This “3 Questions With” comes from a sponsored interview in partnership with Tecovas.
hubNashville is our portal for non-emergency services, and handles around 1,000 requests a day about anything from needing a new recycling bin to road work complaints. Director Erin Williams helped start hubNashville during Mayor Megan Barry’s term, and it quickly became an essential tool for Nashvillians. We spoke to Williams about how hubNashville works, and why it’s an essential part of the community.
What happens after users submit a request on hubNashville?
“It depends on the type of request. Let’s say there’s a messy construction site on your street. If you submitted that through the hub, it would route automatically to the Codes department, and the staff would check it during business hours. So at 8 a.m., they'd be there, looking at the queue and assigning it to an inspector. Whenever the inspection is finished, they'll note that, and the integration pushes it through to hub, so it can send an email to you.”
What's one of the weirdest hubNashville complaints that you've gotten?
“Oh gosh. Well, there's lots that I can't go into detail about. But we get things from all over the country, from people who have never been to Nashville. People assume that hubNashville can fix everything. A lot of the odd stuff we get is political. Someone has seen something on the news, and they need a place to share their opinion.”
The hubNashville team, which Williams calls “The very best team in the world.” (Courtesy of Erin Williams)
How does hubNashville contribute to the Nashville community?
“When we started hub, the only way that someone would know how to connect with their government was if you were close to your council person, or connected enough to know what department did what. The whole point of hub is you shouldn't have to know any of that. You shouldn't have to know anything besides, ‘Here's the app on my phone,’ or ‘here's a number to call.’ And that's good enough. You’re not just sending your complaint off into the ether.”
