Centralized Communications in Local Government

Last Thursday, local government communication professionals from across the region met at Sterling Heights’ state-of-the-art Community Center for the Southeast Michigan Communicators Network.

The goals of the Communicators Network are to:

• Share experiences and best practices
• Build peer relationships among government communicators and community relations officials
• Discuss opportunities to collaborate on regional initiatives

Trevor Layton, SEMCOG Communications Manager, kicked off the meeting and gave a brief overview of the purpose of the Communicators Network. The meeting’s first panel, Leading Centralized Communications in Local Government, was moderated by Melanie Davis, APR, Community Relations Director, City of Sterling Heights, and had four participants:

• Courtney Flynn, MPA, Director of Communications, City of Troy
• Marissa Russo, Marketing and Communications Manager, City of Sterling Heights
• Chelsea Schneider, Communication Services Manager, Shelby Township
• Vickie Sullen-Winn, Director of Communications and Community Engagement, City of Farmington Hills

Leading Centralized Communications panel

The panelists emphasized the need for coordinating communication efforts throughout a municipality and the benefits of having one centralized group that often consists of marketing, communications, and video departments.

“Effective communication is to have consistent messaging,” said Russo when discussing the merits of centralizing marketing and communications departments. Coordination is essential to maintaining consistency, and it is certainly much easier when the same team is part of producing all deliverables.

“For us in Shelby Township, it’s really about building a narrative and building the brand and making sure that our residents know when information is being disseminated to them, that it’s factual, it’s true, it’s accurate,” said Schneider. She then discussed the value of engaging with local Facebook community groups to minimize misinformation and reach residents in a space where they are regularly looking for local information. “Never underestimate your residents and your community members,” said Schneider as she discussed the importance of having multiple ways to disseminate information.

Russo explained that in Sterling Heights they ensure that board members and commissioners have the correct information and are empowered to post on social media directly as leaders in the community. She also discussed an ambassador program the city is working on, where community members can apply to help spread information about events in the city on their personal social media accounts, in order to reach a wider audience.

All the panelists also stressed the importance of listening to residents’ needs and communicating those needs while also being a voice for the municipality. They noted that centralizing saves time and reduces redundancies, and it helps build a cohesive narrative and unified voice which in turn creates trust with residents.

Vickie Sullen-Winn, Director of Communications and Community Engagement, City of Farmington Hills (speaking) and Courtney Flynn, MPA, Director of Communications, City of Troy

Sullen-Winn discussed video staff as a crucial component of telling the stories within the municipality and how centralization helps the video team to stay on message with marketing and communications. She talked about her agency experience and explained how it has greatly helped her in her work as a government communications professional. She also discussed the importance of fostering trust with elected officials and how it strengthens the voice of the organization. Additionally, she noted that communications staff are experts in their field and should be trusted with all external communication, despite the occasional pushback from departments who may want to do their own marketing.

Flynn told attendees that Troy is currently in the process of centralizing their communications. She described the importance of having regular check-ins with department heads and the value of having a Slack thread dedicated to questions about the centralization process. Ultimately, she was very positive about the future of centralization and believes it will lead to a more effective workflow for all.

The second panel discussion was Maximizing Video Content across Traditional and New Media. The participants were:

• Carrie LeZotte, Cable and Community Relations Director, Bloomfield Township
• Curtis Burris-White, Creative Services Manager, Great Lakes Water Authority
• Myself, Jon Clark, Multimedia Specialist II, SEMCOG

Carrie LeZotte, Cable and Community Relations Director, Bloomfield Township (speaking)

LeZotte talked about the importance of local cable stations in communities and their role in telling important stories that impact residents. She also underscored the need for Franchise and PEG (Public, Education and Government) fees, which are part of cable bills and help fund local video services. These fees exist because cable companies are using the Public Rights of Way. LeZotte is advocating for legislation that would expand PEG fees to video streamers, as many consumers cut the cord and move from cable to streaming. Streamers pay zero PEG fees, which puts the future of local cable funding in serious question.

Burris-White talked about the need for including video professionals early in the planning phases of marketing and communications plans. He noted that often, video experts are more than just technicians, and they can help craft messages and creatively brainstorm. Burris-White and Clark also talked about the importance of taking “creative risks” when making videos about content that could otherwise be interpreted as “standard” or “boring.” One example was a recent satirical video that SEMCOG produced about traffic safety.

The final presentation of the meeting was Southeast Michigan’s Legislative 2025-2026 Policy Platform, by Michael Spence, Government Affairs Manager, SEMCOG.

Michael Spence, Government Affairs Manager, SEMCOG

Every two years, SEMCOG convenes a Legislative Policy Platform Task Force to develop a Policy Platform for the upcoming legislative session. Most recently, the task force convened in 2024 to develop a Policy Platform for the 2025-2026 State and Federal legislative session. Attendees heard from Spence about SEMCOG’s priorities, such as infrastructure funding, local government finance, workforce initiatives, education, and more.

Spence also discussed an ongoing effort known as “Ax MI Tax” which aims to eliminate all real and personal property taxes in Michigan. If passed, this proposal would eliminate many crucial community services in the State of Michigan. Spence spoke about how damaging “Ax MI Tax” would be to the state and region and how SEMCOG will continue to oppose this effort and update members when legislative action is necessary.

It was a jam-packed meeting with plenty of great information, discussion, and networking. Thanks to Sterling Heights for hosting over 50 attendees on a chilly and snowy winter morning. We look forward to the next Southeast Michigan Communicators network.