The Henderson City Council approved on Monday the creation of two new staff positions – a public information officer who will report to the city manager and a part-time administrative support position to assist the mayor’s office with scheduling and other tasks.
The council voted unanimously for the public information officer position, but the vote was 6-2 in favor of the part-time position. Council members Lamont Noel and Sam Seifert cast the no votes.
“It’s one of the areas that we’re lacking in,” said City Manager Terrell Blackmon during his presentation about the public information officer to the council during the Oct. 14 monthly meeting.
The salary range for the PIO would be between about $66,000 and $99,000, according to information in the meeting’s agenda packet. Among other things, Blackmon said the PIO would be the person to handle marketing, social media and “proactive media outreach.”
Although the salary is not in the current budget, Blackmon said it shouldn’t be a problem to fund the position. “I think we’re in a position now that we can fund this position,” he said.
A list of general job duties was included in the agenda packet, including serving as the city’s source of information about various programs, policies and activities and “developing a voice for the City and community that builds trust by prioritizing transparency and accuracy.”
Following a request by Council Member Garry Daeke, Blackmon said he would provide a full job description to the full council for review before hiring.
Seifert asked whether the current budget contains money for the PIO position.
“We have reserves that we can fund that position,” Blackmon said.
As for the administrative support position, Noel asked whether those job responsibilities already fall to the mayor, manager, mayor pro tem or the clerk. Blackmon said there are duties that are above and beyond what the city clerk is able to do.
The part-time position would be for between 20 and 24 hours a week, with a pay range of between $18 and $20/hr. for a total annual salary to be about $12,000, Blackmon said.
Among the part-time assistant’s duties will be planning meetings and events, and representing the mayor at some of those events, responding to correspondence and keeping track of the mayor’s calendar, filing system and assisting the mayor at community events, presentations and appearances.