Platform rates city, county workers

Residents can connect to elected officials, civil servants on CityGrader

If you have ever wanted to offer a city or county worker a compliment — or a criticism, for that matter — a new web-based platform can help with that.

CityGrader debuted in Miami this year and recently expanded its Yelp- and TripAdvisor-like platform across the entire state, including Central Florida governments. Users on the site can assign grades to the performances of government employees, police officers and teachers.

CEO and co-founder Tony Newell said in a release that the platform has received positive reviews.

“We are excited to roll this platform out to the other municipalities across Florida and soon to other major metropolitan areas nationally in the near future,” he said.

It’s an effort to help citizens reach city leaders and make them feel more interconnected with elected officials and civil servants.

For instance, a user named Richard_Martine complimented Miami-area building inspector Raul Ramos as “one of the good ones” who “doesn’t act like a minidictator.”

Another named Terry said that Lee County does a “poor job of protecting the environment.”

The CityGrader service allows users to sign up anonymously, meaning they can levy criticism or praise without using their names. The company chose that route to ensure privacy, officials said.

“We aren’t looking to unearth every intimate detail about every user in hopes that we can monetize off of their identities,” Newell said in an interview. “What we are interested in knowing is that our users are real people, with real experiences, offering real feedback.”

Keeping users anonymous can also shield them from potential backlash, Newell said.

“Unfortunately, blacklisting and other forms of retribution are an all-too-real part of many people’s experience with local government,” he said.

The platform’s website includes a quote from Miami Mayor Francis Suarez saying that the service helps city leaders strengthen that connection.

Chief Technology Officer David Amrani, a UCF grad, said his time at the school prepared him for the tech work.

“At UCF, I didn’t just learn to code,” he said. “I learned how to work at the pace that the tech sector demands.”