Cleveland residents use 311 a lot – they have submitted about 42,000 service requests in the last eight months. As Signal reported last month, 311, which includes an online portal launched in 2024, was created to help Cleveland residents submit and track their non-emergency requests for city services.
At our “Elections Unfiltered” community conversation, hosted in May with our partner Cleveland VOTES, we heard from Southeast Side residents who had questions about 311. So Signal Cleveland spoke to a few residents across the city, and they shared their 311 experiences, their questions and their suggestions. Here are their responses, edited for clarity and brevity:
Terry McNeil, Ward 8 (formerly Ward 7)
Good morning, Terry. How have you used 311?
I have put in multiple service requests through the online portal. I have made requests related to street repairs, grass cutting, tree maintenance and illegal dumping.
Can you talk about your experience with it?
The idea is great to try and get the community involved. The problem is…I think the mobile experience can use some improvements. In my experience, it wasn’t the easiest to use. 311 needs to be a mobile app. Not everyone uses a browser on a mobile device.
How long has it taken for your service requests to be fulfilled?
I’ve put in quite a few requests. Some have been taken care of, others have not. The fastest turnaround I’ve had was the illegal dumping [issue], which took the city about three days to handle.
What are some things that you think the city can improve on to make the experience easier?
311 is an avenue for residents to be able to communicate with City Hall. When we put the service request in, the work still needs to be done in a timely manner.
If Public Works is not successful, then 311 will not be successful because they are handling a majority of these requests. Ultimately, residents need to actually see the results instead of just being told things are being handled.
[McNeil said he would like to see a yearly maintenance plan published by the city to help residents understand how its Public Works Department manages requests and allocates funds.]
Ronaldo Rodriguez Jr., Ward 7 (formerly Ward 3)
Good morning, Ronaldo. Can you talk about your experiences with 311?
I first heard about 311 after reading Signal Cleveland’s coverage about it. I’ve made my service requests through the online portal or via email. I would say I’ve put in a half dozen requests. Sometimes, I would use the email address that was on their website.
What service requests did you submit?
Illegal dumping, street lights that needed bulbs replaced. I also put one in about a pole that’s been down on my street since February. A car ran into it, and the pole has been on the ground ever since. When the city followed up with me about it last time, they were trying to identify who owned the pole before taking action.
While participating in Riversweep, we discovered a vacant lot next to the Sunoco on West 14 and Clark that was full of weeds and trash. It took months, but eventually the city fined the owner of the gas station for improper maintenance because it was discovered that he owned the lot as well. The gas station lot is cleaned up now, but the vacant lot still needs work.
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What was the fastest follow-up time you’ve experienced?
There were some weeds and trees growing out of a sewer in my neighborhood. I put in a service request via email, and the city came and took care of it in three to four days.
Do you feel like the online portal was easy to navigate?
I really like the portal. The landing page that shows all the data and different service requests throughout the city is really great.
What are some improvements you would like to see with 311 moving forward?
I think they can improve on the follow-up times with requests. Some things have been resolved quickly and some things I’ve waited months on. If things aren’t resolved, do I just submit another request? I also wonder about the work flow of these different departments, I wonder how that has been affected by 311.
Jotoya Gray, Ward 1
Jotoya, you called 311 for a somewhat unique issue. Can you share with our readers what’s going on in your neighborhood?
For starters, I learned about 311 when I was documenting a meeting for Cleveland Documenters. Some members of the city council were talking about 311, how it worked and what residents should use it for.
I’m currently dealing with a situation where there may be squatters living in the house next door to mine. I’m someone who has been a landlord before and has had to deal with squatters. The entire experience was very frustrating.
After I learned about 311, I wanted to reach out to them. I called the number and it wouldn’t work on my end. I would just get a dial tone.
I ended up calling 211 to ask about 311. The operator at 211 told me that they do overflow for 311 when they experience a high amount of service requests. I explained to her why I was calling. She took down my information and told me she would call me back or have someone else call me back. It’s been about a week and a half – I still haven’t heard anything.
Technically, I haven’t spoken to a 311 operator yet. The operator at 211 was very attentive, and I felt as though she was genuinely trying to help me. Again, I still haven’t been contacted since that last interaction. Hopefully in the future, they work on improving their response time to residents. This is the only request I’ve put in so far.
That’s something that they can hopefully improve on. Getting out here and telling residents about 311 as much as they can. I know people who had no idea what it was until I mentioned it to them.
Signal Cleveland asked the City of Cleveland to answer some FAQ’s from residents
What should residents do when they don’t hear back on service requests for an extended period of time?
If residents have not heard back or are just seeking an update on their service request, we kindly ask that they not submit another separate request as that duplication can create confusion. Instead, we encourage them to either email us at [email protected] or call 311 (within city limits) or 216-664-2000 (from anywhere).
We ask that they have their reference number handy or, if emailing, to include it in their email; however, if they don’t have the reference number, we can still usually find it via an address of the incident and brief description. Having the reference number just makes it easier. Then our call center staff will reach out to the respective department(s) to find out any reason(s) why something has yet to be addressed.
Staff can then follow-up with the resident to provide that additional context on the request (e.g. a backorder of supplies, a property being scheduled for demolition but still needing to fulfill certain components of the legal process, etc. etc.). This is a relatively new feature for our call center as we continuously work to better our customer service and make our operations stronger.
Is there a way to check the status of a service request if a resident doesn’t have an online account?
Yes, the easiest way to check on the status of a request – for individuals who don’t have an online account – is to utilize the 311 Service Request Explorer on our Open Data site, searching by the reference number (you can also search by address too). It’s important to note that the Explorer refreshes every day at 7 a.m. (so if you enter a request in after that, you won’t be able to see it until the following day).
Is there an app in the works?
We are focused on perfecting the current platform while also assessing the feasibility for a mobile app. It’s important to note that the platform is still accessible and fully functional on mobile devices via web-browsing.
Is Public Works handling a majority of the service requests?
Yes, Public Works is handling the majority of service requests at this time.