At its Monday meeting, the City Council discussed several ways to increase public engagement and opportunities for public input. Strategies discussed included hosting quarterly town hall meetings, posting monthly video updates on recent City Council action and streaming Council meetings live on Facebook.
Following a discussion, the Council decided to move forward with quarterly town hall meetings starting in January, with one meeting in each of the four council districts each year, but no meetings during election season. The meetings will allow residents to ask questions and share concerns in a setting designed for conversation. The meetings will be moderated by Mayor Amir Omar, with all council members invited to attend and participate.
Plans were also put in place to film short videos that could be shared on social media that recap the previous month’s City Council actions. The videos would be produced by staff from the City’s Communications Department and read by members of the City Council.
The Council also decided to begin streaming its meetings live on Facebook. Currently, meetings are streamed live, and available on-demand after the fact, on the City’s cable channel and online at www.cor.net/CITV. The Council felt streaming live on Facebook, where the video would also be available following the meeting, would increase viewership and public engagement.
