COMMUNICATIONS PLAN SENDS VILLAGE MESSAGE
By JOHN PERRY, Woodridge Village Administrator

How many times have you attended a gathering of municipal officials at which you hear the lament the media has not fully explained the reasons for a recent Board action or that our "residents don't know what is going on because basic municipal information is not conveyed by the media?" "If only the media would concentrate on reporting the important information instead of covering the bad news to sell newspapers." Perhaps, if success in sending our message is our aim, we should be guided by the dictum that "public relations is doing good and telling people about it." We need to take responsibility for telling people about the important "news" happening in our communities. Media organizations are limited in how much they can take the initiative in seeking "news" and must increasingly sort through the many releases, taxes, and calls, that are received on a daily basis.

Woodridge, like most Illinois municipalities, does not have the luxury of employing a full time public relations professional. We have established a communications plan to guide all operating departments in putting together releases, advertising, publications, newsletters, and events. The stated purpose of the Plan is "to promote a uniform, positive identity to residents, employees, businesses and other consumers of Village services."

Since municipal government must communicate with many audiences - residents, developers, businesses, employees - we have designed several publications that serve specific audiences for specific purposes. The Woodridge Weekly, which contains information on village meetings, bid notices, and program updates, is published in space purchased in the local newspaper, the FOCUS Newsletter serves a similar information purpose and is mailed to each residence on a quarterly basis. Key businesses, brokers, and developers are kept current about new residential and commercial projects through the quarterly OPPORTUNITY Newsletter. We produce as many as two dozen special interest informational brochures and flyers each year aimed at special audiences such as parents who need information on drugs and gangs. For activities and projects that are neighborhood focused, such as tree trimming or street repairs, we regularly distribute information door to door in the affected neighborhood.

We have many activities encompassed within our Communications Plan that are public relations focused. A key element of the Communications Plan is the identification of "trigger events," positive events that regularly occur within the village organization. Each department manager is responsible for drafting a press release, setting up photo opportunities or otherwise seeking media coverage of "trigger events." The Public Services Department, for example, is responsible for reporting the following "trigger events" during one month's time:

• Initiation of construction/maintenance projects
• Completion of construction projects
• Indicators of improved system performance (sewer main breaks, etc.)
• Grants received
• Water main flushing

Special events and "trigger events" are also used to

September 1995 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 21

compile a calendar of month-to-month activities for each department for the whole year.

The intent of the Communications Plan is to create awareness as to how each unit of the village operation may contribute to a positive image of the village. The Plan requires extensive involvement by employees in every village department. Each department is encouraged to develop a public relations capacity, either through the department manager or a subordinate who is delegated this duty. The Department of Administration provides considerable support for each department's efforts. Administration provides periodic training in press release writing and form, cable television communications, and public speaking. The administrative assistant in the Department of Administration is designated as the clearinghouse for all communications activities and will assist in the drafting of any departmental press release. She also is responsible for preparing and updating the media contact list that serves as our distribution list for media information. The media list includes contact names, addresses, telephone and fax number for all regional newspapers, radio and television stations.

Tracking the success of the Communications Plan is an important part of our effort. Whatever theories or professional guidance that we rely upon, we need to make sure that it succeeds in getting information to our residents and marketing the community. We do maintain clipping files and video logs of the media coverage that the village receives.

To obtain both objective feedback and in-depth understanding of the perceptions of the village, we have conducted focus groups in the past two years with residents, local public relations professionals, and the media. On a grading scale of A to F, resident focus group participants overwhelming rated village communication efforts at an"A-". In addition, all three groups offered communications suggestions that the village staff embraced, such as: utilizing local church bulletins to advertise municipal activities; installing village information centers at local business establishments; and notifying the media organizations that best serve village press pieces, (i.e. local-print, county-print and radio, and regional-print, radio and television).

Also our annual Community Needs Survey has provided us with data about how our residents evaluate our communications efforts. In a recent survey 75.1 percent of our residents responded that they were well informed about events in Woodridge. We also asked residents if the quality of life had improved. In 1994, the percent of village residents responding favorable was 64.5 percent. This figure jumped to 74.1 percent by 1995. We are encouraged that our residents seem knowledgeable about what is happening in the village - and pleased with what they know.

Page 22 / Illinois Municipal Review / September 1995