“Do we really need to do that?”
By JOSH RESNEK
The mayor’s newest public relations ploy, Everett Matters, published by the mayor’s communications office and distributed with the city’s water bills when they are mailed every month, was questioned by Councilor Fred Capone at Monday night’s city council meeting.
“The city has ECTV, a webpage, Facebook and three newspapers, do we really need this new publication?” Capone asked.
“Maybe it should be a monthly or a quarterly. We need to keep the expense down,” said Capone.
Deanna Deveney, one of the city’s communications executives, said the publication was essential, that it had been conceived as a result for the demand for it.
“This newsletter is a direct result of residents asking us for this, especially elderly residents,” Deveney said.
“Not everyone has social media. Not everyone looks at a website. We need to get this information out.”
“It is not something we just came with one day,” she added.
She said the publication which carries the mayor’s imprint all over it, costs $4,000 a month to print.
It is mailed without charge in the city’s water bills.
“I’m getting feedback from people. They tell me they don’t want this in their water bills. They express concern to me about the cost of this publication,” he said.
“Again, we have three newspapers, a webpage, Facebook et cetera. Why are we spending money on this?”
Deveney said it was essential that the information provided by the mayor’s monthly political newsletter – which has his imprint and name spiced throughout – be distributed where it was necessary to inform the elderly population.
“We deliver the Glendale Square public housing building,” she said.
“How else to those living there get their information?
That building in Glendale Square has hundreds of copies delivered by the Leader Herald, Independent, and Advocate every week. Not a week is missed.