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Home My WebLink AboutCAO-003-13 Cla-rington REPORT CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE Meeting: GENERAL PURPOSE AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE Date: March 18, 2013 Resolution #: . µ -3 By-law#: Report#: CAO-003-13 File #: Subject: INTERIM REPORT ON STRATEGIC PRIORITY: "Connecting Clarington" RECOMMENDATIONS: It is respectfully recommended that the General Purpose and Administration Committee recommend to Council the following: 1. THAT Report CAO-003-13 be received for information. I'\ Submitted by: _) C Franklin Wu, Chief Administrative Officer CC:FW CORPORATION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF CLARINGTON 40 TEMPERANCE STREET, BOWMANVILLE, ONTARIO L1C 3A6 T 905-623-3379 REPORT NO.: CAO- 003-13 PAGE 2 1. PURPOSE The purpose of this report is to provide a progress report on the Strategic Priority: "Connecting Clarington". 2. BACKGROUND 2.1 The 2011- 2014 Strategic Plan sets "Connecting Clarington" as one of six Strategic Priorities. Objective #1 under this Priority is "Improve communication" and Objective #2 is "Establish the Clarington brand". 2.2 The five actions under Objective #1 are: 1. Develop a comprehensive, proactive communication strategy including all forms of media, technology and community engagement 2. Encourage and support staff in becoming ambassadors for the Municipality by enhancing existing programs 3. Conduct regular update of community data 4. Ensure communication is timely, accurate and accessible 5. Ensure two-way communication in enhancing understanding of issues, proposed solutions and accomplishments. 2.3 There is only one action under Objective #2 and it is: "Clarify, refresh, and promote Clarington's brand." 2.4 This report provides an update on the actions to date and anticipated future actions to deliver on this Strategic Priority, including both the informing and the listening aspects of communication. While there are significant communications actions to advance tourism in Clarington these fall within "Showcasing Community", a separate Strategic Priority and not within the scope of this report. 3. ACTIONS TO DATE TO ADVANCE "CONNECTING CLARINGTON" (note all data is for 2012 unless indicated otherwise) 3.1 Current actions to inform: The Municipality currently informs widely using several methods, including: - Posting materials almost daily on the main municipal website as well as frequent postings on http://oufplan.claCinqton.net - Developing web blogs (101 blog posts) REPORT NO.: CAO- 003-13 PAGE 3 - Creating social media postings with about 700 postings to Clarington's main Twitter account and about 1,000 to its Facebook account that have 1,100 followers and 413 page likes respectively - Purchasing advertising of approximately three full pages/month in each of Clarington This Week and Orono Weekly Times - Publishing the Recreation and Leisure Guide four times a year - Issuing media advisories (seven in 2012 with the majority related to Emergency and Fire Services) - Publishing other municipal literature in paper form and making it available at municipal facilities, e.g., Public Swim/Skate Pocket Schedules; Plan Your Escape flyer (Fire); Animal Services Responsible Pet Owner brochure; Family Safety Day promotional post cards, flyers, posters - Producing some 26 Planning information guides to inform about a range of subjects, e.g., putting up a fence, sign permits, home business guide - Publishing every three weeks the Planning Services E-Update. This is a four to ten page newsletter distributed by email to about 300 subscribers. 3.2 Current actions to engage and gain feedback: - hearing the advice of nine advisory committees that Council has established, including those dealing with: • accessibility • agriculture ■ community safety ■ community improvement areas (three) ■ heritage ■ management of a nature area ■ traffic management ■ sustainability (about to be established) - receiving the judgement of residents appointed by Council to regulatory or quasi-judicial bodies, including: ■ Committee of Adjustment ■ Property Standards Committee ■ Compliance Audit Committee - appointment of Council members and residents to a number of other municipal special purpose bodies serving the community including: ■ Public Library Board ■ Museum and Archives Board ■ Abandoned Cemeteries Board REPORT NO.: CAO- 003-13 PAGE 4 • two community hall boards • two arena boards - appointment of Council members and/or staff to the Board of Directors of a number of community based organizations and the participation of councillors and staff in these organizations' events to keep informed of opportunities and concerns in the community, including: • Clarington Board of Trade • Clarington Older Adult Association • Santa Claus Parade Committee • Visual Art Centre of Clarington - appointment of residents to a number of bodies established by the Region of Durham, including: • Energy from Waste —Waste Management Advisory Committee • Durham Environmental Advisory Committee • Durham Region Land Division Committee • Durham Trails Co-ordinating Committee - other frequent exchanges of our residents and business people with Clarington councillors and staff. These take many forms and offer us an opportunity to hear suggestions for what is working well, where improvements can be made or how an emerging issue can be addressed, including: • delegations before Council or GPA meetings • consultation on broader public policy matters and major development applications through Public Information Centres and Open Houses • attendance by councillors and staff at ratepayer and citizen group meetings, community events, one-on-one meetings, or unplanned encounters in the community • contacts on day to day service delivery matters. 3.3 Current actions to use new communication technologies and social media include: - Staff are provided, within the municipality's resources, modern communication technologies that are tested and updated and are provided necessary training and support by information technology experts who keep up to date with new technologies - Corporate and administration policies dealing with the municipality's direct use of social media are being updated based on best practices and other policies impacted by this new aspect of our working environment are being reviewed. 3.4 Current initiatives to encourage and support staff in becoming ambassadors: REPORT NO.: CAO- 003-13 PAGE 5 - All staff within a few months of their hiring are provided two day training by experienced Clarington staff on customer service in the Municipality's context - All departments increasingly share information about the municipality's overall business, e.g., highlights of the 2013 Budget were shared by Department Heads with their staff - A well subscribed employee recognition program is in place that annually recognizes exemplary service - A program is in place that offers customers a means to compliment a demonstration of strong customer service and for the organization to reward this (High Five program) - Corporate and Departmental policies and practices reinforce staff becoming ambassadors for the Municipality through valuing this in recruitment, selection, and development of staff throughout their career with the Municipality. 3.5 Current efforts to compile and make available community data: - data on demographics of the community (for our land use planning documents), e.g., population by place of residence within our large geography, age, gender, location of employment— both current and forecasted - data on the location, size and nature of developable land for economic development purposes - maps showing transportation routes - existing and proposed, conventional and active - the most commonly used broad description of the municipality for those searching about the municipality on the Internet—the Wikipedia definition and description - was updated. 3.6 Current efforts to clarify, refresh, and promote Clarington's brand: - the "Leading the Way" brand was established about 12 years ago. Budget priorities mean that the brand has not been reviewed. At this point any work in this area would follow the gathering of information on customer priorities discussed below. 4. FUTURE ACTIONS TO ADVANCE "CONNECTING CLARINGTON" 4.1 As is illustrated above, many actions have been put in place to advance this Strategic Priority. Research on best practices and Clarington's strong focus on REPORT NO.: CAO- 003-13 PAGE 6 customer service suggest that it is also important to ask our customers directly and independently: What do citizens expect of the service? This will permit targeted guidance on the use of resources, development of a sound communications strategy and delivery of the other "Connecting Clarington" actions efficiently and effectively. 4.2 Typically municipalities will contract a polling firm to undertake an independent survey of its citizens to ascertain the answer to questions about citizen views of services. Budget decisions are such that Staff will find means of collecting this data through a customer service survey without an additional resource draw. 4.3 Based on what we learn from our customers and research on best practices, the current actions in the Strategic Plan and being carried out as explained above will be refined and the item listed in the first action statement, "A comprehensive, proactive communications strategy", will be set out in a future report to Council. This is expected to be completed in the Fall. Parallel work will be undertaken on gathering data on employee engagement to inform internal communications. 5. CONCLUSION Connecting Clarington is a strategic priority for the Municipality. There are many actions currently underway to deliver on this priority and more to come in the future as customer data is gathered. Staff will follow with a final report when the communication strategy is completed. CONFORMITY WITH STRATEGIC PLAN —The recommendations contained in this report conform to the following priorities of the Strategic Plan: Promoting economic development Maintaining financial stability X Connecting Clarington Promoting green initiatives Investing in infrastructure Showcasing our community Not in conformity with Strategic Plan Staff Contact: Curry Clifford, MPA, CMO, Corporate Initiatives Officer