TRANSPARENCY AND COMMUNICATION

19

If elected, my key priority is to improve communication with the community. Many community members often complain about the lack of communication and information shared from the city to the citizens. People feel disengaged and not part of the democratic process. I hope to change that by hiring a full-time Public Information Officer and encouraging more dialogue inside and outside of the council chambers. This can also be achieved by effectively using social media, an email system and opt-in text messaging system that keeps citizens informed about pertinent issues—including crime, construction and event updates. A strong communications plan includes offering Wi-Fi in public spaces. This may seem like a small issue to some, but accessibility to the internet has become an indispensable tool to communicate. Having Wi-Fi available in public buildings encourages more citizens to gather near city owned buildings and utilize the spaces paid for by their tax dollars. I think the council can take the leadership on ensuring that public buildings have Wi-Fi available for use during hours of operation and when public event spaces are rented out to the public.