Communicating the Local Government What and Why

Local governments are responsible for so many activities that touch our lives daily. It can be difficult to explain to residents the why behind some of those activities and the disruptions that they can cause. Even an activity like street sweeping can cause confusion for residents and frustrated phone calls to Village Hall.

The Village of Northbrook has an active but flexible street sweeping schedule. While this flexible and responsive setup is helpful to Northbrook staff for operations and is fiscally responsible, it is difficult for residents to know when to expect street sweeping in their area and plan accordingly.

Northbrook is constantly looking for additional opportunities to provide information to its residents. They rely heavily on social media to get the information out to its residents but felt they had to continue to improve the notification process. MGP Analysts Louise Hahn and Alison Maulhardt created a solution with Northbrook Utilities Superintendent Joe Rizzo built on Northbrook’s existing technology that highlights the sections Northbrook is actively sweeping. It is now publicly available on the Northbrook website paired with information about street sweeping.

This coupled with the social media notifications helps residents stay informed about the immediate disruptions arising from this critical process, so that they can plan ahead, and it helps them understand the why – this process protects the environment, helps the streets last longer so residents won’t have to deal with construction as soon, improves air and water quality, and more.

Kudos to the Northbrook Public Works and MGP teams for innovating how they communicate and engage with their residents!

Northbrook Street Sweeping Program

Also, see how Elk Grove Village is improving customer service by improved access to sewer televising data.