Special to the Herald
SPRINGFIELD – What’s your Effingham problem? The Effingham County Board of Commissioners wants to know.
In an effort to promote collaboration between community members and local government, Effingham County has launched a mobile app designed to make it easy for citizens to report maintenance, sanitation and code enforcement issues. The exciting platform is called Engage Effingham.
“The app and the program that goes with it are a great idea,” said Solid Waste Coordinator Griffin Korzeniewski, a leader in Effingham County’s new customer service effort. “It’s going to help tremendously with integrating the various ways that residents previously had to relay their concerns to us into one central system. Residents will be able to track, as we progress through it, every step we take toward resolving their problem – all the way from the beginning to the final outcome.”
Engage Effingham’s tracking feature ensures transparency and accountability.
“The app will eliminate all redundancies in the way we handle citizen complaints,” Korzeniewski said. “Instead of (complaints) coming in over the phone, e-mail or (via the U.S. Postal Service), we are going to direct all complaints through the (Engage Effingham) software. We can monitor the progress of every case and so can the citizens.”
The app uses GPS technology to automatically detect the user's location, making it easier to report nearby issues. In addition, they can take and upload pictures or videos to accompany their reports, providing visual context to the problems.
“People will be able to see the department that is working on their problem and they will be able to communicate with us,” Korzeniewski said. “As we complete steps, we will comment about where we are and what’s next (toward a resolution).”
To sign up for Engage Effingham, download it from the App Store and follow the on-screen instructions to create your account. You can also create an account visiting effinghamcounty.org.
If you need further assistance, call 912-754-8080 or emailengage@effinghamcounty.org.
