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City highlights new website, high newsletter engagement in quarterly communications report
Summary
Public engagement coordinator Shelby Stoffer presented a quarterly communications update, saying the city launched a redesigned website, a monthly newsletter with strong open rates and a new web chat that produced hundreds of resident conversations this quarter.
Shelby Stoffer, the City of Fate’s public engagement coordinator, told the City Council on April 7 that the city has completed a website redesign, launched a monthly newsletter and is piloting an AI-assisted web chat service to speed resident responses.
Stoffer said the site redesign included an accessibility and navigation overhaul, a broken-link audit, and a new services portal to consolidate applications and payments. “We did a broken link audit,” Stoffer said, adding the team worked with departments to update content before launch.
The report included metrics. Stoffer said newsletter open rates are tracking about 66–67 percent, above the civic-newsletter industry standard of 30–40 percent, and that click-through rates are within typical civic benchmarks. She also said the city recorded about 409 unique web-chat conversations in the last quarter and is trialing an AI feature with Podium to improve response times outside business hours.
Stoffer outlined outreach elements used by the office: website, social media, a resident app, the newsletter, and a new texting service. She noted the site’s most-visited pages are the home page, utilities and water, and a make-a-payment page, and that the redesigned services portal provides quicker access to department applications, payment portals and an economic-development hub.
Council members thanked Stoffer for the work. When asked whether residents can cancel utilities online, Stoffer said the website provides the cancellation form but that customers currently must submit the form and often appear in person to complete utility account changes; utility staff Teresa confirmed customers can start the cancellation by email but may still need to come into the office to finish the process.
Stoffer also previewed outreach plans: the city will accept used tires at this year’s bulk-trash event, will delay the city’s community survey to August–September for better response timing and plans to launch a Citizens Academy in the new fiscal year to educate residents on city operations.
The council did not take any formal action on the communications update; Stoffer said staff would return with more information as programs roll out.
