2018-08-07 Committee on Citizen Engagement Minutes
COMMITTEE ON CITIZEN
ENGAGEMENT MINUTES
August 7, 2018
After determining that a quorum was present, the Committee on Citizen Engagement convened
in a meeting on August 7, 2018 at 10:39 a.m. in the City Hall Conference Room at City Hall,
215 E. McKinney Street, Denton, Texas.
PRESENT: Council Member Deb Armintor, Council Member Gerard Hudspeth,
and Council Member Keely Briggs.
STAFF PRESENT: Bryan Langley, Sarah Kuechler, Melissa Kraft, Jessica Rogers,
Sarah Fullwood, Justin Harmon, Kevin McGinnis, Stuart Birdseye, Charlie
Rosendahl, Billy Matthews, Karisa Richards
A. Consider nominations and elect the Chair of the Committee on Citizen
Engagement.
Briggs asked if Council Member Hudspeth would like to remain chair, he stated that he would
like to allow others an opportunity. Armintor nominated Briggs and Council Member
Hudspeth seconded to approve the nomination. The motion carried unanimously.
B. Consider approval of the minutes of June 5, 2018.
Council Member Hudspeth motioned, and Council Member Briggs seconded to approve the
minutes. The motion carried unanimously.
C. Receive a report, hold a discussion, and give staff direction regarding recording
and televising public meetings on DTV and online.
Matthews made a presentation regarding inquiries if additional public meetings can be
recorded and televised.
In 1993, DTV began televising City Council meetings and a couple of years later the
Planning and Zoning Commission meetings. In 2009, DTV started live streaming
meetings online and making televised meetings available on-demand. In 2017, four more
meetings were added. The Public Utilities Board, the Mobility Committee, the Economic
Development Partnership Board, and the Traffic Safety Commission. All of which are
streamed live and online, then archived for on-demand playback.
The objective today is to discuss televising more.
Matthews wanted to point out that by adding those four meetings, there was a 64%
increase in televised public meetings year over year (67 to 110) and a 47% increase in
produced hours of public meetings (207 to 305). City Council meetings alone are 37%
longer year over year (146.4 hours to 200.6 hours). Over the last 10 months staff have
spent almost 800 hours producing 6 categories of public meetings. In addition to public
meetings, DTV produces DTV News Break, Preservation Denton, Denton Developments,
Public Service announcements, Promos, Image spots for the City with an average of 12-
13 videos a month unrelated to the public meetings.
In addition, the increased length of meetings has led to situations where DTV has to cut
into a replay of one meeting to begin airing another meeting.
With a staff of 3.5 FTEs, DTV has continued to meet the demand of producing more
meetings, but with the request to add additional meetings into the production schedule,
staff could be limited in their ability to produce other video programming. Given the
importance of providing video of public meetings, while still balancing video production,
staff would like to discuss options for meeting these goals.
Matthews gave 4 options for staff to consider: 1)
meetings and we are ok, 2) hire more employees depending on how many meetings we
add, 3) hire a contract labor, or 4) outsource the production of some of the meetings
entirely.
There are currently 22 public meetings that are not recorded.
Briggs asked if there were any interns that help. Matthews stated that yes they use interns
for video production but they do not help with recording the meetings. Briggs stated that
she would still like to keep the interns.
depend on the number of meetings added.
Armintor stated that her ideal scenario before cost would be to have every meeting
televised. She said that having a video archive for records is important for people to go
back and view. She stated that maybe checking into partnering with the Denton Record
Chronicle or the local universities to have them sit in the meetings and help. She is open
to hiring more full time staff depending on the costs. She would be open to any options
that help televise more meetings.
Hudspeth stated that he is happy with the coverage now and would be open to adding
more full time employees depending on what meetings are added.
Briggs asked if it would be possible to do a public survey to ask citizens what they would
watch and maybe add meetings as a progression based on what citizens want.
Matthews stated is absolutely an option.
Hudspeth and Armintor both stated they would like to see closed captions.
Kuechler stated that staff will look into closed caption options, cost estimates for adding
more meetings, and possibly adding the recording of the last meetings of the Community
Development Advisory Committee (CDAC) and Human Services Advisory Committee
(HSCA) where grant recommendations are discussed by the committees.
D. Receive a report, hold a discussion, and give staff direction regarding the Citizen
Relationship Management (CRM) software.
Rosendahl gave an update on CRM software.
Staff provided preliminary information on CRM software on February 6, 2018 and
provided a demonstration of the beta Engage Denton application on June 5, 2018 to the
on June 18, 2018 and, as of this morning, staff has received a total of 570 requests and
345 have been completed. There has been a total of 445 mobile application downloads in
that same time period.
Staff has been working closely with the department users to ensure that they are
following up with citizens in a timely manner and responding appropriately. There are a
number of enhancements that are being completed to provide a better customer
to provide important information before a citizen submits a request type (e.g. if a Utilities
emergency, call designated number) and 2) adding more request types with departments
that are currently using the system. Some of the features that we are working on for
internal management are automatic routing of requests based on map boundaries, creating
escalation workflows, and adding template responses for consistent communication with
citizens. One challenge that we encountered since launching the application was
determining the appropriate time to close a request in the CRM system for some request
types that become work orders or cases in separate systems as they may take time to
resolve. For those requests, staff in all departments have been instructed to close out in
the CRM system, provide an update and explanation to the requestor, and contact
information for the individual in charge of that work order or case.
Briggs stated that she would like it stated that if there is an emergency to call 911. Rosendahl
stated that it is sent via the first response back.
ch all items and
determining what items are asked for to improve the drop initial down menu.
Armintor asked if there was a way to check the status of the request. Rosendahl stated that if
you create an account you can go back in any time and check and if the status changes, a push
notification is sent out via phone or email.
Rosendahl stated that staff is planning to continue working with the departments that are
currently on the system, identify the additional request types that would be expanded in the next
phase of the project, and begin training the staff that would administer those additional request
types over the next two months. Expanded marketing efforts will be in the October/November
Resident Update, a promotion and demonstration video on the DTV YouTube channel, adding
to the website homepage, and a larger presence
Briggs stated that citizens have stated there has been more CIS presence in neighborhoods and
wondered if this was due to the requests through the app and if that could be tracked.
Kuechler stated that we could take a look at that data and report back.
E. Receive a report, hold a discussion, and give staff direction regarding City website
updates.
Rogers gave an update on the City of Denton website.
In December 2016, the City of Denton launched a new website to better provide information
about programs, services, and operations online. With more than 1.5 million hits per year, the
website remains one of the most important and widely-used ways in which we communicate
with citizens.
Following the launch of the new website, staff began to hear about users having difficulty
navigating the site and finding information. While this is somewhat to be expected due to a
complete overhaul of the navigation system, concerns and questions about the navigation have
persisted. To address these concerns, staff have been reviewing and updating webpages and
elements of the navigation as customers report issues. This includes changing the titles of pages
to more user-fr
the homepage, and improving the search function.
Imaginuity, launched two widgets at the request of City staff: a survey widget and a heat map
widget. The survey widget allowed users to provide specific information to Imaginuity and City
staff if they were not able to find what they were looking for. Staff could then examine the issues,
see if it was a persistent problem, then devise a plan to address it. The heat map widget provided
information specifically about the homepage and what elements of the homepage navigation
were being used the most. These tools provided useful analytics on user behavior and helped
staff identify areas for improvement.
The heat map tool was particularly useful as staff looked to improve the layout of the homepage.
Based on the results of the heat map, staff determined that there were elements and features on
the homepage that users simply did not click on. While the root causes of such user behavior
could be a number of things, staff recognized that the layout of the homepage could be improved
to focus users to attention on the high traffic areas. Following discussions between City staff and
Imaginuity, staff developed ideas for improving the homepage navigation to meet users where
they are, which include updating the layout of the homepage to make it more user-friendly.
In addition to the homepage updates, staff are also working with a number of key departments
which have the biggest online presence to review and update their sites. This includes: Police,
Parks and Recreation, Customer Service, DME, and Solid Waste and Recycling. Staff have
already implemented a number of the recommended changes based on the results of the poll and
heat map analysis, and continue to work with various departments to improve the usefulness of
information provided.
Additional changes, such as the home page redesign, requires the
developers and creative design team. To perform these functions, the City has a contract with
Imaginuity with a block of hours for development. Staff has received a proposal from Imaginuity,
within the contracted block of available hours, to make the changes to the homepage redesign.
The work is proposed to be completed by early September 2018.
Armintor asked if staff were taking in account the mobile view also and Rogers replied yes.
Briggs recommended shrinking down the initial view and keeping the important links toward the
top and consistency throughout our pages.
Rogers stated we are working towards having that consistency on every page so that you have
the same look and feel.
Briggs asked about having a staff directory with all employees. Rogers stated that would be
difficult to keep up to date with changes like new employees, retirement, etc., but that department
heads would be listed and searchable in the future.
Briggs asked if there was a tab that said meeting in progress that people could click on to view
the meetings instead of having to go to the government / open government pages. Armintor
mentioned having a widget or scrolling banner at the top. Rogers stated that there is an option
to add an extra layer at the top for things like emergency items, road closures, etc., live and
happening now.
Kuechler stated that by the end of August we should have the main page adjustments made.
F. Receive a report, hold a discussion, and give staff direction regarding citizen
engagement, communication, and transparency initiatives.
Kuechler gave an update on the following:
Citizens Academy Twenty-five residents participated in the second annual Denton Citizens
Academy this summer. The program consisted of 5 interactive sessions from May to July with a
combination of presentations, tours, and facilitated activities. The program ended with a
proclamation at the City Council meeting on July 17. Staff received positive feedback in the
survey results with participants stating they enjoyed the enthusiasm of the employees, the length
and number of sessions, and opportunity to learn more about their City. Constructive criticism
included the possibility of having the sessions in fall and adding information outside of the City
organization including general Denton history and the collaborations with UNT, TWU, DCTA,
Chamber of Commerce, and so forth. The newsletter was a useful promotional tool this year with
multiple participants stating that is where they learned about the program and all twenty-five
available spots were filled with an additional nine people included on a waitlist. Staff will
continue to look for ways to improve the program in the coming year.
Armintor asked if there was a cost for the Citizens Academy, Kuchler stated that it is a free
program.
Citizen Survey Update Based on the direction that was received at the prior COCE meeting,
a purchase order to National Research Center (NRC) has been issued for the completion of a
citizen survey this year. Staff is working with NRC on the development and deployment of the
survey and the results of the survey are expected in November.
CIP Project Map Update Staff from Public Affairs, Tech Services, Capital Projects, and
would show information on capital projects and be integrated with existing software. Staff has
reviewed initial versions, requested modifications for certain fields, and is working on automatic
integration and process development. Staff will provide an update in the next few weeks as
development progresses.
Set Future Meeting Dates and Topics.
Topics:
Briggs asked about promoting the Teen Council and items like Recycling.
Kuechler stated that we would definitely promote the Teen Council and asked Stuart Birdseye
to give a quick update on recycling.
Birdseye said that they are working on a campaign to help promote more recycling and what can
reconfigure the
Solid Waste & Recycling webpage.
Armintor stated that there is data being collected about what areas have the most contaminated
recycling and asked if those areas could be targeted with the campaign. Birdseye said yes.
Hudspeth asked that going forward that the City target more events with promotion tables of
things going on in the City and information.
With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 11:53 a.m.
The next committee meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 9, 2018 at 10:30 am.
KEELY G. BRIGGS KARISA RICHARDS
COMMITTEE CHAIR RECORDING SECRETARY
CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS