Responding to Your Phone Calls and E-Mails

There are peak times throughout the year when the volume of e-mails and phone calls our office receives between 60 to 100 each day!  Spring is definitely ‘a peak time’ with people inquiring about many city maintenance issues.

This high volume of inquiries, combined with the large population in South Winnipeg–St. Norbert (Winnipeg’s largest ward, with 66,700+ residents!) can make it challenging for us to respond in a timely manner.  Bev and I find this very frustrating, and I apologize if you find our response time is not as quick as you’d like. I can assure you we’d like to be able to provide a more rapid turnaround also!

• If you have contacted our office, and we have not responded within 3-5 days, please be patient –  we will get back to you.
• You can also request service by E-Mailing Winnipeg’s 311 Service Centre at 311@winnipeg.ca.  Reporting to 311 serves several purposes:
  • It puts you in the queue for service
  • It creates a formal record for your service request (for future reference and follow up)
  • It enables City supervisors to identify areas experiencing frequent issues and often will result in more timely action (ie: 5+ neighbours report a blocked street).

It’s interesting to know that each of Winnipeg’s 15 City Councillors receives approximately $80,000 annually for the Ward to support the following resources:

• Community Ward Assistant
• Community Events
• Community Consultations
• Community Outreach (i.e. newsletters, website. advertisements)
• Office Costs (i.e. office equipment/furniture, telephones, office supplies, stationery, photocopying, printing, postage)

The South Winnipeg – St Norbert Ward has more than 66,700 residents, but receives the same amount of funding as wards which have about 1/2 the population:

• North Kildonan Ward                               36,370
• St.Charles Ward                                       31,910
• St.James-Brooklands-Weston Ward         35,925

I am working to have ward resources allocated on a PER CAPITA basis vs the current model of ‘each ward receives the same regardless of population’.  The current model does not allow for the same level of service to residents who live in larger populated wards.  Not good.  Clearly, the City is growing but current models are not designed to handle this growth.

In the meantime, I aim to keep residents informed via my website, regular e-mail newsletters, Facebook, Twitter, community meetings, and my articles in The Sou’Wester and Lance community newspapers – but without a doubt, Bev and I do have a challenge responding to all the inquiries in a timely manner.   I apologize and thank you for your patience.

twitter link:  https://janicelukes.ca/?p=6268