Session 3: Infrastructure & Communication

Session 3 was held at the City of Gainesville’s Public Works Compound on 39th Avenue. The morning began with an overview of the function and responsibilities of the Communications and Marketing Office from Communications and Marketing Manager Bob Woods and Senior Marketing and Communications Specialist Kate Parmelee. In addition to managing external and internal communication for the City, marketing of the City, emergency communications, media relations, special events and other activities the Communications and Marketing Office also manages the City/County Government Access Television Station- Channel 12, seen locally on Cox Cable and online anytime through our live web streaming.

Broadcast Production Technician James Scott debuted slides that revealed the eventual new look to the City of Gainesville’s website. It is still in development, and should likely be launched during January 2008.

The Communications and Marketing Office also discussed the Service Request Center, a new online service request and comment tracking system. The system was created to make it easier for citizens to have better communication with their government when trying to make a request for information and/or solve an issue that a citizen may have that is under City’s jurisdiction. From traffic signals to abandoned vehicles, the City of Gainesville's new Service Request Center makes it easy to submit your requests online, anytime. After you submit your request you will receive a tracking number allowing you to check the status of your request. You can also login any time to monitor the status of your request or add more comments. This new system will allow you to track the progress of the inquiry, and is available 24-7 on the City’s website. It is currently in the “soft opening” phase, but can be used at any time. To access the Service Request Center please visit this Website: http://src.cityofgainesville.org/

You can view the presentation on the Communications and Marketing Office’s role here.

After a short break, Public Education Specialist Gina Hawkins and Public Works Director Teresa Scott gave an informative overview of the Public Works Department, what they do and what they are responsible for. Did you know that they actually encourage citizens to email (or call) to report traffic/city light outages? They can’t fix what they don’t know is broken- so feel free to e-mail Public Works Customer Service at customerservice@cityofgainesville.org. Tom Frisbie, Operations Division Manager also answered more specific questions during this presentation.

The presentation included topics such as traffic and traffic signal maintenance, road projects, storm water location conversion into new storm water parks, just to name a few. You can view the presentation on Public Works here and RTS here at the Citizens’ Academy Online Web page.
Immediately following an informative question and answer session the participants were broken up into three small groups and given a tour of the Public Works Compound. We toured the Mosquito Control Division, where they breed special fish that eat mosquito larvae. The more larvae are eaten, the less adult mosquitoes are around to bite you. Consider it a first line of defense, more so than spraying.

We saw the sign shop, where road signage is made, and peeked in on the “interim” traffic management center. As the City continues to upgrade its traffic signal software from MS-DOS to a significantly more sophisticated system, traffic is monitored from the Compound on multiple screens, and you as a driver should begin to see considerable improvements in traffic patterns in the near future!

We even saw the efficient street sweepers all lined up and ready to begin cleanup of the University of Florida’s Homecoming Parade later in the day.

Finally, the Academy participants were gracious enough to line up and “star” in a promo for Community12, your local government connection. Stay tuned to Channel 12 to see your television debut!

REMEMBER! Session 4 will address Public Safety, and will be held at the Gainesville Police Department, Friday, November 16 at 9:00 am. The address is 721 NW 6th Street- please park in the parking lot on the east side of the new Administration Headquarters Building (just past the new building on 8th Avenue, around the corner from the GPD Headquarters). GPD staff will direct you to the session. Please wear comfortable clothes and shoes. We will explore how our City protects and serves its citizens through the Gainesville Police Department (GPD) and Gainesville Fire Rescue (GFR). As always, do not hesitate to contact us at parmeleeka@cityofgainesville.org or 334-5017 if you have any questions. See you next week!