Gadsden to conduct trial run with video messaging platform

The City of Gadsden is going to test drive another way of communicating directly with local residents.

The City Council on June 25 approved a three-month trial run, at a cost of $500 per month, with Rep'd, which describes itself as “a video messaging and engagement platform for municipalities.”

Rep'd allows a city official to respond to an inquiry with a video message lasting 30 seconds to a minute or so.

The company was launched in 2022 and its chief executive officer, Mike Baumwoll, and chief operating officer, Mark Friese, are both veterans of Twitter.

Rep'd at its website says it's “built on the belief that government/resident trust is built not through blocks of text, but by connecting as people through names and faces.”

Brett Johnson, Mayor Craig Ford's chief of staff, told council members at their precouncil work session on June 18 that it will “humanize” responses to the plethora of questions regularly received from residents.

“They'll be able to look someone in the eye and answer a question with video content,” Johnson said, “rather than lots of text being splattered over the World Wide Web.”

The questions will be screened (no personal or disparaging inquiries will be permitted) and assigned by the city's Public Affairs team. The person tasked with responding will receive a prompt to do so.

Answers could be shared to social media and frequently asked questions will be listed on the app. Users can "up-vote" those questions, which will push them to the top of the queue.

Rep'd at least during this trial period will join the “Hey Gadsden” app that went live in May. That app allows people to notify city officials about things like broken sidewalks or street lights, drainage problems, illegal dumping, missing street signs or potholes, with a photo and location information.

Reports go directly to the proper person at City Hall or elsewhere, and the submitter will receive acknowledgment and regular updates until the problem is fixed.

Johnson said it's “made things more efficient and kept things from falling through the cracks.”

The council also on June 25:

• Approved an alcohol license for the Coosa Landing Bait Shop;

• Tabled action on an alcohol license for a new restaurant, Pique Nique, at River Rocks Landing;

• Approved a contract with Fly-By-Radio for a July 4 concert in conjunction with the city's annual fireworks show;

• Approved the acquisition of two pieces of property in East Gadsden for drainage projects;

• Authorized a change order to a landscape maintenance contract with Thrive Outdoor for work at the Gadsden Sports Complex;

• Authorized the sale as surplus of an old fire rescue truck that had been painted pink and donated to a local nonprofit, but that organization never took title to it;

• Appointed Christopher Word to the Argyle Circle Architectural Review Board.