San Ramon launches strategic communications roadmap; council, residents push for app, town halls and better website

San Ramon introduced a citywide communications program and a roadmap for a strategic communications plan during the Feb. 10 City Council meeting, with staff seeking council input on priorities such as a website revamp, mobile alerts and stronger public engagement.

Simone, the citys newly promoted communications manager, outlined the programs scope, saying the city historically used a decentralized model in which each department handled its own outreach. Simone described existing tools (a quarterly rec guide, an Encore newsletter for seniors, a city report mailed to households) and web "deep dive" pages for long-running topics such as Measure N funding. She said the plan will define purpose, audiences, priority topics, roles, channels, timeline and performance measures and that staff hopes to bring a draft back for council review tied to fiscal year 2027 budgeting.

The presentation prompted detailed questions from council members about audience segmentation, staffing and timing. "One of the first questions is who in the community wants information by email versus printed mail versus social media," Simone said, describing plans to gather community input and analytics. She confirmed the communications program currently has one dedicated staff member, with two other departments maintaining full-time communications roles, and that staff are evaluating whether to reassign duties or request additional personnel in the FY27 budget process.

Council members and residents pressed for concrete features and faster timelines. Vice Mayor Rubio and others urged a city mobile app with geolocation and photo-upload options for resident service requests, and for a prominent landing page that highlights how to participate in meetings and submit public comment. "If we can get an app going, that's important," Vice Mayor Rubio said, saying an app could streamline service requests and emergency alerts. Council members also recommended adding links to submit public comment next to agenda items online and exploring a chatbot or stamped video links so viewers can jump to specific agenda items in meeting recordings.

Several speakers raised the challenge of misinformation on neighborhood platforms. Simone said city agency accounts cannot view all resident posts on Nextdoor and described the platforms limitations; staff recommended maintaining authoritative "deep dive" web pages and being prepared to provide accurate information when residents request it. "A lot of our approach is if somebody reaches out to us asking for accurate information, we're very happy to provide that," Simone said.

Members of the public urged more in-person outreach and regular town halls. "Town hall meetings, quarterly at least, would be inviting for people to come down and talk," said resident Greg Carr. Several council members asked staff to plan town halls on emergency preparedness, and on housing and transportation, and to return with options for format and timing.

Staff also noted they are evaluating customer-request management (CRM) vendors; the citys prior citizen-app was unsupported and a new CRM is expected to include mobile functionality. On grants, staff cautioned that capital grants may pay for initial software but not ongoing personnel costs; the city is planning a grant manager position to seek funding opportunities.

The council endorsed moving the communications plan forward as a living document to inform the FY27 budget. Staff said they will synthesize tonights input, continue community outreach and return with draft goals and timelines in follow-up meetings.

The meeting concluded with staff announcements about a Recreation Showcase on Feb. 28, public review of a draft Trails Master Plan, and upcoming preparedness classes offered by the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District.

What happens next: staff will combine council feedback, community input and internal research to prepare a draft strategic communications plan and related budget requests for FY27; the council asked staff to return with format options for town halls and with CRM vendor recommendations.