Online system updated in T.O.

Letters, faxes, phone calls, emails and all other ways Thousand Oaks residents make contact with their city government will soon be tracked by the Citizen Response Management System.

The City Council unanimously approved a $36,000 system that will make it possible for council members and staff to receive and respond to requests using the Internet.

The system was selected by a team of city staff members who reviewed nine software systems before choosing this one. The city of Ventura already uses the CRMS.

Since 1991 the city manager began monitoring citizen requests using what was described during the City Council meeting as a limited, labor-intensive system that created a lot of files.

"The old system is archaic. It's the only system that still has a green screen," Councilmember Jacqui Irwin said. "I have a degree in engineering, and I couldn't figure it out."

It should take three to six months to get the new software integrated into the system, and then anyone who contacts the city will be tracked to make sure the city follows up on their concerns.

- Nancy Needham