Press release: “Lake Worth Vegetation Amnesty Week Postponed”.

Wouldn’t this be a good time to use the City of Lake Worth’s official Facebook page to educate the public as quickly as possible? That is, of course, if the City had an official Facebook page for residents.

This Press Release was issued at the end of the business day yesterday:

Lake Worth, FL — Due to poor weather conditions, Lake Worth Vegetation Amnesty Week, originally scheduled to start today [Tuesday, 5/14), has been postponed and will start Tuesday, May 22. This week’s refuse pickup will be on the normal schedule.

For more information contact Ben Kerr, the City’s Public Information Officer at 561-586-1631; email: BKerr@lakeworth.org

Imagine for a moment if Mr. Ben Kerr had another tool in his social media toolbox to communicate
with the public?

Folks, a lot of people are going to be mad as hell to hear that Vegetation Amnesty Week was cancelled yesterday and rescheduled for next week. A lot of the public will be demanding answers, e.g., “What about all the vegetation I put out to the curb already?” What if a household already made plans this week? What about next year? Will many be reluctant to participate in Vegetation Amnesty Week due to what happened this year?

And when the public starts to hear rumors about what’s going to happen with the City’s recycling program later this year. . .

This City needs to get past its reluctance to use Facebook, the most popular and most used social media tool there is. Yes, the City uses Twitter. But Twitter and Facebook are two very different ways to communicate with the public. Just guessing would surmise 8–10× more residents get their news from Facebook then they do Twitter. There are no losers using Facebook. In the meantime the City of Lake Worth, our elected leaders and staff look disconnected and out-of-touch with the public.

Contact your elected leaders TODAY and tell them you want an official City Facebook page. And soon. The city of Greenacres has been using Facebook for well over two years now.

From the City of Greenacres’ Facebook page. . .

Click on image to enlarge.

By the way, did you know Greenacres Mayor Joel Flores and the City Council recently conducted a traffic workshop with PBSO, County Commissioner Paulette Burdick and representatives from FDOT?

I learned about it on Facebook.