Lee's administration is rolling out a Facebook application today that will allow residents to report graffiti, request pothole repair and ask for just about anything else the city handles, except, perhaps, a cure for the homeless problem.
Officials are billing it as a first-in-the-nation Facebook app designed to provide city services. It's basically another arm of the 311 Customer Service Center.
Whether the application differs dramatically for users from the current 311 website is a matter of interpretation. It certainly appears to be a quicker and smoother process.
The current website allows you to report graffiti and the rest, but you have to click through multiple pages (at least five to report graffiti). Those "redirects," in tech jargon, can cause people to become frustrated and give up. The Facebook app allows residents to select the service they're requesting, provide brief details, attach photos and submit the request all from a single page.
The app also automatically allows users to import contact information from their Facebook profiles into the 311 system and track progress online.
Users can remain anonymous or use the application if they don't have a Facebook account.
Perhaps the biggest difference is that the city Facebook profile already has more than 258,000 fans. The app allows the city to tap into that base rather than relying on residents to take it upon themselves to search out the 311 website, officials said.
"We know we have a built-in audience on Facebook," said Ron Vinson, director of media for the Department of Technology. "We're basically bringing the application to where people are."
Lee, who before being sworn in as mayor acknowledged "I'm not even a Facebook guy," said the application is "a great opportunity to give residents an easy and efficient way to report the services they need."
- John CotŠ¹
A crowded race: Board of Supervisors President David Chiu is expected to announce his candidacy for mayor today at an 11 a.m. campaign kickoff on the steps of City Hall.
Representing Chinatown, North Beach, Nob Hill and the adjacent neighborhoods in District Three, Chiu landed on the political fast track shortly after his election in 2008 when his colleagues picked him for the top job on the board.
Chiu, first elected to office with the strong backing of San Francisco's left-of-center progressives, won a second term as board president in January, but this time with the crucial support from the moderate faction.
He was derided by some in the progressive bloc for his decision to back City Administrator Ed Lee for interim mayor, the pick of departing mayor Gavin Newsom and the board's moderates.
Chiu, 40, said he still considers himself a progressive - but one who is willing to reach across the aisle. And it is from that position that he is launching his run for mayor. "San Francisco is a great city, but we all believe we can do better," he told the City Insider. "I think we need leadership that can bring people together and actually get things done."
If elected, he promises to run an administration focused on community-based budgeting, planning and policing. Among his top priorities, he said, would be creating jobs and building a world-class transportation system.
Prior to becoming a supervisor, Chiu, a Harvard-trained lawyer, had a stint as a San Francisco prosecutor and as a staff attorney for the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights. He also co-founded and managed a small company that helps nonprofits and political groups organize and deliver their message online, and he served on the city's Small Business Commission.
He joins an increasingly crowded field of mayoral hopefuls: former Supervisors Bevan Dufty and Michela Alioto-Pier, City Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting, City Attorney Dennis Herrera, state Sen. Leland Yee, former Supervisor Tony Hall and political newcomer Joanna Rees, a venture capitalist.
- Rachel Gordon
This week's news
Monday: The Board of Supervisors Land Use Committee will have an informational hearing on the city's local hiring ordinance at its 1 p.m. meeting.
Tuesday: The Municipal Transportation Agency will consider asking a taxi committee to discuss creating a pilot program to allow more taxis to operate during the busiest hours at its 1 p.m. meeting.
E-mail the City Insider team at cityinsider@sfchronicle.com.
This article appeared on page C - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
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