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Citizen complaint of the day: Vandals mar large public sculpture in Charles Circle
By adamg on Fri, 07/20/2012 - 8:54am
An aggrieved citizen reports:
Distasteful ad on beautiful public sculpture-MBTA station.
In a forest-trees situation, the city marked the complaint "closed," because:
This isn't graffiti. the markings on the street are for construction.
Note to Mayor's Hotline folks: Look up. And then mark the complaint closed because the MBTA is not under city jursidiction.
Neighborhoods:
Topics:
Free tagging:
Ad:
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Comments
Misdirected citizen complaint is an example of a larger problem.
I agree that the Mayor's people should look up, but at the same time, people have to learn more about how the public sector is organized, so that they don't, say, send complaints about ads in T stations to the City (or, in another favorite that I used to see all the time in the msm, complaints about the Big Dig tunnels to Massport - what the @#$% ?!).
For the same reason, I would like to propose a UHub-wide ban on the use of the ubiquitous "they" when talking about anything that has to do with the public sector, unless the responsible agency/authority/municipality, etc. is previously identified in a post. Use of "they" confers too much anonymity, which too often allows the responsible public authorities to hide.
I can occasionally run afoul of this myself, but in an era where we know that public officials have interns scouring the web for posts about them, let's give the kids something to take to their bosses.
An even larger issue
Even more annoying that someone complaining to the wrong agency is the fact that someone complained about this is such an obnoxious, smarmy tone. #firstworldproblems
#firstworldproblems
may be the most annoying catch phrase I've ever heard...and made even more annoying when someone uses a hashtag when they aren't on twitter. hey @carreening, know what's even more of a #firstworldproblem? Complaining about other peoples complaints in the comments section of a local news blog.
I can't tell if this was
I can't tell if this was directed at me or not, so i the sprit of Friday and civil discourse, I'll presume that it was not.
My comment wasn't directed at
My comment wasn't directed at you. I 100% agree that we need some serious beefing up of civics education. If you're going to complain about something at least complain to the right people.
roger that,
thanks, and a good weekend to all (replete with a nice, plump, grilled hot dog)!
Actually Citizen Connect Refers Out Complaints to Other Agencies
No need to parse agency responsibility because any complaint filed through Citizen Connect or the Mayor's Hotline gets referred to the appropriate agency. I've reported graffiti on brown or blue PO mailboxes, on Verizon switching equipment, and on MBTA property and promptly received a message telling me that the City will refer to the appropriate agency. In each of the cases, the problem was resolved, sometimes more quickly than the city responded to similar complaints....with the exception of our beloved post office (they take a whole lot longer).
I think the citizen
I think the citizen complaints would be a whole lot more entertaining if they responded to absurd requests like this with a bit of sarcasm.
Peterborough
http://www.bostontipster.com
I don't see vandalism...
I just see an ad enticing people to put a huge flavorful wiener in their mouth.
Mmm...delicious and salacious.
I Disagree with the Complaint...
That ad looks very tasty.
City Hall thought the giant
City Hall thought the giant weenie was the public art. Understandable mistake.
not surprising that Boston misunderstood this
This ad is annoying, and I think it should be removed. But it's not graffiti, and calling it such in an online complaint form is a good way to cause a miscommunication.
A city without jurisdiction in the city?
It's amazing. No control of the Southwest Corridor Park. Nor the Esplanade. Nor the South Boston Waterfront. Nor MBTA property. Nor the liquor licensing board.
Not only is Boston the largest city in the state, it's the f**king capital. It's unbelievable how little power (and how much) the city government actually holds.
#moreshityououldneverseeinnewyork