This morning, my husband and I woke up to feeling the house vibrate in sync with the cacophonous sound of a jackhammer. The time was just before 7 am. It turns out that the culprit of our neighborhood’s interrupted sleep was Philadelphia Gas Works or PGW, which is laying a new gas main on the next block up. It got me thinking: Does the city have a policy about what time construction can start? To find out, I called the Mayor’s Action Center, which handles constitutent services. On my first attempt dialing the Action Center’s phone number, (215)686-3000, an automated message told me that all representatives were on the line helping other constituents and that I should either leave a message or call back. Well, I didn’t leave a message because I didn’t think someone would actually call me back. So I waited several minutes and tried again. This time, Action Center representative Bob Johnson picked up. I asked him if the city has a policy about how early construction can start. He told me he believes the magic time is 7:30 am. Meaning PGW started too early. Johnson advised me to wait until next week and record what time PGW starts construction. Anything before 7:30, he told me, and I should call him back to make an official complaint. So that’s the Action Center at your service. Not bad for the first try. I found out what I wanted to know and the procedure I need to follow to make a complaint. But I’m guessing there will be times in the future when I won’t have such good luck, and I might be frustrated. How about you? Tell us about your experiences with the Mayor’s Action Center.