A source of complaint data to help NYC's City Council be more responsive to constituents

The CouncilStat initiative streamlines the intake process of constituent concerns through the creation of a common web-based database platform. The technology enables the Council to compare and analyze constituent issues within and across districts in order to improve the Council's response to community needs and assist with developing a legislative agenda and budget priorities that address these issues.

The goals are:

To better respond to community needs by allowing Council Members to more efficiently organize and respond to constituent issues in their offices; and
To identify and quantify trends both within and across Council District lines in order to develop best practices, and help frame the fiscal and policy agenda for the Council.

To date, CouncilStat has logged over 24,000 constituent inquiries, spanning some 280 distinct issues across the five boroughs. CouncilStat allows City Council members to improve their ability to track and respond to local constituent concerns in all five boroughs, providing a new level of transparency and accountability in local government.

New York City Council, 2008