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Imagine that you were mistakenly given a parking ticket a few weeks ago.  You now want to contest it, but your only option for doing so is to go in person to the Bureau of Administrative Adjudication (BAA).  The BAA has only one location, in Center City, and is open from 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays.  

You want to schedule your hearing for 8 a.m. to get in and out before the daily backlog occurs, but you have to drop your children off at school.  The earliest you are able to schedule the hearing for is 9:30 a.m.  Even with your pre-scheduled hearing, the entire process could take hours due to "walk-ins," so your best bet is to take at least a half-day, and perhaps a full day, off work.  Rather than wait – or risk incurring yet another parking ticket when the time on the parking meter outside expires – you might simply decide to pay a ticket you believe was wrongly issued.  

 

Needless to say, Philadelphia’s in-person parking ticket appeal system is time consuming, inconvenient, and endlessly frustrating to citizens.

 

One of my main policy priorities is to increase the use of technology in the delivery of government service – making city government work more efficiently and effectively for citizens (and at lower cost too).  To say we have a lot of ground to make up in becoming a tech-savvy city government is an understatement.  But with the recent passage by City Council of legislation I introduced to require electronic options for contesting parking tickets in Philadelphia, we’ve moved one step closer to achieving that goal.

 

By way of background, numerous cities, institutions, and universities already provide electronic methods for adjudicating (i.e., contesting) parking tickets.  In fact, New York City provides electronic options to adjudicate all administrative tickets and citations.  While non-residents of Philadelphia are already allowed to dispute parking tickets by mail, this convenience has not been available to residents.  My legislation requires the BAA to implement technology and process changes to allow all parking tickets to be disputed through a web-based portal, email, U.S. mail, in-person hearings, and by telephone for disabled people – giving the ticket recipient the choice of what method is most convenient for him or her. 

 

I’m pleased not just with the ground-level change this bill will require, but also with how citizens used technology to take part in the legislative process.  During the April 25 public hearing on the bill, members of the public participated by emailing and tweeting their testimony.  I created a Storify of the Tweets# which became part of the public record of Council’s proceedings.  This was the first time Tweets were submitted as official testimony, and it demonstrated the ease and convenience of using technology to submit testimony.  I plan to use emails, Tweets, and Facebook comments as official testimony going forward.  Citizens also attended the hearing to tell Council in person about the convenience of technology and the need for electronic submission of testimony and evidence for disputed parking tickets. 

 

While this legislation is a step in the right direction, Philadelphia is still playing catch-up to other cities when it comes to the integration of technology into government.  But I don’t want to just catch up to other cities – I want to leapfrog them.  To that end, my quest for tech-savvy government extends well beyond parking ticket disputes.  Last year, I released a policy paper on "Open Government" describing my vision of using data and technology to make Philadelphia government more innovative, cost-effective, and citizen-friendly.

 

As a follow up to the policy paper, I introduced a package of legislation this spring to begin to implement this Open Gov vision.  The first bill in the package requires the City to ensure that an electronic option is available for citizens and City employees to conduct all transactions, from license and permit applications to service requests to payment of taxes, fines, and fees.  This legislation would expand the number of things a resident could accomplish online.  

 

The second bill requires all City records and data to be accessible (aka "open") to the public through a single website.  An effective open data policy acknowledges that we have a growing, often untapped, community of innovators in Philadelphia who can correlate data sets to identify and analyze emerging trends, better coordinate responses to problems, and pinpoint new issues requiring a coordinated response.  It also acknowledges that private sector capital, discipline, and timing can help to solve governmental problems – all while potentially creating new businesses and providing little cost to government.  

 

The third bill requires the development of an annual information technology strategic plan that evaluates the current state of the City’s telecommunications and information technology infrastructure and details – as well as analyzes the costs and benefits of – the City’s plans for the acquisition, management, and use of telecommunications and information technology over the next five fiscal years.  Combined, these three bills will help to strategically deploy technology to create a more responsive and nimble government, and to deliver better services more efficiently for all Philadelphians.

 

As City Council prepares to consider these three bills, it is crucial that we receive input from key stakeholders, including technology sector leaders.  As a first step in this conversation, my colleague Councilman David Oh and I co-hosted a forum entitled "Tech Friendly Philly" during Philly Tech Week in April.  The well-attended discussion touched on an array of topics, ranging from open government to cloud technology to "big data" to bringing WiMAX to the City.  While the audience asked questions, Councilman Oh and I did most of the talking.  I fear we missed out on an opportunity to hear from audience members what they need in order to make their interactions with government better, as well as what innovative practices they have seen or experienced in other cities.

 

As I have said before, change must come not just from the top-down, but also from the bottom-up.  Philadelphia’s techies, entrepreneurs, startups, small business owners, and creatives are innovating, expanding, exploring, and collaborating everyday – right in our backyard.  They have good ideas about how to improve the City and I want to hear them.  For that reason, I am proposing a quarterly meeting, arranged via Technically Philly, for tech-savvy Philadelphians to share best practices and good ideas with City Council members.  To leapfrog other cities, not just catch up to them, will require a collective effort from all Philadelphians.  

 

Imagine a day when you can not just contest your parking ticket online, but also download and manipulate the latest data from the Streets Department to identify areas most in need of infrastructure investments, use GIS to track neighborhood crime, submit a permit for your upcoming block party, all with the ease of a few keystrokes.  The challenge of getting from here to there is great, but with engaged citizens, including the good folks at Technically Philly, Indy Hall, Philly Tech Meetup, Azavea, Code for America Philadelphia Fellows, and the like, I am confident we can meet it and thrive.

GREENSPACE is a recurring column by City of Philadelphia Councilman At-Large Bill Green, a native Philadelphian. He is Chair of City Council's Finance Committee and lives in Chestnut Hill with his wife Margie and their two children. Send feedback here.