Everett Mayor Gets Earful On Plan To Eliminate Mail In Favor Of Online Communication

At tonight’s Everett City Council meeting Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin heard opposition from both citizens and city council members following an email sent out to neighborhood leaders last week advising the elimination of direct mailing to neighborhoods in favor of emails and online communications.

In addition the email advised of the elimination of the annual Monte Cristo Award ceremony that honors residents and businesses throughout Everett’s neighborhoods for improving their homes and landscapes. The awards will continue but the ceremony has been cancelled. The Mayor cited savings in both dollars and staff time as her team works to trim a $13 million dollar budget gap.

Multiple citizens spoke on the negative impact that eliminating direct mail would have on keeping neighbors informed and one neighborhood representative told the Mayor that they had hundreds of addresses on their mailing list but only about 40 email addresses. There was also concern expressed that older people preferred to get their notices in the mail.

Everett City Council budget chair Scott Murphy directly called on the Mayor to reconsider her decision to cancel the awards ceremony. Murphy said the decision to eliminate the ceremony came as a complete surprise. Council member Brenda Stonecipher spoke of having a budget committee meeting two weeks ago and said there was no mention of these plans to them. Stonecipher also remarked that the awards ceremony had been championed by the late Marion Krell to connect people and neighborhoods all across Everett.

Mayor Franklin said her administration was willing to work with the council. “As one person said the cost is just a drop in the bucket but I need quite a few drops in the bucket to make up thirteen million,” said Franklin. The Mayor also mentioned that these are tough calls and while she is willing to work on a broader plan she needs the latitude to make spending decisions. Here is the email to the neighborhoods that has caused the uproar.

From: “Cassie Franklin” <CFranklin@everettwa.gov>
Cc: “Meghan Pembroke” <MPembroke@everettwa.gov>, “Jaimee Hudson” <JHudson@everettwa.gov>, “Wendy McClure” <WMcClure@everettwa.gov>
Sent: Wednesday, April 11, 2018 3:39:25 PM
Subject: Update on Neighborhood Programs

Dear neighborhood leaders,

I would like to thank each one of you for participating in your neighborhoods. The work you do enhances our community’s capacity to look after each other in emergencies, support our youth and engage with community members in new ways. This kind of involvement and commitment is absolutely essential to our City and I truly appreciate what you do.

As you may know, I issued directives in January and February of this year to help guide the City’s work in 2018 and beyond. They include a directive on community engagement and inclusion and another charging City staff in all departments to develop strategies for addressing the ongoing structural budget deficit. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to review the mayoral directives.

At the same time that we focus on improving engagement with all members of our community, we must ensure we are controlling costs and allocating our limited resources in the most effective way possible. The projected deficit for 2019 is more than $13 million, and the gap grows larger in the following years. We will have to make tough decisions about how we provide services and where we may be able to make changes.

We are looking at options across all departments for closing the growing budget gap, as well as evaluating existing programs and events for engagement effectiveness and how well they align with our priorities. This includes taking a look at all the ways the Office of Neighborhoods provides support to our neighborhood associations.

To better align our resources with our current priorities, I have directed staff to begin phasing out neighborhood mailings with the goal of ending the service in 2019. Currently, Everett spends about $37,000 a year on neighborhoods mailings, in addition to staff time, and is one of few cities in the area that send monthly mailings on behalf of neighborhoods. Through our research, we have found that paper-free neighborhood associations can be very successful in their outreach and communication efforts. We will work with you over the next year to provide trainings and support around more cost-effective communication methods such as social media, websites and email.

We have also looked into the cost and engagement effectiveness of the annual Monte Cristo Awards. Unfortunately, despite additional funds, resources and staff hours in recent years, this program does not lead to the kind of lasting engagement we want with our community members. I have directed the team to cancel the 2018 event and work with our neighborhood leaders to explore more cost-effective and engaging ways of providing the awards.

Our neighborhoods are essential to our city and each and every one of you plays an important role in our community. I know these changes may be difficult, and we are committed to working with all of you to implement them in a positive and intentional way. I have asked Julie Frauenholtz, who is leading the community engagement directive, to work with you and the Office of Neighborhoods team on these efforts.

Thank you again for your leadership and commitment to Everett. Please reach out to me or the Office of Neighborhoods team with any questions.

Warmly,

Cassie

Cassie Franklin

Mayor

City of Everett