RESOLUTION NO. 250338
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Sponsor: Councilmembers Melissa Patterson Hazley, Wes Rogers, Mayor Quinton Lucas, and Council member Ryana Parks-Shaw
RESOLUTION - Directing the City Auditor to perform a performance audit of the City Communications Office to assess its policies against local government best practices including whether to decentralize some or all of city communications functions to departments and evaluate the policies with the City’s values of transparency and accessibility, and to report back to the City Council within 90 days with findings and recommendations.
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WHEREAS, effective communication with the public is essential for fostering transparency, trust, and informed civic engagement in Kansas City’s government; and
WHEREAS, the City Council recognizes a distinction between “public relations” - which primarily focuses on managing the City’s image, reputation, and brand - and “communications” - which centers on delivering accurate, timely, and useful information to the public about City services, policies, and initiatives; and
WHEREAS, effective communication is especially critical in matters of public health, where timely, transparent, and flexible messaging can directly impact community safety and health outcomes; and
WHEREAS, a comprehensive review of the City’s existing communications procedures is necessary to ensure that both internal communications and external, public-facing communications are effective and well-coordinated; and
WHEREAS, the City of Kansas City is committed to ensuring that all communications reflect the City’s core values of transparency and accessibility, thereby guaranteeing that information is shared openly, reaches all segments of the community fairly, and is accessible to people with disabilities and those who speak languages other than English; NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF KANSAS CITY:
Section 1. That the City Auditor is directed to perform a performance audit of the Communications Office that includes a comprehensive assessment of its policies against local government best practices including whether to decentralize some or all of city communications functions to departments and to evaluate the policies with the City’s values of transparency and accessibility, and to report back to the City Council within 90 days with findings.
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