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Health & Fitness

Communications Survey Results and Next Steps

In May of this year we asked members of the Mill Valley community to give us feedback on the City’s communications efforts. We were very pleased to receive over 1000 responses to our survey, and we thank you for your sincere and constructive comments and thoughtful suggestions.

Here is what we heard:

  • You really want to hear about what is going on in Mill Valley and want us to work harder to get the word out. You also want us to be more responsive to you when you contact us with questions, comments, and requests for service.
  • You are interested in many topics, but you especially want to hear news about traffic, road closures, land use, neighborhood development, upcoming events, crime and safety. 
  • You receive your news and information from a wide array of sources, but mostly through word of mouth, print and online news outlets such as the Marin IJ and Mill Valley Patch, signs and banners, and direct mailings.
  • You like to receive news through regular email newsletters, and prefer to use email to communicate with us.
  • You use social media, especially Facebook and Nextdoor, and would not mind getting more news and information there.
  • You support the idea of a regular printed newsletter, but want us to consider costs, environmental waste and relevance.

This is only a snapshot of the results and key findings.  We have summarized the survey results in a report that you can download and review.

We want to thank everyone for taking the survey. Your voice has been heard and we have a plan for action to improve our communications with you.

Next Steps
City staff will present the findings of the survey at the City Council meeting on Monday, July 21 at 7:00 pm. You can download the full Staff Report and all the attachments here. If you can’t attend the meeting, you can watch it live or archived here.  

In an effort to improve responsiveness we have begun work on an internal Communications Policy which includes a system for recording requests and ensuring timely follow-up. We are laying the groundwork for providing a regular City News email newsletter to deliver information and updates to the community in a timely and regular manner. We will be developing an outreach and engagement strategy for upcoming projects, such as the Miller Avenue Streetscape Project, and are pursuing additional methods of outreach including the development of a new City of Mill Valley website, a regularly printed newsletter, and exploring options for a City of Mill Valley app. We also plan to enhance our work with community partners and local news outlets to further expand outreach and communications.

Find out what's happening in Mill Valleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

We have recently developed a webpage that lists all the ways we currently communicate with the public and how you can get more involved in local issues. We are interested in your thoughts and suggestions and plan to conduct the survey annually. In the meantime, if you have any thoughts, questions or concerns, please contact us

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