Complaining Online Isn’t Reporting—Here’s How to Actually Fix Clarksburg’s Problems
It’s a familiar scene on social media: a broken streetlight, a pothole that’s been there forever, a pile of garbage left in an alley for weeks—people snap a picture, post it, and the comment section fills up with frustration. “The city never does anything,” someone writes. “Typical Clarksburg,” another chimes in. Dozens of likes, shares, and complaints pile up, yet nothing changes. Why? Because not a single person in that thread has actually reported the issue where it matters.
People have changed. People today don’t want to handle anything themselves. They look around and see other people’s problems. They don’t even want to make a phone call.
I’ve seen it happen time and time again. There was a major water line issue in a neighborhood, and people online were furious—post after post, blaming the city for ignoring it. But when I looked into it, I found out that nobody had actually reported it. Another time, a street sign got knocked down in an accident, and for months, people complained about the danger. The city never fixed it because the city never knew about it. It was finally repaired—within a day—after just one person submitted an official report.
The truth is, the city wants to know about these problems, but it relies on its residents to report them. City workers don’t have the resources to be out patrolling every block looking for issues. They don’t monitor Facebook groups or heated comment sections. They rely on reports coming through the proper channels. If no one speaks up where it counts, nothing gets fixed.
My Personal Journey: From Online Complaints to Active Participation
I’ll admit it—I used to be one of those people. I’d see issues, get frustrated, go on one of my well-known rants, and blow-up Facebook with my angry group of followers. I felt like the city was failing to take care of things that were clearly broken or neglected. In some cases, I had a personal vendetta against certain council members and city employees because I just thought they didn’t care or weren’t capable of doing their jobs. I was outraged at how they could ignore things.
So, I started to learn about community involvement and wanted to show others how to bully the city into getting things done by being the loud angry squeaky wheel. I decided that my role was to be a communicator between the people and the government. If people just wanted to complain online, I would be the intermediary and talk to the city for them.
It worked well. I built relationships with many citizens, council members, and city employees. I also made a fair number of enemies who didn’t like my methods of motivating them—which I understand now. I was very aggressive, but it was what I felt worked and was needed at that time. My methods have grown much more into cooperation than bullying today. So, how would I share what I had learned with others who want to improve Clarksburg?
The Need for a Community Voice
That led me to create my first Facebook group. The first version, around 2012, was called Clarksburg Citizens United. It grew fairly fast, and with me as the most active poster, it reached about 3,500 members in a year or two. That led to my unsuccessful run for city council in 2013.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t the top-level administrator of that group, and my co-founder, Jean Marie Davis, passed away unexpectedly. I was a lower-level admin, but Facebook’s controls worked differently then, and I lost control of the group. It became overrun with spam and was abandoned. At some point, Facebook finally cut it off, or someone changed the name. It could still be one of the groups out there—I don’t know which one.
Sometime after that, I decided to try again and take on the same role but do it better. The new group I created was called Clarksburg Connected. I was obviously jealous of the amazing role that Connect-Bridgeport plays in that community. I wanted to build something similar for Clarksburg and continue to be the voice of regular people who want Clarksburg to grow and improve.
I had a solid plan, secured the business name and URL, and the group grew larger than before. That led to my successful run for city council in 2019. But that victory put my plans on the back burner—I had taken on too many roles.
Fast forward past my term on council (which is not relevant to this story), and now that I’m not planning to run again, I’m putting this plan back into action. My focus has been growing the group and gaining followers as a dependable source of news that I think our community is lacking. The goal isn’t just to be a source of news—I want to be a hub of all things Clarksburg and continue my role as a communicator between the people and the city.
Often, when a legitimate problem pops up in the group, I immediately take action and try to intervene in the situation to find a solution.
Clarksburg News and Observer: The Next Step
Last year, I decided that having a name so close to Connect-Bridgeport wasn’t wise for several reasons. I didn’t want my envy and admiration to be taken as a hostile action, so I changed it. The new name became The Clarksburg News and Observer—a classic-sounding name with hints of traditional news but also a very accurate description of my large role as the “Observer.”
Let’s be honest—nothing I run will ever be short on opinion.
So, that brings us to where we are today. The group is thriving with over 7,000 members, and www.ckbnao.com is now active and being worked on daily. I hope it becomes the go-to source that people trust for independent news and inside stories. It also gives me a loud bullhorn and a stage to complain like the ole days—but in a smarter way, now that I’ve been on the inside and learned how the city works.
What is YOUR part in all this?
This is where you, the reader, come in.
When I saw the other side of the situation as a councilman, I learned what real action is. Personal action leads to real change. Get more involved in your community. Don’t see problems as someone else’s problem—see them as your city’s problems.
At some point, we have to change our culture if we want to improve. Don’t accept disgusting situations, or even just mediocrity. Fix the problem if you can. Pick up the phone and talk to someone who can fix the problem. If all else fails, don’t be afraid to attend a council meeting or call a council member directly.
It was a huge personal growth moment for me to learn how to be involved in my community. You have to understand how frustrating it is when people claim, “the city does nothing” about problems that were never even reported.
Clarksburg’s Online Problem Reporting Tool
To make the process even easier, Clarksburg has a new (second edition) Online Reporting Tool that allows residents to quickly and efficiently report issues directly to the appropriate department.
Instead of hoping someone else will do something, submit a report yourself in minutes—no phone calls, no waiting on hold, just a simple form that ensures your issue is logged and handled.
🔗 Report an issue here: Clarksburg Problem Reporting Tool
Conclusion: Be Part of the Solution
It’s easy to get frustrated when things aren’t working the way they should. But if we want Clarksburg to be a better place, we have to take responsibility for reporting problems where they can actually be fixed.
The next time you see something wrong, don’t just post about it online—take a few minutes to report it and be part of the solution.
And if you do all the right things and still don’t get a decent response, come to my group and get me involved.
“See Something, Say Something” isn’t just a catchy phrase—it means something.
— Gary Keith
