Communications manager Nicole De Donato presented a year-in-review to the Walker City Commission on Dec. 22, saying the city’s outreach priorities are awareness, education and trust rather than raw follower counts.

“Mostly, it's just awareness, education, and information, clarity, and trust with our information,” De Donato said as she described platform-by-platform results. She said Facebook remained the city’s largest touchpoint, with about 3,400,000 content views for the year and engagement (comments, likes, shares and saves) up roughly 26.5% from 2024.

De Donato said much of the year’s top Facebook content centered on infrastructure, public safety and new businesses. She noted an immediate drop of roughly 400 Facebook followers when the city announced an eight-month closure at Fruitridge Bridal, though Fruitridge-related posts made up a large share of the top-performing items.

On LinkedIn, De Donato said the city recorded about 644 unique visitors and roughly 59,000 impressions, which she described as reaching hundreds of professionals who might consider doing business or relocating to Walker.

She also reviewed the city’s new podcast, launched in January 2025. “We dropped our very first episode in January,” she said, and the city has released biweekly episodes with no repeats; she reported 26 episodes and approximately 1,050 downloads, adding that most downloads came via Apple Podcasts. Top episodes included an introductory episode explaining the podcast’s purpose and a popular interview with Tim Sobeys.

De Donato told commissioners the communications team plans to expand short-form vertical video and explainer content in 2026, including PSAs and short reels to clarify ballot items during election periods. Commissioners thanked De Donato and staff for the outreach work and asked about guest recruitment; she said guests come both via invitations and inbound requests.

The presentation ended with commissioners encouraging staff to use the platforms to share public-safety and project updates in the coming year.