Some members of the city council are having second thoughts about whether there should be a public information officer on the city payroll.
During Wednesday’s work session at the Municipal Complex, Ward 6 Councilman Jason Spears moved to reject a request to advertise to fill the position, which Ward 4 Councilwoman Lavonne Harris seconded. Spears later rescinded his motion after Ward 5 Councilman Gary Jefferson groused at the prospect of voting on an item that was placed on the work session agenda purely for discussion.
The council included a full-time public information officer in this fiscal year’s budget at a salary of up to $55,000, plus benefits. Instead of filling the position with an employee, the city contracted in August with Shawanda Jones for $2,000 per month. She resigned in April, citing her working relationship with both Mayor Stephen Jones and Chief Operations Officer Jammie Garrett had soured.
“We haven’t filled that position this entire year, and we certainly need to look closely at how necessary it is,” Spears told The Dispatch on Friday. “… We just have to look at things based on what needs to be accomplished for the city on all levels. We have to be very mindful of what we include in the budget for the next year.”
The PIO’s duties include managing the council’s calendar, assisting with city events, organizing and coordinating Mayor’s Youth Council events, in addition to social media postings, press releases and media relations, Garrett told The Dispatch on Thursday.
Amid the work session discussion, Garrett asked Spears whom he would like to perform those duties if no one is hired for that position.
“We’re not the person to decide who does the day-to-day,” Spears responded.
Right now, the duties fall to Garrett, she told The Dispatch, and she does not believe that arrangement is tenable.
“That’s too much for me to do at my position, and we do not have anyone else we can give those duties to,” she said Thursday. “… The position just needs to be filled. … We’re getting ready to start budget (planning for next fiscal year). I don’t have the time for it.”
Garrett even suggested shifting those duties to the council.
“There was … such a big push and a need for the position when someone spelled sheriff wrong,” she said, referencing a city press release issued from City Hall in August, before Sahwanda Jones was hired, wherein the word was spelled “Sherrif.” “… I guess now, they’ll take on those things themselves.”
Spears, who publicly derided the misspelling later that month in his support for hiring Shawanda Jones, laughed off Garrett’s most recent remarks when speaking to The Dispatch on Friday.
“Well, I feel like we all should definitely slow down and proofread everything we do and be competent in spell check,” Spears said. “… I feel like we have many tall tasks that we need to focus our attention on, and possibly our resources toward, than the aspect of having someone in a position (when) we can just be open and transparent in our meetings and other communications.”
Mayor Stephen Jones was absent from Wednesday’s work session but told The Dispatch he intends to continue the discussion on hiring a full-time PIO once he returns.
“It’s definitely needed,” the mayor said. “… People don’t work out. That doesn’t mean that you do away with the position just because somebody else didn’t work out.”
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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