendment to that policy, with the full support of the Council, bumping that spending limit to $10,000. Now repairs can be made more quickly. The ordinance also requires the Department of Finance to maintain a dashboard showing which City department purchased an item, which item was purchased, and its cost. We have given Finance 150 days to enact this dashboard, and we expect it to come online by early January.
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New Orleans City Council
Joseph I. Giarrusso III — District A
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