Municipality develops communications strategy

The Municipality of Jasper’s first ever formal communications strategy was tabled at the April 21 regular council meeting.

The policy will be put up for approval at the May 5 council meeting and is still “a work in progress right now,” said Coun. Ralph Melnyk. It will provide “a consistent message from our departments,” said Coun. Rico Damota, in terms of press releases, logo usage, brochures, letters, public displays, signage and advertising.

Developed by director of corporate and legislative services Verne Balding, the policy has been a long-time coming, according to council.

“All of our staff are ambassadors,” Zinck said, “and sometimes they’re not really sure what that really means, so being able to identify that, you know, we want to be able to help ourselves.”

In an interview in early February, Mayor Richard Ireland said he envisaged a policy that would avoid being “construed as ‘spin-doctoring’. The point is how do we communicate, rather than what it is we’re trying to say,” said Ireland.

According to Balding, “the intent is to provide some guidelines and parameters for our own personnel, so that we and they can have confidence that their dealings with the ‘fifth estate’ will be positive.”

Although council must approve the policy, once it’s approved municipal administrators will have the freedom to alter it without formal approval by council. Municipal manager George Krefting pointed out that it’s a first draft. “If we go along and find it’s too cumbersome, it’ll get changed,” he said. Coun. Zinck said it’s not council’s intention for the policy to be bureaucratic.

The policy states that “administrative procedures will provide municipal personnel with guidelines for interacting with news media, and coordinating media interaction with the Corporate and Legislative Services Director (Verne Balding), who has administrative responsibility for communications.”

“There is no intent to create layers of contact here,” said Balding, “and certainly from my perspective, there’s no intent to be the gatekeeper for all contact from the press... we’re going to behave largely the way we have in the past.”

For Coun. Melnyk, in addition to protecting municipal employees from making FOIP (freedom of information and protection of privacy act) violations, the policy will help get the correct message out to the public.

“It’s tough too, especially when things get heated and there’s events going on and people want information, it’s important that that information comes from the right person and the right information is getting out,” said Melnyk.

The communications policy comes after a remark by a municipal employee was published in the now defunct Jasper Booster newspaper in February. The quote drew attention because the employee expressed disinterest in renovations to the Activity Centre, a municipal initiative.