Erin councillors not impressed with communications policy
Draft policy to return to council by end of May for further deliberation
ERIN – Town councillors were not impressed with a draft corporate communications policy recently presented by staff.
The policy was created in partnership with Mississauga-based Redbrick Communications.
“We’ve been waiting a long time for this; very excited we are actually talking about this,” said Erin councillor Cathy Aylard at the Feb. 26 meeting.
“It’s great, it just feels like a document that’s going to be put in a binder and shoved on a shelf. It’s 28 pages, 7,700 words.
“It just seems a little bit cumbersome for a communications policy that’s all about simplifying language.”
She added, “It needs a good clean up, it needs a really good hard edit.”
Councillor Bridget Ryan echoed Aylard’s concerns and requested the report be condensed and simplified.
“It’s too long, it needs to be edited, it needs to be directed by department, who goes where for what,” said Ryan.
The draft policy outlined strong and weak aspects of the town’s communications department and offered the following recommendations:
- stronger collaboration with departments;
- communications planning (i.e. calendars);
- consider team enhancements, improving skill sets;
- more templates for brand consistency;
- awareness of communications policy;
- public engagement framework and toolkit; and
- social media and video strategy.
Councillor John Brennan suggested approving the policy as a living document and having staff and council make changes as they arise.
“I would be happy to put this in place and ... keep working on it,” said Brennan.
“I would be happy to leave it in your hands [referring to the communications staff] ... with the understanding that it’s going to be something that will be amended from time to time.”
Councillor Jamie Cheyne said the document is lengthy, but, “It does spell out what everyone does and should do and how it’s supposed to be done and when and how many weeks ahead.”
Ryan emphasized the need for each department to be on the same page, as not all departments are “receiving the same information.”
“Many times I will read something on Facebook that someone has heard from one of our departments or our comms or from another councillor and I have no tracking of that,” said Ryan.
The motion to receive the draft policy for information was amended and council voted unanimously to have the policy come back by the end of May for further comment and consideration.
