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79 <br /> 12.Provide feedback mechanisms so city customers may comment about <br /> council actions, staff, services, and programs <br /> 13.Promote effective internal communications within the city organization <br /> 14.Work with other community organizations and groups to communicate with <br /> target audiences <br /> 15.Other recommendations <br /> 1.) Devote more time and resources to communicating the city's message <br /> • TOOL #1: ADEQUATE STAFFING. <br /> The City Council has repeatedly identified communications as a priority each <br /> year for the past several years. The city has shown its commitment by staffing a <br /> Communications Coordinator position at 14 hours/week for the past 18 months. <br /> This person assists the Assistant Council Administrator, who, in many ways, <br /> functions as a Communications Director. <br /> • While this arrangement works well from a communications standpoint, a concern <br /> is that the Assistant Council Administrator is currently unable to pay necessary <br /> attention to other duties in that job description. As the title "Assistant Council <br /> Administrator' implies, this person is also responsible for city management <br /> functions. This leads to situations where communications can suffer due to a <br /> pressing city management issue, or visa versa. <br /> • To solve this issue, we recommend increasing the hours of the part-time <br /> Communications Coordinator to 30 hours/week. This would enable the Assistant <br /> Council Administrator to shift certain responsibilities to the Communications <br /> Coordinator and concentrate more on management issues as well as <br /> communications at a strategic level. <br /> • TOOL #2: CITY STAFF COMMUNICATIONS TRAINING. <br /> Staff preparation for media interactions is essential. All city representatives <br /> should be given the basics on how to develop key messages, answer questions, <br /> and conduct an interview. Messages received by the press and residents need to <br /> be consistent across all departments. To quote one employee — "Every time we <br /> talk about Red Wing, we need to say the same thing and get the same feeling." <br /> • In October 2004, the Assistant Council Administrator developed and distributed a <br /> helpful guide to working with the media, establishing "rules of engagement" for <br /> interview situations, news release guidelines, and other valuable resources. <br /> Perhaps a "quick reference" card could now be created for employees' use. <br /> 2.) Improve and promote the city web site <br /> • TOOL #1: WEB SITE UPGRADE NEEDED. <br /> There was near-unanimous agreement among focus group respondents that Red <br /> Wing's web site needs an upgrade. The main complaint was that information is <br />