City communications team outlines website redesign, streaming and resident survey results

Carter Watkins, of the city’s communications department, told the council the office has prioritized a single, consistent voice and has stepped up output across web and social platforms to make city information easier for residents to find. “Our content over the last 90 days has received 1,300,000 views and over 1,000 new followers on our social media,” Watkins said.

Watkins said a redesigned city website—described as a “modern front door”—is targeted for a summer launch and will centralize information so residents do not have to search multiple places. The communications team is also bench-testing a Castus streaming and archiving system; staff said information services will hook the hardware into the council chambers for additional testing before any public launch.

The department shared results from a city survey that produced 689 responses, representing participation from all five districts and about 1.2% of the population; Watkins called the response a strong citywide baseline while noting district-level figures are for transparency and not intended for statistical comparison. He said the communications strategy prioritizes web stories as the source of truth and social posts as a driver to that content.

In a short Q&A, Watkins said staff are evaluating opt-in two-way engagement tools—an app or text-alert system—to reach residents who do not use social media and to allow people to report issues (for example, potholes or traffic concerns) directly to the city. Watkins said staff will continue to measure resident feedback and expand video and content capabilities as the team brings new tools online.