If you’re looking for an efficient way to stay current on important Lafayette and regional civic news, we recommend that you read Lafayette City Manager Steve Falk’s The Daily Briefing. Falk and his staff have been preparing this content aggregating email regularly since 2006.

“It started because we had a council member, Ivor Samson, who traveled a lot and who requested that staff send him web clippings of local events so that he could stay current on Lafayette’s many goings on,” recalls Falk.

Word got out, and the email list grew. Are you on it?

Here’s how the City of Lafayette’s website describes this e-blast:

“The Daily Briefing is an aggregation of links to news articles from local and regional newspapers, magazines, websites, blogs, and other internet sources. Its purpose is to alert readers to current issues and affairs that may impact Lafayette.”

On December 10, 2012, for example, The Daily Briefing included links to articles covering local topics that ranged from an editorial about Contra Costa Fire Chief Daryl Louder and an update on the Mountain View Drive sinkhole repair, to the recent closure of Lafayette Farmers’ Market. There were also links to articles about broader topics, including pensions and city management. Almost always, there’s a random article for the curious-minded, like the link on 12/10/12 for guns found in an out-of-state frozen meat package.

You can find the most recent issue of The Daily Briefing on the city’s website, but old ones are not archived.

We find it’s easier to read The Daily Briefing delivered directly by email. This not only reminds us to read it, but gives us the chance to stack a few and catch-up if we fall behind.

This email delivery is a free service, but there’s no “subscription form” on the website.  Instead, just send your request directly to City Manager Steve Falk at sfalk@lovelafayette.org. Not to worry, this isn’t a big-deal approval process. Falk just manages the list the way he’s always managed the list – using the  city’s email system — as opposed to a 3rd party platform like Contact Contact or Mailchimp.