Page 16 - CityofKennedaleFY26AdoptedBudget

The communications team offers transparent, innovative, and creative information, alerts, notices, and
advertisements to promote our mission, programs, events, and community-wide initiatives. Our goal is to

consistently produce and share effective messaging that is recognized as the most accurate, dependable, and
trusted source of city information. Over the past year, the team developed a new communications and social

media policy and established new branding standards. It expanded outreach efforts, leading to a significant
increase in community participation at city events. As a result of these efforts, community attendance at city

events has more than doubled compared to the previous year.

In FY 2025-2026, we will partner with the YMCA to enhance youth sports and activities in our city. We

established a Recreation Department to utilize our parks and green spaces better. This new department will

handle scheduling, programming, and recreation services. It will also promote the use of facilities and resources
at Sonora Park, TownCenter Plaza, Rodgers Farm Park, and the upcoming Kennedale Sports Complex.

Over the past year, we provided a variety of resources and programs for all ages through our Public Library

and Senior Center. These included programs for enhancing life skills, providing workforce training via reading

programs, and delivering classes to learn basic computer skills. During this period, both the library and Senior
Center saw a significant increase in visitor traffic compared to previous years. The Senior Center remains

popular by hosting a range of events specifically designed for our seniors, such as health and exercise programs,
game days, and arts and crafts activities. It also continues to offer lunch and breakfast through the Meals on

Wheels program.

The library hosted a variety of additional programs and free events in FY 2024-2025 and encouraged citizens

to take advantage of the resources available to everyone with a library card. We partnered with Red’s Road

House to use their event center to boost attendance at our summer reading programs and our popular live animal
presentations.

The library also received a much-needed facelift last year, with plans to expand into the old community room

in FY 2026. With approved grant funding, we can enhance programs, technology, furniture, and renovations.
With FY 2026 funds, we will install a new RFID system to better manage the inventory of books and other

materials for the public and improve efficiency.

The police department also launched a series of new and engaging programs to build partnerships and enhance

communication within the community, such as Coffee with a Cop and Civilian Response to Active Shooter

Events (CRASE), to raise awareness of active shooter threats. Last year, the police department ranked 6th in
the nation for the National Association of Town Watch Award for participating in National Night Out. This

has been a valuable event not only for the police department, but for all city departments as they actively engage

CITYOFKENNEDALE.COM/FINANCE 15