Suffolk County Executive Bellone Announces Civic and Business Leaders Issue Support For Suffolk 311

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone today announced the support of civic and business leaders for the Suffolk311 system that will go live later this month. The system will improve residents’ interactions and overall experience with county government.  In addition to connecting residents to the government that serves them, the 311 system is a premier management tool, which will help officials to better allocate resources and taxpayer dollars by capturing critical details on each call, question, or request, allowing the county to gather valuable insight into the issues communities across the county are facing in real-time.

Suffolk311 will also improve public safety by reducing the burden on 911 county emergency call centers that receive tens of thousands of non-emergency calls each year.  This will allow emergency call centers to be better positioned to respond to true emergencies. By dialing 311, or 631-853-6311 if outside the jurisdiction of the county, residents will be directed to a central call center that will drastically simplify constituent interactions for tracking and completing common inquiries and concerns. The 311 system will also include a website, mobile application, and social media platform for residents to choose from a variety of methods to initiate service requests.

The following individuals offered their praise for Suffolk311:

Tommie Fern, Jr., Vice President S&L at Salesforce, said: “Today’s tech-savvy citizens are used to fast and personalized experiences, so counties today need to provide their constituents with an engaging and modern platform to interact. By leveraging Salesforce 311, Suffolk County has established itself as a leader in government technology by connecting with citizens where they are at, via preferred channels, helping to increase civic engagement."

Charles Gueli, President of the Mattituck-Laurel Civic Association, said:  “The 311 number is a good idea since it will ease the burden on the existing 911 system while giving residents a means of communicating with local government when they have a reason other than an emergency.  Improved access will result in improved responses to the concerns of the people.”

Sharon Fattoruso, President Copiague Chamber of Commerce, said:  “I want to personally thank and commend our Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone for introducing 311 Call Centers to Suffolk County.  This system will prioritize and be able to handle more efficiently emergency calls that are time sensitive.  Suffolk 311 will be an asset to the Business Communities also!”

Gina Coletti and Bob Fonti, Co-Chairs of the Suffolk County Alliance of Chambers, said: “We commend and praise the vision of the county executive Steve Bellone on implementing this 311 call system county wide to aid residents in getting their questions answered and simply be able to connect to government operations. It’s a bridge less travelled until now where the county executive connects all facets of government operations so we don’t need to wait on line or be on line. This 311 system is become as easy as 1-2-3.  Thank you for making government more business and resident friendly.”

Last month, a bipartisan group of local government officials, business advocacy organizationsand civic leaders across the state offered similar praise to implement Suffolk311 including:

• Michael Bloomberg, Former New York City Mayor
• Martin O’Malley, Former Governor and Mayor of Baltimore
• Michael Balboni, Former New York State Deputy Secretary for Public Safety
• Nassau County Comptroller Jack Schnirman
• Smithtown Town Supervisor Ed Wehrheim
• Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman
• New York City Councilman Justin Brannan
• State Senator Anna Kaplan
• State Senator Jim Gaughran
• Kevin Law, President and CEO of the Long Island Association
• Kyle Strober, Executive Director of Association for a Better Long Island
• Dr. Jim Malatras, President of the Rockefeller Institute of Government

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