The next time you come across graffiti-tagged businesses, downed trees or abandoned shopping carts, the City of Santa Maria has rolled out a brand-new platform so you can report it to them faster.
“It's called Neighborhood Connect. We launched this just a few weeks ago after some very thorough vetting and testing with a few residents,” said Mark van de Kamp, public information manager to the City of Santa Maria.” Now, it is live and open to all people in Santa Maria to use.”
Before Neighborhood Connect went online, community members would have to report non-emergency issues like abandoned cars, graffiti and water waste by calling or sending an email to the specific city department responsible.
Santa Maria’s new online platform is aimed at streamlining that process.
“You can even pinpoint on a map where the issue is. You can put in an address or some sort of description, and that will help us because you are our eyes and ears,” van de Kamp added.
He says since the launch of Neighborhood Connect, the city has been receiving roughly a dozen reported issues daily.
“Does that surprise you?” we asked Anne Holloway, who lives in Santa Maria.
“Not at all,” she said. “Because there is a lot of stuff going on, graffiti everywhere.”
Meanwhile, following the impacts of this winter’s storms, other locals say they are on board with any measure taken to speed up the city's response times for service.
“When we had the big flood, I saw a lot of downed trees, and mostly a lot of potholes and everything,” said Cameron Betancourt, a local teenager in Santa Maria.
Mark van de Kamp says Neighborhood Connect can be accessed using a computer, tablet or smartphone. But he admits that you shouldn’t expect all reported city issues to be tended to immediately.
“We would like to try to respond to reports fairly quickly. It could maybe take a day or two, and dependent on the issue, it could take several days,” van de Kamp said.
On the website, users will also be able to track the completion status of their non-emergency reports.
City officials say they are still working to have Neighborhood Connect include reports on potholes, and in the meantime, you are encouraged to call Santa Maria’s City Sidewalk and Pothole hotline at (805) 925-09521 ext. 2229.
Reports are only to be made within Santa Maria city limits.
You can explore more of the features of Neighborhood Connect by visiting the city's website.
