City administration and municipal services request staffing changes; PIO discussed for communications and emergency messaging

City Administrator Jean and Municipal Services staff presented staffing and organizational requests during the Sept. 29 workshop, linking personnel to economic-development and communications goals.

Jean said a deputy city administrator would free her to pursue economic development, developer outreach and implementation of the strategic plan. "It would allow me to spend extra time on economic development, which is critical," Jean said, arguing the role would improve departmental coaching and cross‑department communications.

Kelly, representing municipal services, described current duties (records, communications and grants) and said the current staffer is effectively serving as an informal public-information officer. The department requested a full-time communications/PIO role and a separate grant specialist but acknowledged the mayor’s proposed budget did not yet include those positions. Kelly said a formal PIO would provide a consistent, regional point of contact and improve emergency messaging and public outreach (the trestle was offered as a project that would benefit from a PIO).

Council members asked whether a grant writer should be evaluated against expected revenue generation; staff said internal analyses of grant return on investment are underway and details will be included in finance slides and follow-ups. No formal hiring actions were taken at the workshop.