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The City monitors customer service data and performance through a system called QMinder. This system manages walk-in visitors with virtual queueing and automated notifications via the customer's mobile device. The system also allows City staff to monitor wait times, organize the queue, prepare for customers, and even include a customer service survey upon completion of the visit.
With more customers taking advantage of remote-type service, the number of customers transacting with the City in person is declining. The time that customers wait to see a staff member has decreased from approximately 7 minutes in 2023 to about 4 ½ minutes in 2024 due to fewer customers visiting city hall. Technology continues to assist our residents in addressing their concerns without having to go to City Hall.
In-person visits to City Hall amount to about 11,000 visits per year. 71% of those visitors are coming to get service from the Finance Department (for Utility payments and Business Licenses). The remaining 29% of visits to City Hall are typically for Public Works Engineering and Planning and Building that involve permits and/or plan check reviews. These types of visits are more complex, usually involving a multi-step process that often works through an applicant’s hired representative instead of with the applicant directly. Cooperation, thoroughness and timeliness from all parties contributes to the efficiency, or lack thereof, of any given situation. For the more than 3000 visits that fall into this category annually, the customer service process works efficiently and yields a positive customer experience most of the time. In those cases where the process breaks down or otherwise fails to reach the desired conclusion, a case-by-case review by staff with the applicant is necessary to identify the particular circumstances that caused the breakdown and how to get the project moving forward.
Regarding utility customers, the City has approximately 15,000 water account customers, 64% of whom pay their bill using the City's online portal (up from 40% prior to the pandemic). Given the trend over the last few years, we expect use of the City’s online portal to continue to increase. Today, 8% of utility payments are made in person, and 28% are paid by mail. At the May 6th City Council meeting, the Council was provided an update on an upcoming Customer Service/Relationship initiative called SeeClickFix!, an online portal that can take both web browser and mobile application submission of service requests and complaints, including the location and resident-provided data that is then automatically processed through the City's workflows. The service requests are maintained in a publicly accessible listing until the request is closed. Furthermore, the public can view the status of the requests and the identity of the responsible City staff member. SeeClickFix! is a significant improvement for our residents as this update will allow a more consistent, streamlined process that will replace antiquated emails and phone calls that have a single point of failure – that is, if a customer calls a service number that is monitored by a single employee, the chances of that call being routed correctly or in a timely manner are far lower than those of the automated system that incorporates numerous city staff in the service request and provides timely (automatic) updates on the service request status.
Regarding Special Events (and Permits), the City has seen an increase in the number of special events conducted throughout Gilroy, including significant activity in the Downtown. In the last year alone, the City received 36 special event permit requests, including for the La Ofrenda Festival, Tamale Festival, Downtown Live Music Festival, Garlic City Car Show, Wine/Beer Crawl, the Veterans Day Parade, the Holiday Parade, and many other events. These events bring our community together and allow us all to enjoy Gilroy and all the City offers, but from a regulatory standpoint, many of these events have turned into large-scale productions and, over the years, grown in size not only by number of visitors they attract but also the impact on areas of our City during the events – traffic, public safety, and street closures. Activities once considered simply "community events" are attracting visitors from significant distances and changing the regulatory requirements needed to balance the local community impacts with the desire of the community to conduct more and larger events. To facilitate the growing requests for Special Events, we as a City can focus our next customer service enhancement on using the City's online capabilities and customer-interfaced programs (GoPermit, Land Management System, and the Enterprise Resource Planning System) for the Special Event permitting process.
Most Special Event attendees are unaware of what it takes to organize and produce these events. It is by no means an easy process. Still, our goal as a City is to capitalize on our previous successes in customer service areas by utilizing transparent technology that clearly states the requirements for events (traffic control, insurance, public safety requirements) and provides more precise guidelines for what exactly is required of those who want to produce community-wide events that attract more and more people. Secondly, we realize that special events need greater governmental coordination. Thus, the City is moving the unique event permit process into the City's Economic Development Division to provide direct assistance in coordinating the numerous (and often logistically complicated) events. This will assist permit applicants with a single contact point for completing the permitting process.
These two significant customer service improvements, SeeClickFix! and a revised Special Event Permit process, are the result of the feedback we've received from our resident and business communities. These changes reflect an evolving customer service experience – experiences that can occur at any time or date depending on the availability of our customers, not just City staff.
Lastly, the City will conduct a community-wide customer feedback survey in the Fall of 2024 that will allow us to gain valuable feedback concerning projects, programs, and process improvements that our residents would like to see. It will also assist the City Council in determining priorities and objectives as part of the upcoming biennial budget process.
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