Commissioner Murman quoted in this Tampa Tribune article on County Communications:
Politics
Hillsborough County wants to get the word out on services, events and initiatives
By Mike Salinero | Tribune Staff
Published: January 1, 2015
TAMPA — Whether he’s munching from a food truck, pedaling a bicycle or cutting a ribbon, there’s no one in the Tampa area getting more public exposure than Mayor Bob Buckhorn.
A friend of his, Hillsborough County Commissioner Sandy Murman, thinks he needs competition.
After all, the county commissioners govern an area with more than a million people — triple the population Buckhorn represents in the city of Tampa.
So at a recent county commission meeting, Murman asked, What about us?
“I see where the mayor put out that they’ve done $2.5 billion worth of permits,” Murman said. “The county had about $7 billion worth of permits for the total value last year. The city does a much better job getting their story out than we do.”
The county, she noted, reduced permit fees for builders and park fees for all county residents — the kind of news she believes deserves more exposure.
Hillsborough is also rolling out a new quick-response team to deal with neighborhood blight, such as dilapidated housing, overgrown yards and graffiti.
Her message is aimed squarely at a county department, Communications and Digital Media, that appears to be building toward the task.
During a period of austerity across many county departments, communications has seen an increase in staff and payroll during the last four or five years — from 37 positions and $1.93 million to 39 positions and a $2.24 million payroll.
Nine of the positions are vacant now. Murman supports filling them.
“I just feel like we have to do a better job of getting our story out,” she said.
Orange County, similar in size and population to Hillsborough, has 31 employees in its communications department and a payroll of $2.16 million. Nearly 6,600 people are employed by Orange County’s government compared to about 5,000 in Hillsborough County.
Members of the communications staff are among the most visible of county employees as the first contact for news reporters on fast-breaking and long-term stories.
The agency has a broader mission of informing residents about county services, events and initiatives, said Liana Lopez, the county’s chief communications administrator.
In addition to public information officers, who deal with news reporters and churn out press releases, the department employs technical specialists who help reach people using use social media and the county cable television station HTV.
Communications employees also generate proclamations and commendations that county commissioners like to hand out at the beginning of their meetings.
“It winds up saving the county money when we can handle those services in-house instead of having a bunch of contracts for projects,” Lopez said. “If we have a lot of external contracts for communications, it becomes costly and time consuming and you don’t have the centralization.”
Other department responsibilities include planning and running special events such as the town hall meetings commissioners hold, on topics that in recent years included proposed cuts in a popular after-school program for children. Communications personnel also have been involved in the county’s ongoing public outreach effort regarding the future of transportation and mass transit.
Lori Hudson, the former communications director, handles these larger initiatives in her new role as manager of special projects. Hudson’s salary was reduced from $130,000 to $107,806 after she was replaced as director. Annette Spina, the current director, is paid $112,694 a year.
Lopez, part of County Administrator Mike Merrill’s executive team, receives $165,000. In addition to communications, Lopez also oversees Citizen and Communications Support, which includes the county call center, neighborhood relations and customer service — a priority of Merrill’s.
The Office of Community Affairs, which maintains county government connections with neighborhood organizations and diverse ethnic groups, also falls under Lopez’s management.
Since she came on board, Lopez has directed a reorganization of the department, assigning each public information officer to a group of county departments. That way the officers can develop expertise in certain departments.
Murman said she thinks Lopez’s restructuring efforts will boost the county’s profile and better inform residents about how their tax dollars are being spent.
“We’re not in competition with the city,” Murman said. “It’s just that I want people to know that our personnel are doing a lot of work in the community to make things better and to deliver needed services.”
