TITLE
Recommendation to request City Manager within 90 days to develop a Neighborhood Engagement and Community Communications Plan that outlines the City's existing internal and external communication channels and public affairs efforts; reports on past City-wide surveys or other feedback mechanisms on the prioritization and citizen/user satisfaction of existing City services; aligns departmental coordination and public outreach within one of the five stated priorities of the City Council; and specifies how staff aim to expand the scope, reach and effectiveness of public communication to increase transparency and strengthen levels of civic engagement in the years ahead.
DISCUSSION
BACKGROUND
At its June 2, 2015 meeting, the City Council directed the City Manager to provide a report on the possibility of preparing a City-wide survey on the prioritization of City services and citizen/user satisfaction of existing City services. As part of this agenda item, the City Council requested that staff: review all current user survey mechanisms; explore a City-wide resource on service prioritization and user satisfaction in advance of the Fiscal Year 2016 budgeting process; and explore the possibility of circulating an annual survey that gauges citizen feedback on the City's core services.
As part of the currently proposed Fiscal Year 2018 Budget, there are requests for "onetime funds to conduct a community survey to gauge resident satisfaction/public opinion and collect data on City services" and for "increase[d] budget to support the City's growing media, social media and public affairs efforts, such as contract support for graphic design, marketing and communication materials."
Furthermore, in the City Manager's Department Overview, the Public Affairs and Communications' Fiscal Year 2018 Focus Area is to "maximize internal and external communication channels in order to provide accurate and timely information to internal staff, media and the public. Staff will u...
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