One of the major pillar themes to Mayor Walsh’s administration is transparency. And while for the most part he’s referring to the manner in which city government operates, it’s also on a more personal level. You know those newly minted, red-vested, iPad-in-hand City Hall greeters stationed just after the metal detectors? Yeah, that’s another subtle way Mayor Walsh is making the municipality transparent and overall more personable.
The idea for dragging City Hall into the digital age was in part conceptualized by Walsh’s rival mayoral opponent last year, former City Councilor John Connolly, who at a BostInno event suggested transforming the dismal building into something reminiscent of an Apple store.
Not surprisingly, as the idea drips of novelty and convenience, Walsh took it and ran with it, teaming up with Northeastern University to create a six-month co-op in which eight City Hall greeters spend their days helping unsuspecting Bostonians and others navigate the puzzling structure.
“John had a great idea when he talked about that on the campaign trail,” Walsh told the Boston Globe. “It should be easier to get around City Hall. He was absolutely, 100 percent correct.”
BostInno sat down with Northeastern student Elizabeth Torres, one of the City Hall greeters, to get an idea about what it took to learn the ins and outs of the municipal labyrinth. Given that she and her constituent greeters had already done stints working the mayor’s 24-hour hotline, the learning curve wasn’t terribly steep.
“We studied City Hall for a couple of weeks; what was needed the most, what were the most frequently asked questions,” Torres said. “And then we went around to where the most frequently asked departments are and tried to walk around the space to see how easy it is to find it.”
The most requested items? Birth certificates, marriage certificates, parking tickets and resident parking stickers. The simultaneously most requested and most difficult office to find? Animal Control. It’s in Property Management, Torres explains, down a “really awkward green” hallway and then, fittingly, another random hallway.
And then there are the elevators. You know, where the North elevator goes to every floor except the fourth. It just so happens there’s a daycare center there, so if you hop on the South elevator to pick up your friend’s child as a favor, well, good luck finding your way back down.
As one can easily deduce by simply looking at its exterior, City Hall is barely navigable for anyone – city officials included.
Classic City Hall.
But for Torres and her seven co-workers, it took weeks of hotline training followed by more weeks of mock tours before they were finally able to maneuver their way around. After all, who wants to take directions from someone who doesn’t really know where they’re going?
“For our training for just the hotline, that took a few weeks — I’d say about three to four,” continued Torres. “And then, when the greeter program came up, we actually had to put ourselves on a tour of City Hall from top to bottom to make sure we understood visually where everything was, to make sure we could give accurate directions for things like Animal Control.”
Should they be posed with a query for which they don’t have the answer, however, they’re armed with trusty iPads outfitted with visual maps and a directory of every single person, as well as their phone number.
And then there are those looking for governmental buildings, like Boston’s bevy of courts, who pop into City Hall not knowing they’re actually located elsewhere. For that, there’s Google Maps, so greeters can actually help people beyond their typical responsibilities and point them from A to B.
I asked Torres if she thinks the greeter program has been successful enough that they could be implemented in buildings all over the city. And while she wasn’t sure at the moment just how, and in what fashion, the co-op will expand, if at all, she did note that it’s been met with overwhelmingly positive responses from top to bottom.
“I think that’s something Mayor Walsh was looking to do, to create a more open space and a more welcoming space,” she added. “A lot of people have really appreciated it. They get there and say ‘Oh my gosh, I never would’ve found this.’ Or, people who have been lost before have said ‘This is a great idea. Why didn’t anybody think of this?’ So, it’s been a good response so far and I think what it also does is ease the frustration that comes in.”
Now it’s time to work on the aesthetic. Shouldn’t be long now before the interior of that heap of concrete is decked out with a ceiling mural of the sky and a colorful collection of City Hall stairs.
Image Shutterstock
