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LATEST LETTERS

311 system

Monday, August 6 at 2:16 PM

Yaakov “Jim” Watkins of Denver writes:

Re: 311
If I remember correctly, years ago there was an operator who would direct calls to the appropriate agency. When that position was eliminated, nobody was available to help callers figure out which office they should contact.
The state still has this problem.
Personally, I solved that problem by calling agencies at random and asking whoever answered the phone to help me. I still have to do that with state agencies. Understandably, this annoys staffers who rightfully feel that they shouldn’t have to deal with this particular problem. Staffers at the state and city level have been uniformly helpful; that is, whenever they answered the phone in the first place. Agencies dealt with the problem by leaving the answering machines on so that they could get some work done.
Whether the proper solution was 311 or simply having a city operator to call, I leave to the council. But something had to be done by the city and something should be done by the state.

This letter has not been edited.

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