What is causing the delay in Guillory’s case?

Breil has a hypothesis: The request may be in limbo as the Department of Public Works, which handles road and alley maintenance, determines whether the fix should fall to the Department of Public Utilities because it stemmed from a utility installation. If the departments determine it is the contractor who is responsible, that could also extend the wait, Breil added.

The Department of Public Works has generated the most service requests with 13,520, followed by the Department of Social Services with 7,182 and the Department of Finance with 3,710, the data show.

Over time, Breil wants to track turnaround times by department and request type. His team also aims to benchmark residents’ satisfaction with the city’s fixes.

Breil believes the information can help drive budget and staffing decisions across the administration, and ultimately improve service.

“When I talk to citizens, they just want an answer, even if it’s an answer that might be longer than they had hoped for,” Breil said in an interview. “They just want to have a realistic expectation for how long something is going to take. We’re very focused on really understanding what those turnaround times are.”