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26 <br /> The overall goals for the Communications Plan are to: <br /> ? Educate citizens of Hickory about its government processes,programs, activities, <br /> and yearly goals and objectives. <br /> ? Enhance lines of communications between citizens and the City. <br /> ? Find new avenues to educate the public on City activities. <br /> ? Use the City's best resource—its employees- to help educate the public on city <br /> activities. <br /> ? Continue to build strong relationships with the media, which will enable them to be <br /> partners in the communication process with target audiences. <br /> ? Find ways to reach out to the citizens in the metropolitan area. <br /> ? Enhance the image of the City for tourists and business travelers. <br /> Action Plan <br /> A Communications Team will form and meet on a quarterly basis to review, discuss, <br /> amend and help implement the Communications Plan. Suggested members of the <br /> Communications Team will be the City Public Information Officer, Quality Director, <br /> Neighborhood Coordinator, City Clerk, Library Marketing Coordinator, Recreation <br /> Marketing Coordinator, Fire Public Information Officer, and an HPD, Information <br /> Services, and a Public Services representative. <br /> The strategies that form the Communications Plan are intended to drive the program for <br /> the entire City. In this vein, it is essential that all departments understand their roles in <br /> this endeavor. Individual departments will handle many elements of this plan with the <br /> Communications Team coordinating all efforts. <br /> The following strategies, divided per the target audience's specifications, are being <br /> recommended as the core of the 2003 Communications Plan. <br /> Citizens of Hickory <br /> 1. City Council Circular—The City Council Circular is published on a monthly <br /> basis. Some summer months are combined because many organizations, <br /> commissions and boards are not meeting as much in the summer months. The <br /> City Council Circular began in 1998 as a way to inform City Council, Board and <br /> Commission members, and neighborhood and business organizations, about <br /> activities occurring in the city. The mailing list began at 654 in 1998, and in April <br /> 2003, the mailing list included about 4,200 citizens. <br /> Not counting staff time, it costs about $1,900 a month to print and mail the City <br /> Council Circular to the current mailing list. Citizens who receive the eight-page <br /> publication enjoy reading it and say that it keeps them current on projects and <br /> activities in the City. It is important to continue publishing the City Council <br /> 4 <br />