Public Outreach Task Force Agenda and Packet 2014 07 28

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V. COMMUNICATION PROCESS & STRUCTURE The Communication Division reports to the City Manager. In order to improve the overall effectiveness of city communications, the Communication Division /Department Strategic Plan outlines strategies to integrate and coordinate city communications among multiple internal departments and external community organizations. City communications should foster a sense of community, trust in municipal government, and cultivate well - informed citizens. To that end, the Communications Team provides counsel and coordinates communications within city government and with strategic partners in the community. The internal communications program facilitates an organizational environment that encourages interdepartmental cooperation and collaboration. The external communication programs strive to build strong partnerships that enhance government transparency, foster cross - department collaboration and improve community engagement. The City of Boulder's structure is a centralized Communication team reporting to the Communication Director. Staff members are assigned to and embedded in city departments to partner with department leadership to develop and implement communication plans. A portion of the Communication staff time also is assigned to citywide projects, initiatives and to maintain Communication core services such as training, social media Team, Public Information Team, TV programming, and cross - department team support. Staff is assigned to individual city departments based on: o Community interest for information about department programs /services o Council /organizational priorities o Impact of and ability for a project /department to achieve community goals (PBB rankings) o Internal initiatives in support of community goals o Level of service needed to inform community o Funding resources The funding structure is a mix of dedicated/restricted funding sources and General Fund dollars for Communication staff salaries. General Fund dollars cover the salaries of the Communication Director, Communication Manager -Media Relations, Internal Communications, Part-time Library Communication Specialist and Boulder Channel 8 staff. Other Communication staff salaries are funded from designated or restricted funds of the assigned department (such as Parks, OSMP, PW /CP &S). In all cases, budgets to implement department communication plans and tactics are allocated from the assigned department/project and managed by Communication staff with support of budget analysts. In addition to these funding sources, Boulder Channel 8 also solicits sponsorships /underwriting for some Boulder TV programming. These funds are used to produce programming aligned with 10