CITY OF DANBURY
Public Relations, Marketing and Education Committee
Danbury Housing Partnership
155 Deer Hill Avenue
Danbury, Connecticut 06810
Minutes of the May 28, 2009 Meeting
Present: Filgate, Schierloh, Shepperd
Absent: Deschenes, Lima
A meeting of the Public Relations, Marketing and Education Committee of the Danbury Housing Partnership was conducted in Danbury City Hall on May 28, 2009. The meeting was called to order by Vice-Chair Wayne Shepperd at 11:00 am.
A motion to approve the minutes of the March 26, 2009 meeting was made by Paul Schierloh, seconded by Doreen Filgate and passed unanimously.
Mr. Shepperd initiated discussion on the Partnership’s website and marketing efforts. Mr. Schierloh reported that Melissa Adams had initiated training sessions with Sue Zaborowski to enable her to take over as the main staff person to maintain the Partnership’s website. Mr. Schierloh also reported that he had worked with Milena Sangut to add pages and links to the Partnership website regarding the Greater Danbury Continuum of Care. The committee reviewed potential story ideas with Ms. Filgate offering to assist in writing stories and features for use on the website. Mr. Deschenes had previously offered to submit some stories, including one regarding the Housing Development Fund’s success in working with people dealing with foreclosure. The committee also agreed that we should do a series of profiles highlighting our community partners and other community agencies. Mr. Nolan has submitted his op-ed piece to the News-Times for consideration and is waiting to hear when it will be published.
Mr. Shepperd invited discussion on development and use of mass email capability. Mr. Schierloh noted that he had followed up with Melissa Adams about adding a tab on the website to enable people to sign up to receive email notifications from the Partnership. Mr. Schierloh also worked on developing an email/mailing list for use by the Partnership. Mr. Schierloh will continue to make this a priority and requested that members send him names that could be added. Mr. Shepperd noted the importance of taking pro-active steps to make people aware of the website and to encourage its use. It was agreed that the committee would have oversight over any requests to disseminate information utilizing the Partnership’s email system.
Ms. Filgate reported that she had reviewed the information that Mr. Nolan had provided to her regarding a model initiative to re-message homelessness and was ready to work with him to develop a program customized for Danbury. The committee agreed that the next step should be the development of a power point presentation that Mark can use to make presentations to groups throughout the region regarding the issue of homelessness and the Partnership’s efforts to address it.
Mr. Schierloh noted that Mayor Boughton indicated that he would make addressing the staffing situation in the Health, Housing & Welfare Department a priority due to number of vacancies created by retirements and resignations. A re-organization of the department will likely be necessary and alternative arrangements made for providing staff support for the Partnership. Mr. Shepperd suggested that a partnership with WestConn to provide internship opportunities working with the Partnership may prove helpful. The committee will also seek to recruit a new member to replace Mr. Schierloh upon his retirement.
Following discussion, the committee decided to move its June 25 meeting to 11:00 am and to devote the meeting primarily to the development of the re-messaging homelessness campaign. Mr. Schierloh was asked to advise Mr. Nolan that Ms. Filgate would be willing to meet with him at any time prior to the meeting to discuss development of the power point presentation.
A motion to adjourn was made by Mr. Schierloh, seconded by Mr. Shepperd and passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 11:35 am.