Have A Problem For City Hall? There's An App For That
By Mike Dunn
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - A freshman City Councilman this week is launching a very 21st century approach to neighborhood issues like trash and blight: he has created an iPhone app that lets residents send complaints and concerns -- with photos -- directly to his office.
Sixth District Councilman Bobby Henon says residents in his district and others too often take note of problems, but with busy lives they never get around to reporting them. So, Henon conceived and developed an iPhone app, still in beta testing, to make that reporting process simple.
"You see a problem, you have an issue, you take a picture of it, you send it, you track it, and you see it get resolved."
All that done can be done in a matter of minutes on the iPhone with the app. The information is sent to staffers in Henon's office, who will then forward it to the appropriate city department.
"I call it City Hall at your fingertips. It is a 2012 way to communicate with people who have busy lives, who don't have time to come down (to City Hall)."
Henon hopes to have the app available for download on iTunes by the end of this week. It is primarily aimed at constituents in his district, which encompasses parts of the lower Northeast, but Henon says it can be used by anyone. The app was developed by a programmer hired by the Councilman. No plans yet for an Android version.
