MEDIA RELEASE: FROM THE PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER

JEANETTE ELEFF - 301-360-3842

CONTACT: Jeanette Eleff

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, January 30, 2002

KICK OFF NEWS CONFERENCE TO BE HELD ANNOUNCING SURVEY DISTRIBUTION

A News Conference will be held on Monday, February 4, 12 noon in the boardroom of City Hall to kick off the distribution and availability of the Aspire Frederick community-wide survey. Mayor Jennifer Dougherty and City Aldermen will be the first to complete their surveys and return them at that time.

Michael O’Connor, Chairperson of the Aspire Frederick Board of Directors will lead off the conference with a review of the project and expectations of the future. Aspire Frederick is the community-based strategic planning initiative that was started by the City and interested volunteers over 18 months ago. This process has been led by multiple volunteers from the community with the goal of obtaining community input into the future vision for The City of Frederick.

On Monday, 5,000 community surveys will be randomly mailed to households in The City of Frederick. The survey will also be available on Aspire’s website at www.aspirefrederick.com where participants can complete an interactive version of the questionnaire. Postcards will be delivered to all residents and businesses reminding them of how they can get involved. Surveys will be available at City Hall, C. Burr Artz Library, the William R. Talley Recreation Center, and the Chamber of Commerce. Interested persons can also contact Aspire volunteers and have a survey mailed to them.

Aspire volunteers are challenging the community with “who will decide the future of our city….how about you?” The completion of the survey is a great opportunity for anyone to have input into their desired characteristics of The City of Frederick in twenty years.

Surveys need to be returned by February 22.

Information obtained from this questionnaire will be used to craft a vision statement for the City. Then, teams of volunteers will work towards developing an action plan that assists the City in completing the work towards that vision. “Mayor Dougherty has challenged us to make this process more than a report that sits on the shelf.” States Aspire Board Chairman Michael O’connor. “We plan on doing just that, our work has just begun!”

This Aspire Frederick initiative has been an excellent example of a partnership with involved citizens and the City. The Aspire Frederick Board of Directors challenges everyone to get involved. Interested individuals can call the Aspire Project Manager at 301-698-8118 or view the website www.aspirefrederick.com.

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***MEDIA NOTE: This is a great opportunity to get some action photos and sound bites of Mayor Dougherty and City Aldermen engaging in this community program. ***