In a world of ever-present multimedia options and shortened attention spans, Herriman City is finding ways to still connect with residents and deliver useful information to them.

Beginning in April, the city began publishing short videos on their social media channels recapping the most recent city council meeting. Each video features a communications staff member joined by a city council member, and together they talk about the most relevant information from the previous council meeting. 

“If we’re being honest, very few residents are going to get on and watch an entire council meeting. Our average meeting length this year is probably 4 to 4 ½ hours and that is a lot to sit through,” said Mayor Lorin Palmer.

Palmer said when he first came into office at the beginning of the year, he sat down with Assistant City Manager Tami Moody to brainstorm ideas for how to improve outreach to the community. 

“She mentioned that she always wanted to put this type of video out and it was a no-brainer,” he said.

“With the busy lifestyles that so many in our community have, we wanted to offer an easy way for them to get a quick synopsis of what took place in their city council meetings, the discussions that were had, and the decisions that were made,” Moody said.

The videos average about 10 minutes in length and have far surpassed the city council’s actual live streams of its meetings. For example, the most recent city council meeting live stream amassed 320 views on Facebook. The meeting recap however, was viewed nearly 2,000 times. 

The videos also double as a way to “humanize” the city council members, according to Palmer.

“Sometimes seeing a face on a screen makes us all more relatable to each other. Really, humanizing us all as a council and a staff is a top priority of my time in office,” he said. 

The response to the new video series has been positive, according to Palmer and Moody. While some residents haven’t loved the information contained in the recaps (no city council decision is ever going to please everyone) they have appreciated the fact that it’s so accessible. 

You can find the city council recap videos on the Herriman Facebook page or on their YouTube channel. λ