Photo by Ingrid Schnader
The new citizen portal can be accessed by going to cityofhomewood.com.
Up until recently, Homewood residents didn’t have clear guidance on how to report a problem. Whether that problem was a pothole, animal control issue or streetlight issue, residents encountering the problem might only know to tell their city council representative, who would then pass that information to the correct city employee.
Brian Wallace of Jettytrip Media, who manages the city’s communications services, said he wanted to create an easier way for residents to communicate with the city. He recently released the Citizen Portal, which can be found on the city website at cityofhomewood.com.
“From the very beginning, years ago, I offered an opportunity for the city to put themselves in a position where they could get ahead of any potential issues,” Wallace said. “I’m of the opinion that it is extremely important, especially in a governmental role, to have that input from the constituents, especially those who want to voice their opinion about very specific items the council is addressing.”
Wallace is a parent and 18-year resident of Homewood, and he said he has been able to communicate to the city what the residents would like to see on the city’s websites.
The citizen portal has a general comment button, giving residents the opportunity to voice their concerns or opinions about any topic. Many people have in the past voiced these types of concerns on social media, such as Facebook pages like Homewood City Voters and What’s Happening in Homewood, but Wallace said many residents don’t want to voice their opinions on social media for everyone to see.
There are also buttons for more specific problems: drainage issues, traffic issues, police issues and much more. Each button leads the user to the appropriate form, and their form response goes to the correct person in the city.
“There are particular people within the public works system and parks and recreation system who handle specific things,” he said. “This now goes directly to them. The councilors do their best to relay the information, but this now goes right to that person, and they’re able to respond and record everything they do.”
Some buttons take users to a different website. For example, if a resident clicks the “Spire Gas Issue” button, that user is led to the Contact Us page on Spire’s website.
The portal also has sign-up links to each of the email newsletters for each ward. Each ward except Ward 4 has a newsletter written by one or both of that ward’s councilors that communicates ward-specific information to constituents.
In addition to creating the portal, Wallace handles the city’s social media channels and hosts Zoom meetings for Homewood’s City Council and Planning Commission meetings. He also recently redesigned the Homewood Parks and Recreation website.
The portal has already had lots of interactions, Wallace said in June.
“People are finding it, and people are using it, and that’s a good thing,” he said.
To access the portal, go to cityofhomewood.org. Under the Residents tab in the navigation menu, click Citizen Portal. The direct link to the portal is cityofhomewood.com/speak-to-us-homewood.
