TUCSON, Ariz.—From the road at a joint meeting of the following organizations:

• ARRA Asphalt Recycling & Reclaiming Association (ARRA),
• Asphalt Emulsion Manufacturers Association (AEMA),
• International Slurry Surfacing Association (ISSA), and the
• Pavement Preservation Recycling Alliance (PPRA).

While addressing the opening session at this meeting, Tucson Mayor Bob Walkup explains a “smart” way the city he runs deals with as many as 70,000 potholes.

Residents with smartphones that have GPS capability can take a photo of a pothole and send it to the city. The photo/complaint then goes into a registry. It’s categorized, assigned to a work group, and then fixed.

The repaired pothole is photographed and that pictures is sent back to the smart phone that started the whole process. Now that’s customer service!

Oh, another piece of very valuable wisdom from Walkup was directed at fellow mayors across the country. If you want to be reelected, fix all the potholes you can find in the year before the election.

For a related story on using smartphones to fix potholes, go to http://www.betterroads.com/got-potholes-there%E2%80%99s-an-app-for-that/.