CITY OF BRENHAM SHARES FINDINGS FROM COMMUNICATION SURVEY
The City of Brenham has released data from a communication survey, asking local residents their feelings on how they receive information and how the city can better communicate with the public.
The survey breaks down how informed residents feel about happenings with the city, which methods they use – and which they prefer to use – to get their information about city topics, which topics they would like to be informed about, and what they would like the city to communicate more about. The survey was open to residents within city limits.
Per the survey, approximately 58.5 percent of respondents indicated a Level 3 on a scale of 1-5 for how informed they feel about city programs, services, projects and decisions. About 54.3 percent said they feel “a little informed” about current events in the community, with 20.9 percent saying “informed”, 14.5 percent saying “very informed”, and 10.3 percent saying “not at all informed.”
When asked what types of information or topics that citizens wish to be informed about, the largest response was 58.5 percent for “all of the above” when referencing the choices available, which were new policies and ordinances; community events; parks, recreation and aquatics; budget, fees, tax changes and other finance-related matters; city council meeting dates and times; and staff changes. Individually, the categories that received the most interest were new policies and ordinances at 41 percent and community events at 36.8 percent.
For the methods that citizens use to get their information, 63.7 percent listed KWHI Radio, followed by Facebook at 58.5 percent, the City of Brenham website and word of mouth tied at 32.9 percent, the Brenham Banner-Press at 20.9 percent, email notifications at 14.1 percent, Nextdoor at 12 percent, and then less than 5 percent for other social media services, flyers downtown, and other sources. As for how they prefer to get their information, Facebook was #1 at 52.6 percent, with KWHI and email notices at 49.6 percent, the city website at 38.9 percent, the Banner-Press at 17.9 percent, and less than 10 percent for Nextdoor, other socials, word of mouth, flyers, and other channels.
For immediate or emergency notifications outside of the Everbridge system, 50.4 percent of respondents listed email notifications as their top preference, with Facebook at 46.6 percent, KWHI at 38.9 percent, the city website at 32.1 percent, direct SMS or other emergency alerts at 24.8 percent, and then less than 10 percent for the Banner-Press, Nextdoor, other socials, word of mouth, and flyers.
When asked how easy it is to find information from the City of Brenham, the largest response field was “somewhat easy” at 42.7 percent, followed by “neutral” at 32.5 percent, “not easy” at 14.5 percent and “extremely easy” at 9.4 percent.
Looking at which topics citizens would like the city to communicate more about, city projects and improvements led the way at 53.4 percent. Next was city council decisions at 40.2 percent, then development and growth at 37.6 percent, utilities and service interruptions at 27.4 percent, financial items like taxes and fees at 26.5 percent, road closures and construction at 26.1 percent, community events at 23.1 percent, public safety at 17.5 percent, how city services work at 8.5 percent, volunteering and board opportunities at 8.1 percent, job opportunities at 4.7 percent, other topics at 4.3 percent, and photos and videos at 1.7 percent.
In a social media post reviewing the results of the survey, the city said it will use this feedback to strengthen how it communicates, with plans for city council recaps after each meeting, as well as spotlights and updates on various ongoing projects. Additionally, it pointed to the Commercial Development Tracking Dashboard to view the current status of projects. It also announced the launch of a new monthly message from Police Chief Gary Boshears and the re-launch of the Mayor’s Minute with Mayor Atwood Kenjura in January. Residents are able to sign up for email notifications at https://cityofbrenham.online/newsletter.
The link to the full survey can be found here.