Communication coordinator Kelly Kuntz is organizing the upcoming Citizens Government Academy, including a look at the equipment operated by Public Works. (Photo/City of Moorhead.)
She has five children, including the two youngest, Henry and Liam. (Photo/City of Moorhead.)
CityofMoorhead.com has taken on a new look this week. The reorganized site was redesigned to be cellphone-friendly, since that’s how 65% of users access its comprehensive information on city services.
Nancy Edmonds Hanson
Want to know what’s going on in Moorhead? Kelly Kuntz is here to tell you all about it.
“Our goal is to meet residents where they’re at. What do they need to know?” she asks. “What are they interested in? We want to give them what they want and need to know.”
Today, online is where a good share of those Moorheaders can be found. Social media channel the city’s messages directly to those who frequently catch up on Facebook, Instagram LinkedIn. Online, the website cityofmoorhead.com offers encyclopedic knowledge of city government’s rules, policies and projects.
That website once included a mind-boggling 6,000 pages. It was organized around the structure of government, derived from city agencies’ points of view. Beginning this week, it has taken on a brand new look: Just 300 web pages, all up to date, designed with an eye to answering residents’ questions as simply and quickly as possible.
“It was very department-heavy,” the marketing maven reflects on the original site. “If you worked in government, it made perfect sense. From the public’s point of view – not so much”
The reimagined version looks at Moorhead’s ins and outs through its users’ eyes. Questions most frequently searched for can be accessed directly from the home page.
Even better, a brand-new feature allows residents to type their address into a box, then get all kinds of relevant information: Garbage schedules and holiday adjustments, voting locations, how to reach their council representatives, and much more.
Using the IT department’s GIS, website visitors can even track down the species of every tree on public property.
“It’s still a work in progress,” Kelly cautions. “We’ll be making changes and updates as we learn more about what people want and need to know.”
The internet may be a focal point for communicators today, but it’s only one part of Kelly’s responsibilities. Along with her colleague, photographer and graphic designer Caleb Fugleberg, she’s responsible for everything from publications and slide presentations to planning, publicizing and helping carry out groundbreakings and ribbon-cuttings. When The Loop, the new library/community center, was rising downtown, she organized a beam-signing ceremony. She has put together the upcoming Citizens Government Academy.
When city officials have big news, the comm coordinator handles their news conferences, from inviting the media and writing the announcement to sometimes organizing speakers’ talking points.
But that’s only part of getting word out. Kelly takes pains to get the same information out through multiple channels, including social media and the city’s own e-mail list of residents who’ve signed up to be kept informed. “I release the same information to the news media and the public at the same time,” she notes. “News media may not like that as well as if we only told them first. Our own objective, though, is to make sure the word gets out to everyone, no matter how they choose to receive it.”
(To register for mailings, search for “eNotification” on the revitalized city website.)
Kelly joined the city staff in February 2024 with a resume that included private industry, nonprofits and only a touch of civic engagement. A native of East Grand Forks and – she says – a “proud Minnesotan,” she attended Bemidji State University before graduating from St. Cloud State. She started her career organizing in-store events for the Target corporate office in Minneapolis, where she also designed her first website. “We launched a new online catalog, not public, but internal,” she reports. “It offers nonmerchandise supplies for stores – everything from shelves to hangers and pens.
“Then, I reached the point when I was done living in the Cities. I moved to Grand Forks to be closer to home.” There, she became sports director for the Special Olympics. Next, she shifted to Sanford Health, planning employee events and recognition. She moved on to marketing at the United Way of Cass Clay, and then to a similar role at Family Wellness. Finally, she marketed major projects for the Fargo Park District.
“And then I heard about this job with the city of Moorhead,” Kelly concludes. “I love being back on the Minnesota side! What I’ve discovered is that I really like working in government. This is my calling. I’ve found my true passion.”
The best part of her job, she says, is raising Moorhead’s voice here and throughout Minnesota and the region. “That’s a trend among cities,” she suggests. “What our residents want is an authentic voice – a voice expressing who we are, and what our city is becoming.
“We’re really moving up right now. We have five big civic projects nearing completion – The Loop in mid-April, the new grandstand at Matson Field as baseball begins, the new pool and other attractions at Romkey Park this summer, our City Hall renovations, and the new Civic Plaza late this fall. And next year, there will be the 11th Street underpass.
“Now people are seeing all kinds of new opportunities in Moorhead. Businesses are expressing interest in coming downtown. High school seniors can go to college tuition-free through the Moorhead Scholars and Minnesota Promise programs. And there’s going to be much more.
“It’s an exciting time. Moorhead is growing now… growing in all the right ways.”
