A City That Fixes Things

I’ve spoken with a builder working on a tool that reports potholes from a photo, with the location attached. We discussed bringing it to this area. It’s one of the practical ideas I’ve been looking at—not a city service I’ve delivered.

A report is only the beginning. I want it to be easier to understand where a problem goes, who is responsible for it and what happens next. Before adding another tool, we should understand what already works and where people get stuck.

Waterloo has a lot of people who know how to solve problems within constraints. I want more of that knowledge to improve everyday life here. The interesting question is a specific one: what’s the problem, and what would actually help?

I’d like City Hall to make the problems it needs help with clearer, so people can work on something useful. I’m also interested in the city becoming a customer when a local solution meets a real need. Those ideas need work on how purchasing and testing would happen. A promising demonstration is not enough to decide that something should become a public service.

Technology has to augment life, not the other way around. I want people to understand a tool and stay in control of it. If an idea depends on someone sharing information, that choice needs to be clear. Sometimes a better permit process will be more useful than another piece of software.

I’m still working through which ideas are worth pursuing and who would need to be involved. Some depend on other levels of government or local institutions. I want to be clear about that, and about what has actually been tried. That’s the work of turning an interesting idea into something people can rely on.