TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Beth Beatty, City Manager
SUBJECT:
title
Authorization to Vote to Discontinue the Publication of the City Newsletter Through the Services of Liberty Creative Solutions
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BACKGROUND:
On December 5, 2023, the Mayor and City Council approved an Agreement with Liberty Creative Solutions for the design, print, and delivery of the city newsletter (Exhibit A). This award of contract consisted of eight quarterly newsletters in 2024-2025 with four pages of content in both English and Spanish for $201,528.00. Section 4.2 of the Agreement states:
Mayor and Council may vote to discontinue publication of these newsletters at any time. At which time this contract becomes null and void; the VENDOR will be informed of such action in writing and no additional fees will be paid to the VENDOR.
Since entering into this agreement, the city has hired a full-time communications director and assigned another individual to that department to handle social media and the website. Since then, the city has seen a marked increase in the amount of press coverage helping to create a more positive image of the city. Improving the city's image and reputation will lead to additional investment in Joliet by existing businesses, new businesses, and residential growth which will bring more revenue and sales taxes to the city.
Many communities are moving to an electronic newsletter to reach more demographics, to be more environmentally friendly by using less paper, and to save printing, postage, and delivery costs. It is the intent of the city to move toward an electronic version of a newsletter to perhaps be distributed through the process used for water billing. To address the concerns of those who may have limited computer access, which is estimated to be 4800 households, a printed version of a newsletter may be mailed providing a significant cost savings over the current agreement.
The Legislative Committee will review this matter.
RECOMMENDATION:
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