The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My Public Portal About2019-04-09 Everbridge - InfoPresMichael J. Driscoll Town Manager TOWN OF WATERTOWN Office of the Town Manager Administration Building 149 Main Street Watertown, MA 02472 Phone: 617-972-6465 www.watertown-ma.gov townmgr@watertown-ma.gov To: Honorable Town Council From: Michael J. Driscoll, Town Manager Date: April 4, 2019 RE: Agenda Item — Informational Presentation As you are aware, on February 12th the Honorable Town Council adopted the following Action Item: "That the Town Council invite, through the Town Council President, a representative of Everbridge to give a presentation to the Town Council on the available emergency notification and community engagement tools" (see attached excerpt from the February 12, 2019 Town Council Meeting Minutes and Media and Public Outreach Committee Report). As a follow-up to the above -mentioned Action Item and discussion with the Honorable Town Council President Mark S. Sideris, I respectfully request an Informational Presentation be placed on the April 9, 2019 Town Council Agenda. The Informational Presentation will be on the available emergency notification and community engagement tools available through Everbridge. The Information Presentation will be given by Matt Severance, Senior Account Manager — State and Local Government, Everbridge. Thank you for your consideration in this matter. Cc: Robert J. Quinn, Fire Chief Michael P. Lawn, Police Chief Gerald S. Mee, Jr., Superintendent of Public Works Larry A. Ramdin, Director of Public Health Steven Magoon, Community Development & Planning Director/Assistant Town Manager Thomas J. Tracy, Town Auditor/ Assistant Town Manager for Finance Joseph J. Mahoney, Information Technology Manager Excerpt from February 12, 2019 Town Council Meeting Minutes Committee on Media and Public Outreach Report Regarding the Information Technology Assessment RFP, Next Steps and Proposals — Anthony Palomba, Chair ACTION ITEMS: 1. That the Town Council Ask the Town Manager to Require the Awardee of the Information Technology Assessment Contract to Interview All Members of the Town Council as well as Invite Members of Each Existing Board and Commission to be Interviewed 2. That the Town Council Ask the Town Manager to Have the Notify Me Category of "Council" Changed to "Town Council" and to Create a Category of "Town Manager" to Allow Him to Communicate Directly through Notify Me 3. That the Town Council Invite, Through the Town Council President, a Representative of Everbridge to Give a Presentation to the Town Council on the Available Emergency Notification and Community Engagement Tools 4. That the Town Council Ask the Town Council Clerk to Create an Agendas and Minutes Link for Each Town Council Committee on the Town Council Page of the Web Site so that Committee Agendas and Minutes Are Easily Accessible Watertown Town Council Administration Building 149 Main Street Watertown, MA 02472 Phone: 617-972-6470 Media and Public Outreach Committee Meeting Meeting: January 3, 2019 Read: February 12, 2019 The meeting was called to order at 5:15 PM in the Third Floor Conference Room in Town Hall. Present were Councilors Anthony Palomba, Chair, Lisa Feltner, Vice Chair, and Caroline Bays, Secretary. Also present were residents David Stokes, Chair of the Stormwater Advisory Committee, Stephanie Venizelos, Watertown's Community Wellness Program Manager, Andy Compagna, Member of the Bike -Pedestrian Committee, and Nancy Hammett. The initial discussion concerned the recent Information Technology Assessment RFP. While it is quite extensive and did include an inventory use of social media, members felt its focus was on technology infrastructure and related to hardware and software capacity and did not address communication strategy and community engagement nor specifically addressed personnel capacity. It was suggested that whoever is awarded the contract arrange to meet with members of the Town Council, Department heads and employees, and members of the existing boards and commissions to guarantee the assessments address a broad array of communication and training needs. The Committee briefly discussed the need for a communication director and noted that based on the work of the Committee and the presentation of resident Mike Ward at a previous meeting, Councilors Bay and Palomba recommended in their budget guidelines that the Town hire a communication/engagement director. Councilor Palomba asked that the Committee and the residents attending to turn their attention to a discussion of next steps and possible proposals to present to the full Town Council. It should be noted the ideas, suggestions, and comments below are not attributed to specific individuals but they do include the helpful comments from the residents attending the meeting. - The web site should include a Notify Me category for the Town Manager that would include, ' among other items, the Miscellaneous Items that Councilors and other Town employees regularly receive. In addition, all boards and commissions should be provided the opportunity to have a Notify Me category. - Consider developing a community engagement survey. It was noted that this can involve significant time and energy and may involve creating different formats, translation into several languages, and an intense outreach effort to convince folks it is worth their time to complete the survey. - Arrange for Everbridge to make a presentation to the full Town Council about the social engagement and the emergency notification tools that are available through the Town's existing contract. - Post job descriptions for boards and committees and Town positions on the web site as well as in the appropriate Notify Me category. - Investigate the costs and feasibility of instituting a 311 system, publishing a directory of all employees with names and extensions, creating a Town Council quarterly newsletter, and creating easy access to a Councilor's Request for Information and the subsequent response. - Develop strategic guidelines and training tools for Town organizations, boards, and commissions about how to communicate in a consistent and frequent way in order to engage the community. - Explore the creation of standardized platforms for the different town organizations, committees, and commissions to plug into, for example, a standardized newsletter format or survey platform would be helpful. - Revisit the Committee's earlier consideration of creating: • Short Term Goals - such as making more effective use of the tools the Town already has through Everbridge and the Notify Me categories. • Medium Term Goals - such as active participation of employees and volunteers in the IT Assessment, using 311, creating a newsletter, etc. • Long Term Goals - such as creating a communication/participation strategy and action plan and funding a communication and engagement director. The Committee than turned to creating proposals for approval by the full Town Council. ACTION ITEM: The Committee recommends that the Town Council ask the Town Manager to require that the awardee of the Information Technology Assessment contract interview all members of the Town Council as well as invite members of each existing board and commission to be interviewed. (Passed 3-0). ACTION ITEM: The Committee recommends that the Town Council ask the Town Manager to have the Notify Me category of "Council" changed to "Town Council" and to create a category of "Town Manager" to allow him to communicate directly through Notify Me. (Passed 3-0). ACTION ITEM: The Committee recommends that the Town Council invite, through the Town Council President, a representative of Everbridge to give a presentation to the Town Council on the available emergency notification and community engagement tools. (Passed 3-0) ACTION ITEM: The Committee recommends that the Town Council ask the Town Council Clerk to create an agendas and minutes link for each Town Council Committee on the Town Council page of the web site so that Committee agendas and minutes are easily accessible. (Passed 3-0) Meeting adjourned at 7:12 PM Minutes respectfully submitted by Caroline Bays