Revere residents can air complaints through new app

REVERE – Have you hit a pothole, spotted a pile of illegally dumped trash, had graffiti sprayed across your business? The city has an app for that.”Starting March 30 there will be an app that residents with smartphones can download and register constituent complaints with the city and the DPW (Department of Public Works),” said Miles Lang-Kennedy, Mayor Daniel Rizzo’s chief of staff. “It will automatically send emails to the DPW, and all of us and the DPW can address the issue.”It is the city of Boston that has allowed Revere to launch the mobile phone application, Commonwealth Citizens Connect. Lang-Kennedy said Boston’s program was funded through a Community Innovation Challenge grant and it opened the program up to other communities.”We were lucky,” he said.In the first round of the program, 100 applications were received from 285 cities and towns, and 27 grants, one being for Revere, were awarded.”We’re really grateful to have the help and support from the city of Boston in order to use the Commonwealth Citizens Connect Application,” said Rizzo. “The mobile application will be a great way for residents to report quality of life problems to the city in a timely manner.”Lang-Kennedy said Revere is not unlike other urban cities in that it gets its share of complaints from residents. The app will make it easier for residents to instantly lodge complaints.Chelsea is already using the app, which also links to the city website. The page shows what complaints have been filed and when and if the problems have been addressed. Kennedy said he is hoping Revere will have a similar page.Since he took office in 2012, Rizzo has been promoting the use of technology to engage and interact with residents. His office has used online surveys, started a Facebook page, Twitter account and established an email newsletter.Rizzo said the link will be available starting March 30 on www.revere.org, which will give residents more information about the program, and show how to download and use the application, or contact Rizzo’s office at 781-286-8111.View the Chelsea SeeClickFix ap. Zoom in, out and click on dots for more informationChris Stevens can be reached at [email protected] are potholes in your neighborhood? Report them to The Daily Item by commenting below or sending an email to [email protected], and they could appear in an interactive map