City government needs to make changes in how it communicates with the public and the news media to ensure greater transparency and build trust within the community, the Kansas City Auditor’s Office said in a new report that lays out a three-point plan.
Point one: Fill the communications director job that has been sitting empty for three years.
Point two: Come up with a communications strategy on how best to provide the public and news media with information, because there isn’t one now.
Third and final point: Start tracking requests for public records requested under the state’s Sunshine Law to see how long it takes city departments to provide the information. No one is doing that on a regular basis now, the report says. Last year the average was 14 days.
“Generally, I’d say that I agree with all three recommendations that the auditor made,” City Manager Mario Vasquez said Thursday after Interim City Auditor Marc Shaw summarized his findings at a City Council business session .
Vasquez said he hopes to have a communications director hired by the first of the year. The communications strategy is being developed, he said, and he’s taking a look at who in city government should be in charge of Sunshine Law requests. It might not be the communications department.
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