By Matt Wiley
Wesley Chapel residents now can carry Pasco County around with them in their pockets. Well, the county’s new mobile application, anyway.
During the past eight months, Pasco has been in the process of launching its first-ever mobile app (for both Apple and Android devices) called MyPasco, that will put many of the county’s services in the palms of its citizens.
The app officially launched on June 9 and currently is available in the Apple App Store and in the Google Play Store for Android devices.
“It’s really a game-changer for how we will communicate with citizens,” says Pasco spokesperson Doug Tobin. “We hope to have between 10,000-20,000 people using the app within the first year.”
Tobin adds that the idea for the county to have a mobile app came up after the heated controversy and uproar from citizens surrounding the unsolicited bid last year to build an elevated roadway across the S.R. 54/56 corridor, between Wesley Chapel and New Port Richey.
“We wondered if there was a better way to communicate with citizens before the issues turned into firestorms,” Tobin explains. When brainstorming with a committee, he asked those who had regular access to a computer to watch Pasco County televised meetings to raise their hands. Few did. However, when he asked how many people had smartphones, he says that nearly every hand in the room was raised.
Tobin also says that the app, which cost about $30,000 to develop from scratch (even the little logos that will appear on the screen will be original), will help take Pasco County into the next generation.
The app will allow citizens to not only take part in public surveys, but also to utilize many of the services provided on the county’s website. The name, itself, is the result of an online contest to come up with the best name for the app. Of more than 250 submissions, three people submitted the name “MyPasco” and an internal naming committee ultimately chose it.
The app also will include the ability to watch Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) meetings, live stream the Pasco County TV channel, view press releases, get National Weather Service alerts, information about the county’s parks and events, locate libraries (and search their catalogs), get emergency management information, as well as information about animal services and pet adoptions, road closures and other commuter info.
The app will regularly be updated and improved, Tobin explains, adding that the hope is to get the app to a point that you can take a photo of a pothole and report it “right from your phone.”
He also notes that the app will make it easier to gather real-time information from citizens using the app that the BOCC can use when making decisions about policy changes. Tobin says that the hope is that the ease of using a mobile application to communicate with the county will encourage more people to voice their opinions and be more active in their local government.
Pasco County administrator Michele Baker expressed excitement about the possibilities the new app presents for external and internal communication for the county.
“We could also look at the app as a way of communicating with all 2,000 county employees in the future,” Baker said in a press release. “This would be especially beneficial to employees who don’t have easy access to a computer and spend much of their time in the field. The possibilities are endless for both employees and Pasco County citizens.”
Pasco’s chief information technology officer Todd Bayley said that people already were taking advantage of the app while it still was in development.
“As we were testing this app, citizens were finding us online,” he said. “We had a park reservation before we even announced (the app) to the public.”
For additional information, visit PascoCountyFL.net.
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