Agenda - Council Work Session - 07/17/2007

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$3000 per event. In-house GIS technology has made the process of doing targeted mailings to neighborhoods easier and more efficient for staff. · Community meetings. In recent months, staffhas increased the use of informational open houses/meetings for projects such as street maintenance, new road extensions, and transportation planning. In addition, the Ramsey3 process began in early 2007 and will include a community planning process in early May. Several community meetings are planned as a part of the 2008 Comp Plan update process. · Public Posting Board at Municipal Center. All official notices, agendas, meeting schedules and general community information are posted in the lobby of the Municipal Center. INTERNAL COMMUNICA nONS · All Staff Meetings. Approximately twice a year or more frequently if needed, the Administrator and Department Head group conduct all staff meetings. Updates are provided about what is going on in every department and in the community at large. Staff is offered the opportunity to submit anonymous questions ahead of the meeting and there is a . question and answer period at the end of each department's presentation. . City Intranet. Staff has developed an internal website for employees to reference information regarding employee benefits, city policies, and general city information. . Weekly Update. Every Friday, the Weekly Update is produced by the City Administrator for the City Council. This document is also shared internally to provide staff information about what is happening in the week ahead and updates about development and/or improvement projects. Various community events are also included in the weekly communication with Council. . Department Meetings. Departments generally conduct monthly or quarterly meetings with staff. . Training opportunities. Training opportunities are offered several times throughout the year. They include communication about specific city goals for which the training is being conducted or general information about the mission of the organization. · Pay check stuffers. Informational flyers are included with pay stubs from time to time about various events. . Employee break room bulletin board. Information is posted on the bulletin board on various topics, including federal labor laws, HR information and employee postings. In recent budget years, a Communications Coordinator position has been proposed, but has not been successful in making it through the budget process. Currently, with the Asst. City Administrator acting as Interim City Administrator, time is limited to embark upon an aggressive new campaign without additional resources being directed to that effort. Staff has discussed the option of bringing in a communications consultantto assess the current communications strategies and to develop a plan to improve or redirect