CC_Minutes_2016_0919 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Regular City Council Meeting Monday, September 19, 2016 Page 11 c.Speak Up! Roseville Check-In and Discussion As detailed in the RCA of today’s date, Communications Manager Garry Bow- man reviewed a history of this new communication tool and usage today, and ref- erenced the two-year Granicus contract approved in March of 2015, expiring in March of 2017. Mr. Bowman sought direction from the City Council as to the fu- ture of this tool. Council Positions / Direction to Staff Mayor Roe stated that his observations to-date were that there seemed to be a dis- connect between the site and decision-making by the city; and sought ideas to im- prove that connection for public feedback informing city advisory commissions and the City Council prior to decision-making. Mayor Roe stated while realizing agenda topics were not always available months in advance, he preferred a better way to get those topics at the forefront and receive public feedback in a more timely fashion from the public (e.g. stormwater issues). Mr. Bowman agreed this was challenging from when an item was scheduled on a future agenda and time available to garner community feedback, noting that a longer period was often required. For those topics not immediate, Mr. Bowman advised feedback was possible; however, it was more challenging without that prior knowledge of a particular topic. Mr. Bowman offered to continue working on that challenge. Councilmember Willmus stated he’d been skeptical of this model from the begin- ning, but was willing to see how it played out. Councilmember Willmus opined this tool was trying to reinvent the wheel, when other proven-effective social me- dia options were available (e.g. Twitter and Facebook) with other communities working well with those models. Councilmember Willmus further opined he didn’t like the compartmentalization of the NextDoor.com website as it wasn’t community-wide. Councilmember Willmus stated the Speak Up! Roseville tool may be cumbersome for users if not familiar with social media, requiring more manipulation from discussion topics to viewer responses, and retaining those re- sponses. Mayor Roe agreed the process could be “clunky.” On the fiscal side, Councilmember Willmus questioned how long the tool should be sustained versus having the same or similar results from other social media op- tions. Councilmember Willmus questioned the familiarity or awareness in the community of the Speak Up! Roseville tool, and suggested usage would increase if the public was actually more aware of it, and if not scared away by how “clunky” it was. Working in the communications field, Councilmember Laliberte stated she had lots of thoughts, and agreed with Mayor Roe that it would be nice if the site was more connected with public input and decision-making topics by the City Coun-