City takes stock of new community relations department

The city’s restructured communication department reflects on its first four months. 

The city decided to make some changes with their handling of public communication for the new year. The department, formerly called the Public Communications Department, changed its name to the Community Relations Department and searched for an effective and efficient way to improve internal and external city communications.

The new department name came with a new position, and a new person for the position. Steve Sapp assumed the role of community relations director, and he oversees the new department. Sapp was previously the public information officer for the Public Works Department.

Before the changes, Sapp said the city’s communications weren’t always cohesive and clear. Out of the 17 departments which make up the city government, about 10 of them had public communications specialists or marketing specialists. Multiple departments would issue press releases about the same subject matter with different information.

These communication specialists at the various departments now work together as a team. The PCS and MS still work in their respective departments, but now one release is issued with all important information. Sapp said this allows for residents and employees to receive clearer information concerning issues and operations within the city.

In addition to the bringing departments together, the new department also pulls together the contact center and media teams. “We’re pulling our contact center and media teams in order to seamlessly integrate print, multimedia and social media into our communications packages, as all of these teams report to managers and a community relations director,” Sapp said.

Sapp added that the department experienced initial success in its first few months and is making progress in bringing the teams together. The department still needs to work on organization, he said, but they are very close to meeting their goal.

Sara Humm, public communications specialist, works with Sapp in the new department. She is involved in many aspects of the city’s communications: working with smaller departments and helping them with press releases and material; editing almost every press release the department sends out, checking for grammar and style; editing the website and building new webpages; running the city’s social media accounts; managing SpeakUpCoMo, a website that gathers input and ideas from citizens; and a host of other activities.

“I think there will be plenty of discussions in the future about diversifying how we communicate.” — Sara Humm, public communications specialist

Humm is also in charge of a monthly meeting between all communicators who work for the city. In the meeting, they’re able to talk about upcoming articles in the city’s newsletter and common experiences used to build expertise. Humm thinks the meetings are important because everyone is spread throughout different departments and buildings.

“I think the meeting has been beneficial for us, as a group of city communicators, so we can all be on the same page,” Humm said. “We can also discuss methods and tactics that have worked really well.”

Humm said having Sapp as the community relations director has been great. She said he’s very open to discussion and new ideas on how to reach citizens and effectively distribute the city’s message.

“We have great people as our city communicators who seem to be open to new ways of communicating,” Humm said. “I think there will be plenty of discussions in the future about diversifying how we communicate. Internally, I think our city communicators will be more connected, which will certainly benefit citizens.”

Humm also hopes to use social media to offer a more in-depth look at city employees who citizens don’t see working around town. She wants social media to show citizens how the city spends their money to benefit the community, but also to indicate that they’re proud of the work and want to show it off.

The city’s 2016 to 2019 Strategic Communications Plan focuses on three neighborhoods: central (in Ward 1), north (in Ward 2), and east (in Ward 3). The city plans to focus efforts in these three neighborhoods during the three years of the plan.

The city has already started some programs in these neighborhoods. The Columbia Police Department has used its community unit to reinforce the importance of officers connecting with community members; Community Development created a new housing assistance program for first-time home buyers in the three neighborhoods, which gives eligible people or families the opportunity to receive 10 percent of the home’s sale price.

The plan also outlines four strategic plan partners helping to implement different parts of the plan. Glenn Cobbins Sr. and Judy Hubbard are meeting with residents in the three neighborhoods to determine the needs of area citizens and to gather information on how the plan’s priorities could be implemented. Carl Kenney will create plans for the three neighborhoods by collaborating with community partners and citizens. James Whitt will work with community partners and businesses to develop a program to help disadvantaged businesses.

“The city’s vision is to make Columbia the best place for everyone to live, work, learn and play,” Humm said. “This plan will strive for that vision through our priorities of economy, social equity, public safety, infrastructure, and operational excellence.”

Humm and Sapp are also working to effectively communicate progress about long-term projects. Humm said they want communication to be more than just a press release when the project starts and another press release when the project is finished.

Overall, Humm and Sapp are both excited about the department’s efforts and are happy with the direction in which things are going.

“It’s an exciting and fun time to be in a communications role at the city,” Humm said. “We want to be effective and transparent, but also have fun with the way we communicate.”