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OPTIC 30-DAY ORGANIZATIONAL ASSESSMENT, COMMUNICATIONS INVENTORY, AND IMPROVEMENT PLAN
recommended action
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that Council receive an informational report on OPTIC's organizational assessment, citywide communications inventory, and the measurable improvement plan (Attachments A-C). OPTIC will return at 60 days and 90 days with measured progress against the plan presented here. No Council action is required.
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Summary
In June 2026, the City Council asked the City Manager's Office for an assessment of OPTIC and a plan. This report and the accompanying presentation are the first of three reports delivering that assessment and plan. Reports 2 and 3 follow at 60 and 90 days.
The Public Information Officer performed a structured organizational assessment over the 30-day assessment period of July 2 through August 3, 2026, using two recognized public-sector methods, produced a citywide communications inventory with 13 recommendations, and delivered measurable operational results. The central finding of the assessment is that no system existed to measure whether City communications delivered value. This plan builds that system, meaning a baseline, department performance indicators, and a public dashboard.
DISCUSSION
Background
Operating under the supervision of the Public Information Officer, OPTIC is the City's Office of Public Transparency, Information, and Communication. It implements the City's strategic communications, media relations, public engagement, website and digital services, and performance reporting. Its charge is to fulfill the City's obligation to the public's right to know, meaning open, accurate, and accessible City information, including its function in the Emergency Operations Center, establishing alerts and warnings to the public, and participation in the Joint Information System under SEMS and NIMS.
The current assessment measured the office against these obligations and established a baseline. It applied the Baldrige Excellence Framework, the federal standard for organizational performance administered by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, together with the 3CMA municipal communications audit method used by public-sector communications professionals.
Central Finding
No system existed to measure whether communications delivered value. There was no baseline, no performance indicators by department, and no public dashboard. Every item in the improvement plan below is either a result already delivered or a component of the measurement system being built.
Reporting Periods Used in This Report
Three distinct periods are referenced. They are stated separately so each figure can be traced to its source.
• Assessment period. July 2 through August 3, 2026. The 30 days referenced throughout this report and in the accompanying presentation. Operational results, including the broadcast, accessibility remediation, work plans, and the assessment itself, occurred within this period.
• Analytics period. January 1 through August 26, 2026, compared with January 1 through August 26, 2025. Social media performance is reported on this calendar-year-to-date basis because platform comparison requires matched periods. Website analytics reflect the trailing 12 months.
• Status as of filing. Coordinator network progress is reported as of the date of this report rather than as of the close of the assessment period, so the Council receives current standing.
Present Situation
Assessment Period Results
• Accessibility. Raised the City website's ADA accessibility score from 41 to 95 out of 100, addressing a Title II legal exposure. Quarterly audits will hold the standard.
• Broadcast. The July 7, 2026 meeting was the first Council meeting held at the new City Hall. Following that meeting, the City Manager assigned the Public Information Officer responsibility for leading the broadcast effort and ensuring the next Council meeting aired without failure. That objective was met. The July 21, 2026 meeting aired on schedule and PEG compliant, carried simultaneously across three independent channels.
• Media responsiveness. Established a standard of acknowledging 90 percent of media inquiries within one business day and stood up a Media Inquiry Tracker that timestamps and logs every inquiry against that standard. Performance is 100 percent: every inquiry logged against the standard was acknowledged within one business day.
• Reach and engagement. Social media performance from January 1 through August 26, 2026, measured against the same period in 2025: impressions up 44.1 percent to 3,424,673; engagements up 36.2 percent to 136,777; video views up 662.9 percent to 536,492; published posts up 183 percent to 1,599; net audience growth up 123.8 percent to 3,493; post link clicks up 50.9 percent to 1,624; total audience up 17.5 percent to 30,624. All reach is organic. The City purchased no paid promotion during the period. Source: Sprout Social, City of Stockton profiles.
• Citywide coordinator network. Reviewed 15 City departments and offices and mapped 13 into a communications coordinator network, each with a named point of contact. The City Attorney's Office is excluded as a separate Charter office that does not communicate with the public, and the Police Department is excluded because it maintains its own public information team and operates outside OPTIC's scope. Director-level meetings are held, booked, or covered by City Manager designation in 10 of the 13. Remaining scheduling is coordinated through the Deputy City Managers.
• Data-driven website plan. Used 12 months of website analytics to direct the City website redesign based on demonstrated demand. The homepage draws 72 percent of all views, and residents arrive for tasks: Animal Services 142,000 views, Jobs 114,000, Pay a bill 101,000, Police 86,000. The same analysis surfaced a broken-link condition inherited from the prior website and never previously measured. The website error page drew 72,871 views over 12 months, the fifth most-visited page on the site and about 1 in 40 pageviews. Correction is underway with a measurable target.
• Rigorous assessment. Reviewed 100 percent of City website pages and all communications channels, evaluated every OPTIC function, and produced 13 recommendations, each with a measurable target.
• Team. Completed individual work plans with key performance indicators for 100 percent of the communications staff reporting to the Public Information Officer, four of four. These are the three OPTIC positions and the City's government access broadcast engineer.
• Earned media. Earned coverage without paid placement, including features in Her Magazine and San Joaquin Magazine and a pending PBS Viewpoint segment, worked from a maintained 13-category media database.
Performance Scorecard
The following measures answer the Council's request for metrics and outcome data.
|
Measure |
Result (30-Day) |
Target/Standard |
|
Website ADA accessibility score |
41 to 95 out of 100 |
Maintain 95 or higher |
|
Council Chamber broadcast July 21 meeting |
Delivered, PEG compliant, three channels |
Aired on schedule |
|
Media inquiries acknowledged within one business day |
100 percent |
90 percent within 1 business day |
|
Social media engagement, year over year |
Up 36.2 percent |
10 percent over baseline |
|
Website error-page traffic surfaced by analytics |
72,871 views, about 1 in 40 |
Measurable reduction |
|
Communications staff with work plans and KPIs |
100 percent (4 of 4) |
100% of staff reporting to the PIO |
|
Departments with a director-level meeting held, booked, or covered by designation |
10 of 13 |
13 of 13 |
|
City website pages reviewed, plus 12 months of analytics |
100 percent |
Full population |
|
Measured recommendations produced, each with a target |
13 |
10 or more |
Improvement Roadmap
60 Days
• Performance management framework with 3 to 5 performance indicators per department, with the first department’s indicators reported.
• Standardized media response protocol holding the 90 percent acknowledgment standard within one business day.
• Citywide communications and public engagement strategy adopted
• Coordinator network operating across all 13 in-scope departments.
90 Days
• Public performance dashboard live, and open to any resident.
• Website redesign underway on an analytics-driven information architecture, with error page traffic down.
• Accessibility score held at 95 or higher, verified by quarterly audit.
• Citywide brand and presentation standards and a crisis communications framework in place.
One Strategy, Six Working Parts
The 13 recommendations operate as a single strategy: a Communications Program holding the operating standards and the measurement; a Media Relations Plan covering protocol, spokesperson roles, and the one-business-day standard; a Social Media Strategy covering content, channels, and growth; a Public Outreach Framework covering audiences and methods; a Crisis Communications framework; and Branding and Marketing standards for one clear City voice.
FINANCIAL SUMMARY
This is an informational item with no fiscal impact. The assessment and inventory were completed within OPTIC's existing adopted budget and staffing. No new appropriation is requested.
Attachment A - Organizational Assessment Report
Attachment B - Communications Inventory and Recommendations
Attachment C - Staff Development and Work Plan Summary