Case Date:

8/30/2012

I have tried to be patient and have quelled the white hot rage of frustration I've felt so many times this summer. I've NOT written at least a dozen times but after spending another morning trying to get to where I NEED to be and having every street blocked off or torn up I am going to express my displeasure. I truly view the managing of this latest street project to be irresponsible. It's one thing to be good stewards of the region's resources but it is another thing entirely to cock up the city so badly that no one can get from point A to point B and to disrupt lives for such an extended period of time. Furthermore, do you know what contributes most to depression? Randomness and uncontrollability. I feel like a dog in a learned-helplessness experiment that won't end. If you absolutely had to bring the city to a halt, could you not have mitigated it by warning us, not with some 3 line blurb in the paper which many of us don't read but loudly and profusely? It should be on every billboard in town. There should be a countdown on the city square telling people when the randomness will end. There should be huge warning signs everywhere saying "WARNING: This street will be closed from this time to that." Why aren't there policemen at 4-way stops during high traffic times? Why aren't there alternate routes? If you have so damned much extra money to tear up the city then sacrifice a street or two and use the money to minimize the sense of futility. Not everyone can add an extra 20 minutes to each trip they need to make. With a little information you could have turned it into a positive instead of a negative. Many of us are dealing with life and death situations on a daily basis. Many of us have stress-filled situations with young children, elderly parents, and jobs. Our schedules are tight and our lives are stretched thin. We're not thinking communally, we're surviving. At least with information we could plan around these wonderful improvements if not celebrate the "progress". And, to further show that I'm not a total idiot, I will concede that I know nothing about what it takes to run a city. I have no idea what challenges you are facing. Maybe all my ideas are stupid from a more informed perspective but I'm trying to give you a sense of what it feels like out here in the field. This is what John Doe trying to scrape by in his every day life is feeling. There is a limbic-gut-lizard-brain unreasoned urge to first, bite my steering wheel in half and second, to vote every government official possible out of office in the next election because they are either uncaring bastards or irresponsible dolts. This pain has been going on long enough and reinforced so intensely that it is emotionally encoded in my brain. I will have to fight against the urge the next time I vote. You really don't want people blindly voting just to get you out of office. There is enough blind voting going on as it is. If this insanity is going to last much longer, tell us. Do something, please. Thank you, Don Harris

Case Date:

8/30/2012

I have tried to be patient and have quelled the white hot rage of frustration I've felt so many times this summer. I've NOT written at least a dozen times but after spending another morning trying to get to where I NEED to be and having every street blocked off or torn up I am going to express my displeasure. I truly view the managing of this latest street project to be irresponsible. It's one thing to be good stewards of the region's resources but it is another thing entirely to cock up the city so badly that no one can get from point A to point B and to disrupt lives for such an extended period of time. Furthermore, do you know what contributes most to depression? Randomness and uncontrollability. I feel like a dog in a learned-helplessness experiment that won't end. If you absolutely had to bring the city to a halt, could you not have mitigated it by warning us, not with some 3 line blurb in the paper which many of us don't read but loudly and profusely? It should be on every billboard in town. There should be a countdown on the city square telling people when the randomness will end. There should be huge warning signs everywhere saying "WARNING: This street will be closed from this time to that." Why aren't there policemen at 4-way stops during high traffic times? Why aren't there alternate routes? If you have so damned much extra money to tear up the city then sacrifice a street or two and use the money to minimize the sense of futility. Not everyone can add an extra 20 minutes to each trip they need to make. With a little information you could have turned it into a positive instead of a negative. Many of us are dealing with life and death situations on a daily basis. Many of us have stress-filled situations with young children, elderly parents, and jobs. Our schedules are tight and our lives are stretched thin. We're not thinking communally, we're surviving. At least with information we could plan around these wonderful improvements if not celebrate the "progress". And, to further show that I'm not a total idiot, I will concede that I know nothing about what it takes to run a city. I have no idea what challenges you are facing. Maybe all my ideas are stupid from a more informed perspective but I'm trying to give you a sense of what it feels like out here in the field. This is what John Doe trying to scrape by in his every day life is feeling. There is a limbic-gut-lizard-brain unreasoned urge to first, bite my steering wheel in half and second, to vote every government official possible out of office in the next election because they are either uncaring bastards or irresponsible dolts. This pain has been going on long enough and reinforced so intensely that it is emotionally encoded in my brain. I will have to fight against the urge the next time I vote. You really don't want people blindly voting just to get you out of office. There is enough blind voting going on as it is. If this insanity is going to last much longer, tell us. Do something, please. Thank you, Don Harris

Case Date:

8/30/2012

When I try to submit my message, I receive the following error: No that's wrong endpoints/open311ServerUnReachable. I am trying to submit it again. Message: I have tried to be patient and have quelled the white hot rage of frustration I've felt so many times this summer. I've NOT written at least a dozen times but after spending another morning trying to get to where I NEED to be and having every street blocked off or torn up I am going to express my displeasure. I truly view the managing of this latest street project to be irresponsible. It's one thing to be good stewards of the region's resources but it is another thing entirely to cock up the city so badly that no one can get from point A to point B and to disrupt lives for such an extended period of time. Furthermore, do you know what contributes most to depression? Randomness and uncontrollability. I feel like a dog in a learned-helplessness experiment that won't end. If you absolutely had to bring the city to a halt, could you not have mitigated it by warning us, not with some 3 line blurb in the paper which many of us don't read but loudly and profusely? It should be on every billboard in town. There should be a countdown on the city square telling people when the randomness will end. There should be huge warning signs everywhere saying "WARNING: This street will be closed from this time to that." Why aren't there policemen at 4-way stops during high traffic times? Why aren't there alternate routes? If you have so damned much extra money to tear up the city then sacrifice a street or two and use the money to minimize the sense of futility. Not everyone can add an extra 20 minutes to each trip they need to make. With a little information you could have turned it into a positive instead of a negative. Many of us are dealing with life and death situations on a daily basis. Many of us have stress-filled situations with young children, elderly parents, and jobs. Our schedules are tight and our lives are stretched thin. We're not thinking communally, we're surviving. At least with information we could plan around these wonderful improvements if not celebrate the "progress". And, to further show that I'm not a total idiot, I will concede that I know nothing about what it takes to run a city. I have no idea what challenges you are facing. Maybe all my ideas are stupid from a more informed perspective but I'm trying to give you a sense of what it feels like out here in the field. This is what John Doe trying to scrape by in his every day life is feeling. There is a limbic-gut-lizard-brain unreasoned urge to first, bite my steering wheel in half and second, to vote every government official possible out of office in the next election because they are either uncaring bastards or irresponsible dolts. This pain has been going on long enough and reinforced so intensely that it is emotionally encoded in my brain. I will have to fight against the urge the next time I vote. You really don't want people blindly voting just to get you out of office. There is enough blind voting going on as it is. If this insanity is going to last much longer, tell us. Do something, please. Thank you, Don Harris

Case Date:

3/25/2016

Washington & Cottage Grove -- Miller Pipeline construction crew left their equipment blocking the sidewalk after they left for the day on Friday afternoon. This will probably remain on the sidewalk until they return on Monday morning. This seems like a substantial safety hazard, and extremely inconsiderate since they have the sidewalk on the other side of the street all torn up.

Case Date:

3/27/2016

Pedestrian and bike access is strongly needed for University Elementary school! Please work with the INDOT to make this happen.

Case Date:

4/6/2016

The north and southbound Smith Road bike lanes between 3rd and 10th are full of debris - rocks, limbs, and trash - and need to be swept.

Case Date:

4/12/2016

Broken glass and trash on sidewalk at 700 n Washington street.

Case Date:

4/14/2016

Miller Pipeline work has left crumbling curbs and sidewalks all along North Washington Street between 12th and 10th. Large pieces of concrete in the street.

Case Date:

4/14/2016

broken glass on sidewalk 312 n Washington

Case Date:

4/29/2016

This morning, while driving to work at Cook Pharmica, I was going a different way than normal. I was on 3rd St instead of 2nd St, and needed to get over to turn onto Patterson abruptly because I wasn't too familiar with the area. A city employee driving a city truck not only didn't acknowledge my turn signal, he sped up. He proceeded to try and "race" me, and when I was finally able to get in front of him because I couldn't get behind him due to other vehicles, he proceeded to turn his bright lights on to distract me. Naturally, I sped up. The city employee sped up with me and began to tail me, all the way to Cook. I pulled over into the Cook lot and attempted to get a license plate, but he sped away. All I could get was what I believe the last 2 digits to be, 50. I want you to understand, as a city employee, this person represents not only the city, but the city government as well. This was a HORRIBLE display of unprofessional and inappropriate behavior. I do not know that side of the city well, and for all this guy knew, I could have been from out of town. And that's the impression an out-of-towner would have of city government. Next time this happens, I will not only take a video of it, I will post it on every social media website and news outlet available. Fire immature people who act like this because they should NOT be working in government. Thanks and have a nice day.