Advocacy around the apparent sub-market of landlords targeting Housing Choice Voucher recipients should affect the behavior of these landlords without restricting the residential mobility of households. There are three approaches to this that can be used in tandem or pursued separately.
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The second recommendation for improving public services involves tracking the requests and the performance metrics, which are open to the public on ChicagoÕs Data Portal and likely available to the AldermanÕs office in more detail. The type and total number of requests to different departments can be analyzed across community areas, as well the percentage of service requests that have been completed, average number of days to complete and spatial clustering. This analysis can serve as important evidence for disparities that surface across neighborhoods, inspiring practices for creative improvement by agencies using a clear set of performance indicators (Behn, 2006). As an example, the Data Portal provides daily requests to the Sanitation department, included in the screen shot below, listing opening date of the request and the completion date (if applicable), which can be transformed into a new variable: ÒDays to Complete.Ó This new variable can be analyzed across the community area with standard spreadsheet software.
Chicago Service Requests for Sanitation Complaints (graph) Source: City of Chicago, 2013
Comparing average days to complete a request and the level of poverty across community areas reveals there is no a clear relationship between the two factors. WoodlawnÕs average length of completed requests is longer than many other communities, but not much longer than communities with a comparable socioeconomic condition. This sample analysis could, for other factors, substantiate the anecdotal evidence of quality of municipal services. It may also support other explanations for the lack of satisfaction, such as the amount of service requests made per capita.
Average Days to Close 3-1-1 Sanitation Complaints (by Community Area and Poverty Rate) (Graph) Source: City of Chicago, 2013
This recommendation involves the positioning of the Network of Woodlawn and its affiliates as the neighborhoodÕs leading community organizations, making sure they are seen as representative of all residents. This would require seeking stakeholders who may be less enthusiastic in their support for the organization and its base of support and directly speaking to their concerns. The most pressing complaint is the level of independence from Dr. Byron BrazierÕs leadership. A board that was sufficiently representative of the entire neighborhood and an organization that was guided by true consensus should provide an enhanced sense of legitimacy. In addition, the organization needs to be sufficiently staffed and resourced, including the hiring of a coordinator of Economic Development whose portfolio will include housing revitalization.