■ Text by reporter Wang Yanyan
At the intersections of Guangyan Road and Pengjiang Road near the Western Campus of Shanghai Daning International Elementary School, there used to be traffic congestion and chaos due to the lack of traffic lights during rush hours when most students reached or left school, leaving potential safety hazards. In September last year, traffic lights were set up on the road section, greatly improving the traffic conditions and winning praise from parents. This embodies the duty performance achievements of the deputies to the People’s Congress at the municipal and district levels in Daning Road Sub-district.
Daning Road Sub-district has five deputies to the Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress and 26 deputies to the Jing’an District People’s Congress. Since 2017, they have received 516 residents and put forward 276 opinions and suggestions, with an opinion and suggestion settlement rate of 97%. These achievements are credited to a set of efficient operation systems — formulated by the Working Committee of the Daning Road Sub-district People’s Congress — with the characteristic “consultant on people’s livelihood affairs” as the core.” This innovative move of the Daning Road Sub-district to improve deputies’ ability to perform duties has achieved remarkable results in improving the opinion handling speed and quality of deputies over the past three years.
Professional “think tank”
improves deputies’ ability to perform duties
Since 2017, every Tuesday, the Resident Reception Day, the “House of Deputies to the People’s Congress” of Daning Road Sub-district, situated on No. 411 Middle Yanchang Road, has been particularly lively. In the “House,” five deputies to Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress responsible for contacting sub-districts and 26 elected deputies to Jing’an District People’s Congress have taken turns to receive residents, who were free to speak and express their appeals.
However, some downsides also gradually showed in the process of opinion handling. On the one hand, these deputies, who come from different sectors of society, did not understand community work and relevant government regulations and policies very well. On the other hand, it took a relatively long time for their opinions to go from the relevant departments of Jing’an District People’s Congress to undertaking units. To better serve residents, the “consultant on people’s livelihood affairs” system was established.
The Working Committee of Daning Road Sub-district People’s Congress invited key workers from departments closely related to people’s livelihood affairs in the sub-district, who will serve as the “consultants on people’s livelihood affairs” of the deputies to offer professional policy consultations and strong support in responding to residents’ appeals. After years of continuous adjustments and expansion, the units covered by the system have now totaled 20, including the Education Bureau of Jing’an District and Jing’an Branch of Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau. Once receiving a resident’s appeal, the deputies resort to the corresponding “consultant” who is able to handle the appeal, and the consultant gives professional policy opinions and solutions to promote problem-solving effectively.
Last year, white-collar workers from DoBe E-Manor told the deputies that daytime noise from the neighboring air blower factory had been disturbing residents for many years, which had not been solved yet. Upon knowing it, the deputies contacted Tang Xufang, a “consultant” from the Bureau of Ecology and Environment of Jing’an District, who then tested noise in the park and factory areas and concluded that the noise did not meet the prescribed standards. Tang told the reporter that with the professional test result, they issued a notice to the factory, asking it to take measures such as installing soundproof glass and adjusting working hours to reduce noise. Also, they repeatedly went to the factory where they communicated with the relevant personnel, requiring that the factory stop using noise-producing machines. Finally, urged by the consultant and the deputies, the factory replaced its noise machines at the end of last year. The white-collar workers, who had long been plagued by the noise, expressed their gratitude, “Thanks to the professional advice of the environmental protection department, this problem has been thoroughly solved.”
Liu Minggang, deputy director of the Working Committee of Daning Road Sub-district People’s Congress, told the reporter that in addition to “consultants on people’s livelihood affairs,” the Committee also cooperated with Hengye Partners and other law firms and employed legal counsels to participate in resident reception, providing legal support for resident services and promoting deputy opinion handling.
Powerful “booster”
facilitates efficient deputy opinion handling
Moreover, the reporter learned that the deputies and consultants on people’s livelihood affairs not only receive residents every week but also contact residents in the community every quarter to have a better understanding of residents’ needs. They received complaints from the residents of Baohua Modern City: there always were heavy traffic jams on Guangyan Road in front of the residential area, especially during the periods of rush hours. There were two lanes of the road, one for turning left and the other for driving straight and turning right. However, most of the cars coming out from the neighborhood would turn right to the elevated road so that the right lane would be seriously congested.
After knowing the specific situation, the consultants on people’s livelihood affairs of Jing’an Branch of Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau immediately arranged traffic police to investigate the site. They monitored, analyzed and discussed the situations of the traffic flow volume and driving routes. Their final decision was: rechanneling. After that, the left lane is for driving straight and turning left, while the right lane is only for turning right. In this way, the residents can have a better traveling experience. Mr. Chen, a resident, was surprised by the change in front of his neighborhood and said, “It’s unexpected. The issue was solved within one week after being reported to the deputies. They worked so efficiently!”
In this regard, Li Hua, deputy to the municipal People’s Congress and secretary of General Party Branch of Baohua Modern City residential area, was deeply impressed: issues caused by traffic account for a certain proportion of residents’ appeals, all of which had got close attention from the deputies though the affairs were not severe. In 2020, with the help of the consultants on people’s livelihood affairs, the measures of setting up extra traffic lights nearby the West Campus of Shanghai Daning International Elementary School and the South Gate of Shanghai University were widely and highly acclaimed by residents. Reporting issues and appeals directly to the relevant departments through the deputies and the consultants on people’s livelihood affairs is setting a convenient “green channel” for residents. This straightforward and targeted problem-solving way can sharply reduce the time and simplify the procedure so the demands of residents can be responded to or solved in the short term.
Increase “the sense of trust,”
bridge the gap between the deputies and residents
Liu Minggang displayed the chatting records of the WeChat group in which there were residents and the Working Committee of the Sub-district People’s Congress, deputies of the People’s Congress, and the consultants on people’s livelihood affairs. The residents’ issues involving several departments would be coordinated and discussed in this chatting group. In addition, the Working Committee of the Sub-district People’s Congress will invite the deputies, the consultants on people’s livelihood affairs, and community liaison officers on people’s sentiment for a four-parties meeting to know people’s conditions and stifle problems in the cradle in case the petty things were worsened. “During the process of handling residents’ demands, the consultants on people’s livelihood affairs play a role of a ‘bridge’ to a great extent. On the one hand, they can accelerate the problems to be known by the relevant departments; on the other hand, they take a further step to bridge the gaps between the deputies and residents.”
There were many young generations living in the Jiayuexuan Community of the district. When waste sorting was promoted, quite a few residents complained that there were too many waste releasing points that were so smelly that it negatively impacted residents’ life. They didn’t show much tolerance to the measures of removing waste bins and releasing bins at fixed points at fixed times. After having received the complaints from the residents, He Jing, deputy to the Jing’an District People’s Congress and secretary of General Party Branch of Huizhihu Garden residential area, invited the consultants on people’s livelihood affairs, Yin Chengdong from the Greening and City Appearance Administration of Jing’an District, and property management company of the community to discuss the case for solutions and investigate the site many times. In combination with residents’ living needs and the convenience of waste transport routes, Yin Chengdong rearranged the layout of waste releasing points of the community. He proposed to reduce the original nine points to three and set them at reasonable places. Thanks to the unremitting efforts of many parties, the residents’ attitudes towards waste sorting were substantially improved. Especially when the residents raised some specific questions, they could get professional answers and responses that made them feel satisfied. He Jing said, “The effective two-way communication immensely deepens residents’ trust towards the deputies. Some of the residents said that they feel content with the deputies who take real actions to help them solve problems.”
Nowadays, through the community newspapers, WeChat Official Account, and many other ways, quite a few of the residents living in Daning Road Sub-district pay close attention in advance to the schedule of the Resident Reception Day every Tuesday. They would like to report their demands to the deputies. Their trust in the deputies is more and more deepened, for they believe the deputies can help them solve practical issues. “In the process, the deputies and the consultants on people’s livelihood affairs monitor and support each other. The deputies supervise the efficiency and quality of relevant departments by participating in when handling residents’ demands; on the other hand, under the professional guidance of the consultants, the deputies’ specific knowledge has been enhanced, the ability to perform duties has been improved, and the service to residents has been optimized. A virtuous circle is developed in this way,” said Liu Minggang.