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HomeMy Public PortalAbout2020_1211 CRC-CS Minutes1 Subcommittee Members: Attendees: Communications Subcommittee Watertown Charter Review Committee Meeting Minutes December 11, 2020 Marcia Ciro, Chair; Anne Fitzpatrick; Councilor John Gannon; Leo Martin Elodia Thomas; Councilor Lisa Feltner; Nancy Hammett; Tiffany Rose York (part time) The ZOOM meeting was called to order with a roll call vote at 1:03 PM (note Anne Fitzpatrick joined the meeting just after the role) 1. Methods of Outreach Chair Ciro indicated that she would like to go out of the order of the agenda and would like to discuss the description that is to be included in the upcoming Real Estate Tax Bill. The information is required by Town Council President by tomorrow (December 12th). Item 1.e was discussed first. a. Speak/Outreach - Local Groups —There was a discussion,regarding going to local organizations and informing their members of the ongoing Charter Review. Mr. Gannon and Ms. Fitzpatrick mention many local groups and fraternal organizations; however, it was brought up that many are not meeting due to Covid-19. Attendee Ms. York mentioned a number of groups that hold regular Zoom meetings including, Watertown Forward, Watertown Citizens for Black Lives, Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice and Environment, and Watertown Anti -bias Coalition of Parents. Ms. Ciro added Concerned Citizens group. Ms. Thomas mentioned redundancy with Watertown Forward and Ms. Ciro mentioned that it would be good if there were some redundancy so that the message would be reinforced. It was noted that Marcy Murninghan of Watertown Forward has done a good summary of the last charter review meeting. Ms. Fitzpatrick mentioned other groups may send out with their emails such as the Rotary Club. Councilor Gannon indicated that he was willing to speak to groups and will investigate options. b. Outreach to Local Media (Tab, Patch, Watertown News) - Ms. Ciro indicated that we could prepare a summary after the meetings and provide to the local news outlets. Ms. Thomas mentioned that the Tab and Patch limited the number of words that can be used. Ms. Murninghan's summary that was on Watertown Forward was again mentioned. There was a question as to whether anything Deleted: with Communication Subcommittee Meeting Minutes Page 2 December 11, 2020 written by the subcommittee would need the approval of the entire committee before it is released. c. Flyer Distribution (Description of Charter Process) — Councilor Gannon discussed the issues and what was needed. He estimated 8,volunteers could complete the delivery flyers. We could use the same language that was approved to go into the tax bills. There was no decision to move forward with the flyers. Councilor Gannon will send sample flyers to Chair. Chair will use design skills to design a flyer that can be discussed at next meeting. d. Bulletin Board (where Senior center, Town Hall, Boys & Girls Club, Apartment Building entrances) — See Item 1.j. e. Insert into Town Tax/Water bills — Two members had presented drafts for the insert into the information page included in the upcoming mailing of the tax bills. Mr. Martin read his draft followed by Ms. Ciro. There was a discussion by the members with Councilor Gannon indicating that brevity is important. Ms. Fitzpatrick added that the goal is to raise awareness, provide an overview of the charter review, and invite residents to join in our review process. There a lengthy discussion as to how much detail should be included. Chair Ciro indicated that the description should be kept general with no specifics. Ms. Fitpatrick provide a succinct draft that was shared over the website with all attendees. Ms. Thomas indicated that the wording needs to be tight since there is not a lot of space in the announcements and it should direct people to the website. There were a few more tweaks to the draft proposed by Ms. Fitzpatrick and Ms. Ciro will finalize the write-up and get it to Council President Sideris. Committee member Fitzpatrick mentioned that the email address for the group should be included. Ms. Ciro indicated that she wasn't sure that it had been set up as yet and will verify and if done, it will be added. A roll call vote was taken to approve the proposed language to be finalize by Ms. Ciro, four affirmative votes. f. Online: Facebook, Twitter, Nextdoor Watertown — Ms. Ciro wanted to wait on this item until after the meeting with the Town's ITO. g. Local Cable: Ad/announcement — the group discussed having someone do an interview on the cable station. Ms. Ciro needed to determine with Town Council President who would be best to do the interview. The write up that was agreed for inclusion with the Tax bills, could be placed as an announcement on Watertown Cable TV. Ms. Fitzpatrick also mentioned that the timeline should be provided. Ms. Fitzpatrick will investigate with the Watertown Cable Station. h. Outreach to local neighborhood Groups (Concerned Citizens, Watertown Forward, etc.) or those that have email lists — See 1.f i. Town Councilors email lists — See 1.f j. Sandwich Boards — There was a short discussion on the location, size and content of the boards. Councilor Gannon mentioned that surveys of the councilors indicated that the sandwich boards were the place where residents got their information. Ms. Hammett indicated that also came across in the Kitchen Table discussion program that was done last year. Ms. Thomas indicated that the ( Deleted: 0 Deleted: indicated that he had an example from the last charter review and will bring it to the next meeting.... Communication Subcommittee Meeting Minutes Page 3 December 11, 2020 boards are of varying sizes and mentioned the electronic message boards controlled by the DPW. There was a discussion of the material best used on the boards. Ms. Ciro indicated that she was familiar with the materials as well as how to lay out the boards so she will take the lead on the sandwich boards. Ms. Thomas provided the contact for the sandwich boards at the DPW, Bob D'Arico. k. Watertown Forward Zoom Meetings — See 1.f. 1. Polling Possibilities — Ms. Ciro had sent out examples rom a couple of different communities and acknowledged the draft that Mr. Martin had started. Mr. Martin indicated that he based it on the survey done in Amesbury. Ms. Ciro did not want to go into the details of a website polling until she has spoken to Mr. McClure. 2. Dedicated Town email address — Ms. Ciro was not sure that it had been set up. She will check into whether it has been set-up. 3. Look at Other Outreach Samples and decide how they can be used/revised for Committee's Purposes — See Item 1.1 4. Discuss Website Creation, how to work with Watertown's Chief ITO — see Item 1.f S. Input from Residents — Ms. Fitzpatrick indicated that she had a number of calls from residents that were not happy that no minutes have been prepared for any of the meetings as yet. There was a discussion as to how our minutes would be prepared and approved. 6. Next meeting —The timing of our meetings was discussed. It was agreed that we meet every two weeks. The date of the next meeting was not set. The meeting adjourned with a roll call vote with all members voting in the affirmative at 3:40 PM. Action Items: A. Investigate options for speaking at Watertown groups — Councilor Gannon B. Outreach to local news organizations — Need to investigate the release of any write-up with the full committee — Ciro. C. Flyer and Bulletin Boards, preparation and distribution — Councilor Gannon will provide an example of a flyer from the last charter reviews at our next meeting. D. Write-up for inclusion in the tax bill — Finalize and submit to TC President Sideris — Ciro E. Sandwich board graphics and installation — M. Ciro to investigate F. Local Cable Ad/announcement — A. Fitzpatrick will contact the Watertown Cable News and see if we can get the announcement (approved in Item 1.e) shown and also investigate having a speaker interviewed on the Cable Channel. G. Meet with and discuss website organization and distribution with Chris McClure — Ciro and Martin Minutes by Leo Martin Deleted: form