Example of Efficient Government

One of the central themes of Republican ideals nowadays is that government is terrible at everything and that the private sector is supreme. Well, I would just like to take a moment and give some love to an example of efficient government.

During my morning skate, I routinely use a sidewalk on my way to the bikepath that runs along the Los Angeles River. The bushes have overgrown the sidewalk and make it very hard to skate past. It's not a big deal to walk by, there is room for one person, but on rollerblades I need more room especially when trying to skate uphill. 

Government to the rescue!

Long Beach City has an iPhone/Android app called Go Long Beach. One of the things you can do is Report Issues to the city including Graffiti or Potholes problems with Street Lights or signs, etc. You can snap a photo of the problem, write a description and then your Issue Report is tagged with GPS coordinates so the City can come and fix it!

I wasn't sure how to classify the encroaching bushes, so I chose Sidewalk Damage and explained the problem in the notes. Within 40 minutes, I got a response from Long Beach City that this issue was something that needed to be fixed by Los Angeles County Flood Control and that they had submitted a problem report to them on my behalf as well as giving me the phone number to call them directly if I had any questions! That's a great response!

So, what happened?

A day or two later, I was skating along the sidewalk and.... BAM:

Yay! Now I don't have to try to dodge people or bikes when we try to share the tiny space beyond the bushes. However, it would be too easy to let a liberal geek skate in peace, right? CUE THE HORSES.

Go Long Beach app to the rescue!

In the listing of Issue types is Animal Defecation! A quick report from my iPhone and the very next day, it looked like it had been powerwashed clean. WOO! 

This is an excellent example of how government can act efficiently to respond to the needs of the citizens! I wholeheartedly support technology being used in such a fashion!

I leave you with a little video I shot via the Instagram app while rollerblading down the hill.