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Things break. That's just physics. Getting things fixed is somewhat less inevitable.
Is there a broken street light on your block? Do you think the traffic light at the corner of Natural Bridge and Kingshighway should be timed differently? Is your neighbor cultivating a bumper crop of ragweed this year? If so (and with apologies to Ray Parker, Jr.), who you gonna call?
For thousands of people who live in, work in, or visit St. Louis, the answer is the Citizens' Service Bureau, the customer service department for the City of St. Louis. According to its website, the CSB is prepared to find solutions to residents' problems including "refuse collection, street maintenance, traffic control signals and signs, street lights, requests for building inspections and health inspections, stray or vicious dogs, accumulations of trash and weeds, air pollution, defective public sidewalks, maintenance in City parks and recreation facilities, and other related City service problems." People who can successfully describe the problem they are reporting receive a tracking number that usually lets them keep tabs on the progress towards a solution. And if the problem raised isn't under the jurisdiction of City government, the CSB is prepared to find out who is responsible.
The CSB receives requests by telephone, by letter, by email, and through its home page on the City of St. Louis's official website.
Mayor Francis Slay and his senior staffers keep a pretty close watch on the CSB. Successfully resolved issues mean that a city department or agency is doing its job. Recurring problems or a spike in certain sorts of complaints signal a breakdown somewhere in the machinery of municipal government.
This week's Mini-Poll asks you to take an appraising look at the City's official complaint window. Your suggestions are welcome, but don't ask MayorSlay.com to fix a pothole.
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