Oakland, CA – The City of Oakland has launched OAK 311, a new service to make it easier for Oaklanders to report problems and request infrastructure maintenance. This new service is designed to make it easier than it’s ever been for residents to request the City’s help with issues including potholes in their streets, graffiti on their neighborhood public spaces, and piles of dumping left on their sidewalks.
Oaklanders can begin using the service now to request infrastructure maintenance services and report problems. There are four basic ways to reach OAK 311:
Phone: Call 311 from any phone within Oakland. (If you are calling from outside Oakland, continue to use the number (510) 615-5566.)
E-mail: OAK311@oaklandca.gov
Web: 311.oaklandca.gov
App: OAK 311, available free for Apple and Android smart devices (powered by SeeClickFix)
“One of our highest priorities is to make Oakland a more responsive and transparent government,” Mayor Libby Schaaf said. “We are launching OAK 311 to make ourselves easier to reach for every Oaklander who needs a pothole patched or a pile of dumped trash removed from their sidewalk.”
Even in cases where residents have reported issues before and not seen the changes they requested, the City is encouraging them to keep reporting. With finite resources the City cannot always respond immediately to every request – but every complaint is tracked, and the more data City leaders have about where residents’ issues are located, the better they can organize City resources to tackle long-term issues.
Routine services residents can request by contacting OAK 311 include:
- Dumping on public streets and sidewalks
- Potholes/sinkholes
- Graffiti on public space and buildings
- Traffic safety issues (non-emergency)
- City building maintenance
- Street light problems (traffic signal outages should be called in right away)
- Parking meter maintenance
- Damaged sidewalks
- Park maintenance
An important note: While City staffers will be receiving and tracking requests no matter how they come in, for emergency and urgent issues, residents should always call. Examples of urgent issues that should get a phone call include:
- Objects blocking the roadway
- Fallen trees or branches
- Downed road signs such as stop signs
- Flooding
- Mudslides and landslides
- Sewer overflows
- Manholes overflowing onto streets and sidewalks
OAK 311 operators answer calls from 8:00am to 4:30pm Monday through Friday, and on off hours the system can connect callers to the City’s emergency dispatchers, so urgent issues may be reported 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Previous methods for reporting problems are still functioning, and all requests are tracked by the City in the same database, regardless of which method is used. Essentially: if a resident has an old way of requesting services that worked for them, they can still use it! Transitioning to a 311 system is designed to simplify the process for anyone who is tired of navigating multiple, longer phone numbers, web addresses and e-mail accounts.
Of course, some services still fall outside of OAK 311’s operations. For reference, some of those include:
- For downed power lines or if you smell natural gas, leave the area immediately and then call 9-1-1 or PG&E at 1-800-743-5000.
- For power outage alerts go online to pge.com/outagealerts.
- For water service emergencies (e.g., no water service, broken hydrants, broken water main pipes), contact EBMUD at 1-866-403-2683.
- For life-threatening emergencies, call 9-1-1 from a land line or (510) 777-3211 from a cell phone.
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