Kawartha Lakes deputy mayor launches new educational video series

Jul 26, 20232 min read

DAN CEARNS The Standard

KAWARTHA LAKES: One City of Kawartha Lakes councillor has launched a new initiative to help answer residents' questions.

Ward 8 Councillor and Deputy Mayor, Tracy Richardson recently created a video series on YouTube titled 'Did You Know.' There are currently five videos in the series. The topics discussed include: road maintenance, how to report issues, where to get permits, how to stay connected to City related news, and information on the City's waste diversion programs. Each video is less than two minutes in length.

"As a Councillor and now the Deputy Mayor, residents often come to me with their questions, concerns or feedback. I noticed, a lot of the questions I get are similar, and most of them have a simple solution [which] residents just might not be aware of. The 'Did You Know' video series was born out of that. If multiple residents are asking the same questions, and we have the tools or programs already in place to answer those questions, then how can we get the word out to more people to let them know about all of the great services and tools they have available to them? The 'Did You Know' videos are a great way to do just that," Councillor Richardson told The Standard.

Once someone views one of the videos, they are encouraged to go to the City's online feedback site, at jumpinkawarthalakes.ca/didyouknow, to provide their input.

"As Kawartha Lakes continues to grow, it is critical for our residents to engage with us more. The information and feedback gathered from the polls and surveys on the 'Did You Know Jump In' project page will enable us to shape our, soon-to-be-updated, Customer Service and Communications strategic plans," Councillor Richardson explained.

She also noted, developing topics for this series was quite easy.

"One of the great things about the 'Did You Know' video series is, it's almost like the residents picked the topics of the videos for us. The topics cover most of the things residents regularly ask me about."

Once the topics were selected, Councillor Richardson dedicated one summer day to filming all five of them.

"We wanted to move quickly to get the videos done because summer was flying by, and we knew we needed to make sure we gave ourselves plenty of time for the community outreach part of the campaign. So, we filmed everything on a long hot day at the end of June, and then our Communications team put the videos together, for launch in early July. It was an exhausting day, but it was fun and totally worth it. I'm very happy with how the videos turned out, and I really do think they'll help answer some of our residents' most frequently asked questions," Councillor Richardson said.

To view the videos, go online to www.youtube.com/@CityofKawarthaLakes.