'SF Chron' Feature Gets Potholes Fixed

By: Joe Strupp For most bureaucrats, ignoring a citizen complaint about a pothole or broken stoplight might bring nothing more than a few angry calls or terse letters from residents. In San Francisco, it could make them want to change their phone number and wear a disguise.

In a program aimed at holding city officials accountable for even minor problems and giving readers a new avenue to seek redress, improvements, the San Francisco Chronicle's "Chronicle Watch" (which goes well beyond the typical "Help" column) has put a new spotlight on government employees -- from parking directors to transit officials -- who fail to respond to taxpayer gripes.

The key to the newspaper's success seems to be embarrassing the officials responsible for the problem by publishing their picture and phone number repeatedly until they fix it. "The basic idea was to hold public officials accountable for small problems that can often take months to address," said Heidi Swillinger, Chronicle community editor, who credits Editor Phil Bronstein with the basic idea.

A daily fixture on the front page of the paper's Bay Area section, "Chronicle Watch" is nothing more than a box with a photo of the problem, a photo of the bureaucrat responsible for solving it, his or her phone number, and a description of what needs to be done.

Launched in November, the watchdog effort solicits complaints from readers through e-mail and phone calls about everything from graffiti on public buildings to poorly-lit streets. If the problem is not fixed in a few days, the person's photo and phone number reappear with a reminder of what needs to be done. If the problem is resolved, an update is then published giving the official credit.

"It improves peoples lives in small but significant ways," said Bronstein, who came up with the program after a discussion with the paper's former publisher, John Oppedahl, about the ongoing problem of broken escalators at many Bay Area Rapid Transit train stations. "We were talking about what we could do about it and decided to provide a forum for readers to get their complaints heard."

Bronstein said several other newspapers had inquired about the project, including the Houston Chronicle, which launched its own such program, called "Watch 'Em," in February. Joe Stinebaker, Houston Chronicle day city editor, said the bureaucrats' photos and phone numbers make the program work. "We run them as much as we can," he said. "When someone gets dozens of phone calls in an afternoon demanding they fix a problem, it evokes a heck of a response."

Back in San Francisco, Swilinger receives between 100 and 150 complaints each week via e-mail and telephone. Bureaucrats hate the column. "It puts pressure on them," she said about the "mug shot" aspect.

Items often display sarcasm or humor. When reporting on a highway sign that had been knocked down, the paper described the sign as useful "if you happen to be walking hunched over." Another item on slow library computers quipped, "it takes less time to read 'War and Peace' than it does to find it at the San Francisco Public Library."