County of Maui Launches New C.O.M.Connect App

County of Maui Connect app.

By Maui Now Staff

The County of Maui today announced the official launch of a new app which will enable residents to participate in community-based reporting of non-emergency issues from their cell phones and mobile devices.

The app is one of three digital upgrades planned this term and is available for download for free to most iPhone and Android devises through respective app stores.

Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa announced plans to launch the app during his State of the County Address earlier this month.

The app, called C.O.M.Connect, short for County of Maui Connect, is powered by SeeClickFix Inc. technology.

The app allows the public to report non-emergency incidents such as potholes, abandoned cars, neighborhood concerns, litter, flooding, malfunctioning traffic signals and code violations by taking photos and sending short written messages to county crews for response.

“Technology has once again made our world a smaller place, and this is a good thing for all of our residents,” said Mayor Arakawa in a County issued announcement.

“With COM Connect people will be able to participate more and be a part of the process that it takes to run a community.”

In addition to reporting community issues, COM Connect will allow residents to view, comment on and vote to fix problems submitted by their neighbors. Citizens can also create their own “watch areas” to receive notifications about all issues reported in their community, enabling them to follow the progress of service requests.

“This is a proven technology that has helped to change the way a number of local governments gather and respond to citizen complaints,” said Managing Director Keith Regan, whose Department of Management spearheaded the COM Connect project. “We believe our new COM Connect app will help increase citizen engagement and improve County responsiveness to the needs of our community. The app’s simple design makes it very user-friendly and we hope this will encourage our citizens to put this effective tool to use.”