Mount Vernon will hire a community development/public information officer who must present annual reports intended to show that the city is getting a return on its investment after the position was approved by the City Council on March 23.
The new position is intended to help Mount Vernon build capacity, pursue non-tax revenue through strategic partnerships and grants, and improve communication during emergencies. The officer will be required to provide an initial check-in six months after being hired, with ongoing annual reports presented to the City Council.
"We're really trying to build capacity and, in fact, create more non tax revenue for this, going after strategic partnership and after more grants. We're we've been pretty successful at going after grants, but it's not been in any kind of really structured capacity building way," Mayor Matt Starr said, according to a video recording of the meeting.
According to the meeting video, Council member Amber Keener said it is important that the employee will have to do an annual report presented to the City Council. An initial check-in will be made six months into the hiring for the position. Keener said she heard a lot from her fellow council members about the important of the return on investment into the position. She gave examples such as the receipt of the State of Liberty was an example where the position would have been valuable. Many people worked on the project, but a single employee was not in charge of making sure it moved along. The position will be responsible in the grant process, creating systems so the city knows who to talk to to get grants and moving forward on them in a timely way.
According to a video recording, Keener said that training for this role will be provided by Retail Strategies at the end of its three-year contract with Mount Vernon. She explained that Retail Strategies offers a retail academy designed to train city staff how to communicate effectively with retailers and facilitate business recruitment efforts.
Starr also said they think a person in this position would be better suited working on developing naming rights in city parks since previous efforts by the Recreation Department have not been successful. He said this first part of the job is community development generating revenue .
Starr explained that another aspect of this role involves serving as public information officer (PIO), particularly during emergencies. He referenced governing essentials training through Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) as beneficial for council members learning about emergency communications. The Ohio University Voinovich School has presented "Governing Essentials for Local Elected Officials" training series targeting new local officials for effective public service, according to MORPC.
