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Council presses staff on customer experience, website, AI and community-survey data
Summary
Councilors and staff reviewed communications and technology priorities: a high open rate for the city e-newsletter, the representativeness and cost of the community survey, improved customer portals, and governance for AI and cybersecurity.
Councilors used the strategic-planning workshop to press staff on how the city communicates with residents, how staff measures sentiment and what technology investments would improve resident experiences.
Staff reported the citys e-newsletter open rate is high roughly 67 percent by staffs count and that the community survey produces a statistically valid, weighted sample of responses (staff said the survey delivers a representative sample with an approximate margin of error in the low single digits). Staff cautioned that increasing survey response substantially would raise costs and produce diminishing returns.
Councilors and staff discussed the "customer experience" path forward rather than a narrower "customer service" label. Topics included consolidating user-facing services or creating a customer portal where residents could locate permitting, utility payments and other services from a single entry point. Staff said multiple backend software systems currently support different services and that a single sign-on solution is technically complex and often requires either third-party integration or in-house software development.
Members also asked staff to evaluate appropriate AI governance as the city pilots AI-driven tools for resident questions and internal efficiencies. Staff flagged the need to monitor outputs and ensure protections against biased or incorrect responses.
Staff described the community survey as cost-effective and statistically robust; staff estimated approximately 300 completed responses produce a representative result with a margin of error around three percent, and noted that reducing the margin of error further would require substantial additional cost. Councilors discussed boosting visibility of project maps and the citys project tracker so residents can more easily see ongoing work.
Ending: Staff will fold communications and technology recommendations into the draft plan and return options for a customer-experience portal, recommended AI governance practices, and costed survey/engagement options.
