During the March 10 Waltham City Council meeting, council members, including Ward 9 Councilor Robert G. Logan, Ward 8 Councilor Cathyann Harris, Councilor-at-Large Carlos A. Vidal, Ward 3 Councilor William Hanley, Ward 7 Councilor Paul S. Katz, Ward 1 Councilor Anthony LaFauci, Ward 6 Councilor Sean Durkee, Councilor-at-Large Colleen Bradley-MacArthur and Ward 2 Councilor Caren Dunn introduced a resolution urging the city of Waltham to adopt a web-based reporting system. This system, which would be accessible via a mobile app, would allow residents to report non-emergency neighborhood issues such as potholes, rat sightings and streetlight outages.

Logan spoke in support of the resolution, acknowledging the city’s slow adoption of technology in its functioning. He pointed out that he introduced a similar resolution in 2017, but the resolution was not accepted.

“When it comes to technology, I think we can all admit that Waltham isn’t exactly an early adopter,” Logan stated. “I didn’t have to look any further for the language than the resolution I submitted in 2017… trying to do the same thing.”

Logan acknowledged that the city currently has a “rudimentary” system in place on its website where residents can fill out and submit a complaint. However, he noted that he recently used it for an issue but never received a response. While he chose not to disclose the specific issue to avoid singling out a department at the meeting, he used his experience to draw attention to inefficiencies within the current system that he feels need to be addressed. 

The resolution states that implementing a mobile app for reporting would be free for the public and serve as a form of community activism by encouraging greater citizen engagement. It also highlights that many communities in Massachusetts have already adopted similar systems, which Logan and the other supporting councilors are advocating for. In the surrounding areas of Waltham, several cities and towns have implemented similar apps to help residents improve their neighborhoods. Boston uses the Bos:311 app, Lexington offers the BeReady Lexington app, Newton has Newton 311, Belmont provides MyBelmont 311, and Watertown utilizes Watertown App.

According to the Councilor from Ward 9, the proposed app, which wasn’t named, would address shortcomings by streamlining the complaint process. Residents could report issues directly through the app, which would assign the complaint to the appropriate department, generate a complaint number and provide updates on its status. Additionally, the system would track and compile statistical data, allowing both councilors and residents to generate reports on various concerns — such as the number of complaints filed or the average time taken to resolve a complaint.

“What this does is it introduces not only convenience to the residents of Waltham,” Logan said, “but also introduces accountability and transparency in the operation of our local government.” 

The resolution was referred to the Economic and Community Development Committee for further review.