Does the Borough of Conshohocken have an issue in the way it communicates with the public? The borough council thought it did and budgeted $80,000 for 2025 towards hiring a marketing consultant to help it assist the borough with “ongoing services for consistent engagement with the community as the Borough pursues initiatives and special projects that highlight both Borough and community-wide accomplishments, successes, stories, engagement pieces, human interest stories, business highlights, etc. Emphasis will be placed on reaching a specific target market audience.”
In a 5-2 vote, the council hired Neff Associates, a Philadelphia-based consulting firm. Councilmembers Ralph Frey (I, Ward 6) and Stacy Ellam (D, Ward 7) voted no on the issue. Please note that Neff’s proposal wasn’t for the entire $80,000; it was just shy of $56,000.
You can watch the video of the discussion that led to a vote as the subsequent meeting below (it is cued to the start of the discussion).
It is now June, and we have seen very little of what is outlined above. What we have seen from the effort are some glamour shots of council members and a few social media posts about the parks. We had a little fun with the photos in an Instagram post.
During a December 2024 meeting, when the issue was being discussed, Councilmember Alan Chmielewski (Ward 1) shared that he felt the borough needed to hire a consultant based on his experience while running for office and people telling him they were unaware of things happening within the borough.
He also shared that as a member of the council, he sits on the Greater Conshohocken Economic Development Corporation, which offers low interest loans to businesses. He said that few know it exists.
Chmielewski isn’t wrong about some people claiming that they didn’t know about something. However, we have seen this expressed after MoreThanTheCurve.com, the borough, ConshyStuff.com, and more have all heavily promoted something happening. Sometimes it is on the person.
But, is Chmielewski doing all he can do in his ward? Chmielewski doesn’t have a “government official” Facebook page to communicate with his constituents. We looked, and Councilmember Anita Barton (D, Ward 4) is the only member of the council with such an account (FYI, this is different from a “politician” page, as that is for campaigning and politics, and not the voice of a government official). This seems like a straightforward and obvious thing to do. If people choose not to follow it, that is on them. It is also free.
This type of Facebook account should be established for each ward by the borough and passed down as council members change (like they do for the President of the United States).
Regarding the Greater Conshohocken Economic Development Corporation, we researched that today. While we are somewhat familiar with it, there is very little information available online about it. There is no official website presence. We were unable to find a list of board members, agendas, minutes, or information on what it offers and what has been funded. There has also been no marketing of the opportunity to apply for a loan. There is essentially nothing.
Strangely, Chmielewski stated during that December meeting that one of the reasons for investing in hiring a consultant was that the borough hadn’t invested in programs to track the effectiveness of its communications. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other platforms all offer free analytics for their accounts. Google offers free analytics for websites. We look at them every day. For example, as of 7:53 a.m. on June 4th, Instagram shows that 7,451 people have watched the Reel above.
Let us know your thoughts on Facebook. How do you learn about what is happening and about issues in the borough? Social media? The borough website? MoreThanTheCurve.com? ConshyStuff.com? A neighbor? Your councilmember?
Additionally, how could the borough utilize the $56,000 to $80,000 more effectively?
Photos: Headshots from Borough of Conshohocken