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Holey moley: Boston isn't really fixing all the pothole complaints it marks as fixed

The New England Center for Investigative Reporting reports.

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Does Uhub have any latest news on Suffolk downs development plans in todays Boston Globe.

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Awesome, are they going to simply put the 2024 Stadium on that large piece of underused land which is already directly on public transportation? That's the best Olympic news I've heard.

Wait, what's that, that idea hasn't even been considered because it wouldn't be a big enough land grab for the developers? Never mind....

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Use this as our primary or only source of local news. If you don't like that he will share stories from other places then don't click an article you read from somewhere else already.

Except we both know i was overly generous assuming you already knew about the article in question.

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The NECIR are doing good work. Clearly there are serious problems here, but I'm not optimistic there will be proper accountability. It sounds like the reporters were given the runaround trying to get in touch with Public Works, and all the officials that were quoted in the article came off as downplaying the issues and/or trying to dodge responsibility, claiming ignorance.

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These qustions aren't limited to potholes.

I've originated complaints about fallon field, and they were closed without explanation. Boo. It would seem the city agreed to an extent, however. Indeed, there was a much larger question that needed addressing in that case. The redevelopment plan being proposed sounds great, masking the whole closed complaint background.

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I know it was a rough winter all round but I had to open several cases about pedestrian crosswalks and curb bumps that were plugged up with snow.

A few were "resolved" by waiting for the Spring thaw.

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I reported a very blocked sidewalk this past winter
https://mayors24.cityofboston.gov/reports/H195676-101001314481

They closed it saying "no violation found". So I refiled and sent in a pic:
https://mayors24.cityofboston.gov/reports/H197719-101001324295

Then they claimed they "cited for failure to shovel". Since it was never shoveled but melted away (eve so slowly), I wondered whether or not they actually issued a citation. Their priority is probably to just close cases but not to not actually do anything.

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I once had an employee (approving vendor invoices) who finished his work much too quickly and always had a perfectly clean desk with an empty inbox. We later found he was simply approving all invoices for payment without checking any details on any invoices.

I also have had personal experience with City Hall closing cases without any action taken. Of course they often say case closed without any explanation of what they did to close the cases. I am convinced that a certain percentage of City Hall employees are just liars, but I am sure they have a clean desk and a lot of cases allegedly completed.

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The citation won't actually physically force someone to shovel it...

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I've had a few of my complaints closed saying its been addressed, but the pot hole is still there.

I cracked up last month when my mention of a huge icicle on the side a building from February was just assigned a case number in June.

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At that rate, by the time they send someone out to check the icicle it'll be back again, so it all works out.

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#Holesinthesystem: Help NECIR report on Boston’s pothole repairs

While our potholes investigation reveals many holes in the system, we need your help to get the full picture. Below is a map of all of the potholes that the city of Boston claims to have fixed in the month prior to July 15.

Please click on a pothole in your neighborhood and:

• Cast a vote to let us know if you are satisfied with the pothole's repair.
• Tweet about it @necirbu with the hashtag #holesinthesystem.
• Email NECIR with your reports, comments and questions.

http://necir.org/2015/07/22/hashtag-holes-in-the-system/

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Case resolved.

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In some cases they're closing CitizensConnect reports because the pothole being reported is in someone else's jurisdiction (State, MBTA, DCR). The CC app should take a cue from software bug-reporting tools and have a "closed; won't-fix" option the admins could use (along with providing a brief explanation as to why the pothole won't be fixed by Boston), instead of just closing a report as if it's resolved.

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