Citizens Service Bureau Director's Records
Scope and Contents note
The Citizens Service Bureau opened in 1965 as a central location in City Hall where citizens could obtain information, request City services and resolve complaints about City policies, procedures and service delivery. The Bureau was part of the Executive Department from its creation until it moved to the newly-formed Department of Neighborhoods in 1991. In 2007 the name was changed to Customer Service Bureau.
Records of the Director (later, Manager) of the Citizens Service Bureau, include subject files, photographs and reports. Topics include hate crimes, preparations for the Seattle WTO conference in 1999 and logs of telephone complaints received during and after the conference. Also included are records of the Interdepartmental Enforcement Alliance Team and Neighborhood Action Team which helped communities with cross-jurisdictional problems involving law enforcement, public health or safety.
Dates
- Creation: 1988-2000
Creator
- Seattle (Wash.). Dept. of Neighborhoods (Organization)
Conditions Governing Access note
Records are open to the public.
Historical Note
The Department of Neighborhoods was created in 1991 by consolidating staff from the Executive Department's Citizens Service Bureau and Office of Neighborhoods, the Community Service Centers of the Department of Human Resources, and the Neighborhood Assistance Division of the Department of Community Development. The Office of Urban Conservation, the City's historic preservation agency, was added in 1992. The following year, the department added a community development function by taking over projects in the Central Area, Southeast Seattle, and the Port of Seattle. In 1999, the Neighborhood Planning Office was abolished and its continuing functions were assumed by the Department of Neighborhoods. The Department's mission is to bring local government closer to the citizens by maintaining a responsive presence in Seattle neighborhoods, by responding to citizen concerns and complaints, and providing a communications link for neighborhoods on City issues that will have an impact on them. The department operates the Neighborhood Service Centers (Little City Halls), administers the Neighborhood Matching Grant Program, staffs the Landmarks Preservation Board, and manages the P-Patch program.
Full Extent
1.2 Cubic Feet (3 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Records of the Citizens Service Bureau which was created in 1965 to handle citizen complaints and serve as a referral resource for city services.
Arrangement note
Arranged into two subseries: subject files and interdepartmental teams.
Subject
- Seattle (Wash.). Dept. of Neighborhoods (Organization)
- Seattle (Wash.). Citizens Service Bureau (Organization)
Genre / Form
Geographic
Topical
- Title
- Guide to the Seattle Citizens Service Bureau Records 1988-2000
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Janet Ness
- Date
- © 2010
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
- Sponsor
- Funding for processing this record series was provided through a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
- EAD Location
- http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv55340
Repository Details
Part of the Seattle Municipal Archives Repository