By Mary Ellis | Staff Writer
The City of Waco recently released the MyWaco app, which allows for anyone with access to Wi-Fi to submit service requests to the local government.
The app also has direct links to the city directory, the city’s open records, trash pickup and even payment of water bills.
Dori Helm, assistant director of communications and marketing for the City of Waco, said “it keeps you from being in limbo, because you know what the city is up to.”
Before the release of the app in January, the only way residents could submit requests to the city was to find the right representative to contact through the website, which Helm said did not allow for follow-ups from the city official who the resident originally talked to.
“[Now,] you can submit a request ticket to any department that you feel like it should go to,” Helm said. “If you don’t know which department, there is a general category that you can select. Then the request will go to the place it needs to go, and the citizen, the resident, the Baylor student or whoever submitted it can follow that request while it goes through the system.”
For example, a request was sent in that asked about whether or not the Waco Fire Department would install smoke alarms into people’s homes.
“They do it for anybody, but it is not really common knowledge, so maybe we need to put that somewhere people can access it,” Helm said.
According to Helm, 1,550 employees work for the city, so they cannot be everywhere at one time. She said the app allows for a much easier process for citizens to engage with the local government.
Zach Tufenkjian, Hoffman Estates, Ill., senior and student body external vice president, said the app is a good way for Baylor students to practice and improve their engagement skills.
“The app is a one-stop shop place, so even if students are not directly in communication with or contacting the city, they will still be able to use the app to get information about so many different city services,” Tufenkjian said.
Tufenkjian said the app “could not have come at a more perfect time” because of how beneficial it is to the Renew Our Roads Initiative that is being carried out by the EVP’s office. Along with submitting feedback with links received via billboards to the EVP’s office, students can use the app to contact the city.
If students do not want to download the app, there is a website with the same tools the app provides.
