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Introduction City of San Leandro – Strategic Communications Plan | 3 T he City of San Leandro should be congratulated for undertaking this process of reviewing the City’s communications effectiveness and looking for recommendations which will help ensure improved understanding by the community of its services, programs and issues. The goals of this Plan are to: • Analyze existing communications programs and materials • Assess the perception of the City’s communications efforts among a variety of constituencies • Identify opportunities to implement effective communications processes and tools, and • Recommend specific action steps that will enhance the City’s future communications success while considering realistic limitations on staff and financial resources This report should be considered a blueprint for the City to refine its communications program into a formal part of its institutional structure and culture. This Plan is focused on implementation within the next three to five years. Communications today is much more complex than in previous decades. Most of us are overloaded with information and therefore are much less likely to read in-depth articles or materials about government agencies or services; many are apt to be informed by visual images and by communications vehicles which reach us with messages specifically tailored to our needs and concerns. The City’s challenge is to convey consistent messages which serve to explain the organization’s purpose and reason for its decisions and invite input, both on an overarching level as well as on specific project/issue levels. Our efforts were made infinitely easier by the cooperation and openness of all those we worked with on this project. Members of the City Council, staff, community members and business representatives were universally helpful, honest and willing to share their perceptions with our team. We are especially appreciative to the staff in the City Manager’s Office. Finally, it is important to note that the principles of communications and engagement – a two-way process of communicating and listening – have been viewed as major elements of business and are increasingly not only a function of government, but an integral part. As Thomas Jefferson wrote, “If we think society not enlightened enough to exercise their control over government with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it away from them, but to inform them.” Scott Summerfield Sheri Benninghoven, APR Principals, SAE Communications