Staff at Halton Region should phone Toronto City Hall with some advice on serving the public. And Toronto officials should take that call.
Although promised five years ago, a 311 helpline – giving Torontonians quick access to city information – remains on hold. It isn't expected to be ready to take questions until, perhaps, next summer.
Halton residents, on the other hand, can now dial 311 to get non-emergency information on city services, the region's operations and even public and Catholic school board programs. And Halton delivered the hotline just three years after deciding to set it up.
For an administration that bills itself as Canada's sixth largest government, Toronto's performance in securing a 311 service is distinctly small time. According to Councillor Peter Milczyn, staff initially lacked enthusiasm for the helpline. Later, the project was bedevilled by city council's reluctance to pay the estimated start-up costs.
As a result, Torontonians have been deprived of a useful service helping people through a bewildering maze of city departments, internal contacts, jumbled programs and obscure telephone numbers. With just one call, someone dialing 311 would reach an operator trained to answer about 70 per cent of likely questions, with the assistance of a handy database. When confronted by a question they couldn't answer, these staffers would know whom to pass the caller onto.
Also, as people call in, the system more efficiently identifies problems, such as potholes, burned-out street lights or garbage in need of collecting. Baltimore reportedly cut costs by $13 million in one year with its 311 service, through reduced overtime as work crews were dispatched more quickly and with less duplication.
There is no excuse for a six-year delay in getting Toronto's version of this helpline up and running. And that's assuming it actually starts next summer. In Canada's largest city – unlike in Halton – better serving the public evidently isn't the priority that it should be.
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