Hastings launches ‘Behind the Scenes’ monthly report
The city of Hastings is making an effort to keep locals updated on happenings within the city government.
By News Channel NebraskaHASTINGS, Neb. — The city of Hastings is making an effort to keep locals updated on happenings within the city government.
The city launched the Hastings Behind the Scenes report this month. The report includes a message from city administrator Shawn Metcalf, updates from city council meetings, and one-page summaries from 18 different departments.
Metcalf says the report is an effort to increase transparency with residents.
“(Residents) absolutely deserve to know what’s going on and to be involved," Metcalf said. "The more informed that residents are, the more informed conversations that they can have with city council members. The more information that people have, the better the decisions are for the city.”
Printed copies of Hastings Behind the Scenes are available at city council meetings, at the library and at the parks and recreation office. You can find an online copy under the reports tab of the city website. Metcalf says there will soon be a way to sign up to get the report emailed to you every month.
City staff will soon be filing their monthly summaries from new offices. Metcalf says employees who currently have offices in city hall will move to temporary offices at Landmark Center in about a month as part of the fallout from a mold study. He expects options for the potential remodeling of city hall to be presented to the city council within two months.