It may soon get a lot easier for Winnebago County residents to get their questions and complaints answered by government leaders. Rockford leaders are planning for a new non-emergency 311 call center.

"I just wanted to get some information," says Tony Garcia.
Garcia tells a story that is familiar to far too many of us. A stretch of road and curb outside his house needed repair and he didn't know who to call for help.
"You went there and the first person you talk to is the receptionist, or the counter person and then from there who knows, maybe the engineer, but how do you get a hold of him?" says Garcia.

Now Rockford leaders want to take away that confusion by setting up a 311 call center to answer all non-emergency questions and complaints.
"Really should you have to think about who do I call because the color of my water is wrong or I just want to know when the parade starts. You shouldn't have to sit down with a big phone book and just start dialing," says Julia Valdez, Rockfor's Assistant City Administrator.

A group, including Valdez and Mayor Larry Morrissey, drove to chicago Tuesday to tour that city's 311 center and take notes.

Morrissey says, "This is a way to become much more efficient, effective, we currently waste, the amount of time that non-emergency calls are going into our 9-11 center."
City leaders say that happens about 15 thousand times a month and it distracts from true emergency response.

The city is already investing in data-tracking technology that would ease the transition to the 311 center. Leaders say the new center would require less staff to field the roughly 55 thousand non-emergency calls citizens make every month and make it easier for residents to call back and follow up with a complaint, because each call is given a trackable case number.

City leaders plan a media campaign to explain the different times we should call 311 versus 911. For instance, Valdez says one Chicago slogan goes, see a pothole, dial 311, land in a hole, call 911.

Rockford leaders are already coordinating with Winnebago County and the Park District. They hope the center could be up and running by 2010. It's expected to cost between 400 thousand and 700 thousand dollars and would be paid for through grants and existing funds.