Toledo council authorizes TextMyGov contract to expand resident alerts

The Toledo City Council voted unanimously on Jan. 28 to authorize the city manager to sign a partnership agreement with TextMyGov, approving a first-year cost of $7,250 and listing roughly $5,500 per year for subsequent years as presented in the packet.

City Manager Putner told the council the vendor offered a $1,000 discount for year one; staff identified an existing $16,000 special purchases budget line that could cover the initial expense without a formal amendment. Putner described the service as a 24/7 text-based platform that vendors populate using publicly available cell numbers and said the system is set up to allow recipients to opt out when they receive the first message.

Councilors pressed staff on how the system measures effectiveness, the baseline of 25,000 texts per year in the proposed package, and whether the vendor can support an opt-in default rather than an automatic enrollment of publicly listed numbers. One council member summed the privacy concern in a short exchange, saying, "That's creepy," in response to automatic population of a phone database. Putner said staff will ask the vendor whether an initial opt-in notification can be used and that the platform provides a user dashboard so staff can monitor message usage and add capacity if necessary.

Several members also raised operational questions about the two-way messaging feature and the staff time required to manage replies; council discussed starting with the recommended baseline, using the platform primarily for high-priority notices, and testing the system during the remainder of the fiscal year before committing in next year's budget.

Councilor Sylvia moved the authorization; Councilor Keating seconded. The motion passed 6-0.