OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Tacoma City Council Study Session: Communications Update – June 23, 2026

City Council Study Session — Tuesday, June 23, 2026
BodyTacoma, Washington
SessionCity Council Study Session
DateTuesday, June 23, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 43:12
Transcript — Verbatim
0:02

Good afternoon.

0:03

I'd like to call to order the city council study session of June 2023, excuse me, June 23rd, 2026.

0:09

What a day.

0:09

Clerk, please call the roll.

0:11

Deputy Mayor Bushnell.

0:13

Councilmember Diaz.

0:14

Councilmember Heinz.

0:16

Absent Councilmember Palmer, absent Councilmember Rumba, absent councilmember Sidalgate, absent Councilmember Scott.

0:22

Here.

0:23

Councilmember Walker.

0:25

Here.

0:25

Mayor Ibsen.

0:27

Here.

0:28

Our first agenda item today is an update from our communications update.

0:32

This is our quarterly update.

0:34

For that I'd like to call on Director of Media and Communications, Amy Clancy to be in the presentation.

0:38

Thank you, Mayor.

0:39

Thanks for being here.

0:40

Deputy Mayor, Council Members.

0:42

I'd like to introduce Golden Doles, who are our digital manager.

0:45

We're here to give you the quarterly update, which we do every three months or so, just to give you an idea of what we're working on and how we're doing, and we're happy to answer questions at the end.

0:56

Just want to remind you that everything that we are working on for the most part was part of our strategic plan, an 81-page audit that was done a few years ago.

1:07

And some of the things that were the main points for our focus were a website overhaul, which has been done, digital being the priority, which we're continuing to do, and branding consistency, which means we're going to try to get as close to universal usage of this logo as we possibly can, wherever and whenever possible.

1:29

One of the new things since we were here in March is this video is now live.

1:34

And if you haven't seen it, I would like to encourage you to go check it out.

1:37

You can find it either on our main page or on our YouTube channel.

1:43

But it is, it was also posted on our social media, and this was a ride-along that our team did with the HEAL team, just to give you an idea of uh what type of work the HEAL team does.

1:54

What else is new?

1:55

Um, good news, we will be able to hire a replacement for our communications and marketing analyst for social and digital communications.

2:06

We do have a hiring freeze, which we totally understand, but social media and digital communications are very important to how we get the information about what the people of the city of Tacoma are doing for the people of Tacoma.

2:20

And the review board uh approved our request for an exemption.

2:27

So we will be um replacing that um that worker.

2:31

Um we posted the job last week.

2:33

We already have at least 18 qualified applicants, and getting tons of interest all the time.

2:40

And I believe it's going to be open until the Monday after July 4th.

2:43

So anybody who's listening who is interested in this position, please check it out.

2:47

Um, it's um really crucial, it's an important part of what we do, and we're gonna miss the person who did it, Tara was great, and she's got a different job, but um we know that there are lots of great people out there, and we're looking forward to filling it.

3:00

Uh, we are also continuing to work on our podcast.

3:04

So, what does this mean?

3:05

Um, our studio is under construction, equipment has been ordered.

3:10

This is what it looks like now, and I encourage you to come up and take a look at it anytime on 15 if you'd like.

3:14

Um, dedicated internet connection for live streaming and content uploads is progressing through the ITD approval process.

3:22

We want to make sure that everything we do is safe, um, doesn't uh compromise the city's um website and and internet at all.

3:32

So we're going through that process.

3:34

The structured wiring installation for lighting control, LED systems, cameras, etc.

3:39

All of that will begin shortly, and right now Brian Cox is up puttering around in the studio.

3:46

Most of the team is here, but Brian is up working on that right now.

3:49

Um just to give you some idea.

3:51

Um, as of June 7th of this year, our CT COT podcast network, we've had 483 total downloads with 396 total listeners.

4:01

Our top performing episode is the talking to coma episode, which included the roadmap to recovery discussion with city manager Hyun Kim.

4:10

And as of June 7th, there were 232 downloads.

4:14

Total number of published podcasts is 18.

4:17

And it's kind of interesting to see where people are finding us.

4:21

The platforms from which the podcast is being downloaded.

4:24

Um, the most common is the COT Podcast Network page with 172 downloads, followed by Apple Podcasts with 19%, and the Podbean app by 14%.

4:37

It's also kind of interesting to look to see where people are from who are listening to us.

4:42

As you can expect, uh, United States is the majority with 97% of all listeners from there, but we also have listeners in Singapore, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Canada, and Chile.

4:54

We will obviously get more analytics as we move forward with the podcast.

4:58

Something else we're going to be doing soon is uploading some of the city line segments to our podcast because a lot of that is really important information.

5:06

If you don't have cable TV, you want to, you want to hear it.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Public Engagement█████████████████████████████████████████████65%
Community Engagement█████████13%
Technology and Innovation████████12%
Personnel Matters█████7%
Procedural██3%
Summary of Proceedings

Tacoma City Council Study Session: Communications Update – June 23, 2026

The Tacoma City Council held a study session on June 23, 2026, at 8:15 PM UTC. The primary agenda item was a quarterly update from the Media and Communications Office (MCO), presented by Director Amy Clancy and Digital Manager Golden Doles. The council also received a committee report from the Operational Strategy and Administrative Committee (OSAC) and reviewed the upcoming regular meeting agenda. No public comments were heard, and no consent calendar items were considered.

Discussion Items

  • Communications Quarterly Update (Q2 2026): Amy Clancy and Golden Doles presented metrics and initiatives from March 16 to June 7, 2026. Key highlights included:
    • Website (Tacoma.gov): 852,000 total page views, 459,000 unique users, 4.4 million events, and 400 web page updates.
    • Social Media:
      • Facebook: 1.3 million content views, 32,000+ followers (up 726), 16,000+ engagements, 6,000+ link clicks from 200 posts. Top posts were council proclamations (Transgender Day of Visibility, Red Dress Day, Cambodian Genocide Remembrance).
      • Instagram: 471,000 content views (48% increase over Q1), 18,000+ followers (up 1,000+), 20,000+ engagements (63% increase), 960 link clicks from 134 posts. Top post: immigration enforcement signs (1,700+ likes).
      • YouTube: 6,000+ subscribers (up 363), 37,000 views, 136 videos uploaded. Top video: City Line Historic Homes of Tacoma Tour (1,000+ views).
      • X (Twitter): 56,000 followers (down 152), 60 posts; engagement continues to decline nationally.
      • Nextdoor: 76,000 members (up 900), 4 posts with 2,000+ impressions.
    • Podcast (COT Podcast Network): 483 total downloads, 396 listeners as of June 7. Top episode: "Talking to Coma" with City Manager Hyun Kim (232 downloads). Listeners from 7 countries.
    • Email Marketing (Granicus): 148 e-blasts sent to 814,000 recipients (up 261,000 from Q1), 344,000 subscriptions (up 22,000), 153,000 subscribers (up 19,000).
    • TV Tacoma & City Line: Covered events like City of Destiny Awards, World Cup 2026 parade, Daffodil Festival, Juneteenth. Nonprofits represented in 20 segments, city departments in 6.
    • PIO (Maria Lee): 184 media inquiries in Q2 (344 in 2026). Top topics: immigration enforcement (21), Mayor Anders Ibsen (13), garbage can program expansion (10), homelessness (9), Home in Tacoma year one (7).
    • New Initiatives: Hiring exemption approved for a communications and marketing analyst (social/digital); job posted with 18+ qualified applicants. Podcast studio under construction. Upcoming videos: PIT training and EVOC training with Tacoma Police Department.
  • Councilmember Questions & Comments:
    • Deputy Mayor Bushnell asked about AI optimization for FAQs and search. Staff noted ITD is exploring AI and that meta descriptions are being improved.
    • Councilmember Diaz suggested repurposing City Line segments into Instagram Reels to increase reach. Staff agreed it was a good idea but noted bandwidth constraints.
    • Councilmember Scott inquired about qualitative analysis of social media comments (sentiment). Staff said they monitor comments manually and have done some social listening reports, but lack a dedicated tool.
    • Councilmember Walker linked MCO’s work to budget priorities and trust-building, noting upcoming community survey results.
  • Committee Report (OSAC): Deputy Mayor Bushnell reported that OSAC met on May 8 and June 12. Topics included the City Council action memorandum findings report (committee expressed general support) and proposed updates to council rules of procedure (directed staff to prepare amended rules for full council). The committee also discussed council staffing needs per 2024 charter amendments and requested a study session to gather full council feedback. Councilmember Walker noted she will bring forward a staffing model proposal for full council consideration.
  • Agenda Review: Deputy City Manager Allison confirmed one ceremonial item (proclamation for Tomorrow Day on June 27, 2026) and one opportunity for public comment during the regular meeting. No modifications to the agenda.

Key Outcomes

  • No formal votes were taken during the study session.
  • The council acknowledged the MCO’s quarterly report and expressed appreciation for the team’s work.
  • The OSAC committee’s recommendation to bring council staffing discussions to a full study session was accepted; the item is scheduled for the next study session on June 30, 2026.
  • Councilmember Walker will present a staffing model proposal to the full council at a future date.
  • The meeting adjourned at approximately 9:15 PM UTC.

Meeting Transcript

Good afternoon. I'd like to call to order the city council study session of June 2023, excuse me, June 23rd, 2026. What a day. Clerk, please call the roll. Deputy Mayor Bushnell. Councilmember Diaz. Councilmember Heinz. Absent Councilmember Palmer, absent Councilmember Rumba, absent councilmember Sidalgate, absent Councilmember Scott. Here. Councilmember Walker. Here. Mayor Ibsen. Here. Our first agenda item today is an update from our communications update. This is our quarterly update. For that I'd like to call on Director of Media and Communications, Amy Clancy to be in the presentation. Thank you, Mayor. Thanks for being here. Deputy Mayor, Council Members. I'd like to introduce Golden Doles, who are our digital manager. We're here to give you the quarterly update, which we do every three months or so, just to give you an idea of what we're working on and how we're doing, and we're happy to answer questions at the end. Just want to remind you that everything that we are working on for the most part was part of our strategic plan, an 81-page audit that was done a few years ago. And some of the things that were the main points for our focus were a website overhaul, which has been done, digital being the priority, which we're continuing to do, and branding consistency, which means we're going to try to get as close to universal usage of this logo as we possibly can, wherever and whenever possible. One of the new things since we were here in March is this video is now live. And if you haven't seen it, I would like to encourage you to go check it out. You can find it either on our main page or on our YouTube channel. But it is, it was also posted on our social media, and this was a ride-along that our team did with the HEAL team, just to give you an idea of uh what type of work the HEAL team does. What else is new? Um, good news, we will be able to hire a replacement for our communications and marketing analyst for social and digital communications. We do have a hiring freeze, which we totally understand, but social media and digital communications are very important to how we get the information about what the people of the city of Tacoma are doing for the people of Tacoma. And the review board uh approved our request for an exemption. So we will be um replacing that um that worker. Um we posted the job last week. We already have at least 18 qualified applicants, and getting tons of interest all the time. And I believe it's going to be open until the Monday after July 4th. So anybody who's listening who is interested in this position, please check it out. Um, it's um really crucial, it's an important part of what we do, and we're gonna miss the person who did it, Tara was great, and she's got a different job, but um we know that there are lots of great people out there, and we're looking forward to filling it. Uh, we are also continuing to work on our podcast. So, what does this mean? Um, our studio is under construction, equipment has been ordered. This is what it looks like now, and I encourage you to come up and take a look at it anytime on 15 if you'd like. Um, dedicated internet connection for live streaming and content uploads is progressing through the ITD approval process. We want to make sure that everything we do is safe, um, doesn't uh compromise the city's um website and and internet at all. So we're going through that process. The structured wiring installation for lighting control, LED systems, cameras, etc. All of that will begin shortly, and right now Brian Cox is up puttering around in the studio. Most of the team is here, but Brian is up working on that right now. Um just to give you some idea. Um, as of June 7th of this year, our CT COT podcast network, we've had 483 total downloads with 396 total listeners. Our top performing episode is the talking to coma episode, which included the roadmap to recovery discussion with city manager Hyun Kim.

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