CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cuyahoga County Council is hiring a communications expert to help elevate its image.
The communications and outreach specialist will advise the councilmembers on how to better connect with the communities they serve, share council’s actions and coordinate media strategies “to enhance the County’s and Council’s profile,” according to the job description posted Wednesday.
The person will also develop online surveys “to understand the County’s perspective on specific issues,” the post said.
The position is full time, requiring a Bachelor’s or post-graduate degree in public relations, communications, or related field with three years of experience in public relations, marketing, communications, or journalism. Salary information was not included.
Applications are due by June 2.
This is the first time since the council was formed that it is considering hiring dedicated staff to focus on public outreach and image, though it did have a consultant doing similar work after the initial transition to the charter form of government.
Council President Pernel Jones, Jr., said several colleagues had expressed a need to have someone on staff assisting with social media and connecting with constituents in their district to educate them about council.
“That’s the heart of it,” he said.
But the move also comes after a particularly rocky couple of years. Most notably, council has faced criticism over contributing major public funding to sports stadiums -- like the deal to renovate Quicken Loans Arena, now Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, and ballpark improvements to Progressive Field --its handling of $66 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding that some have called “slush funds,” approving $40 million in renovations to the failed Global Center for Health Innovation, and their push to locate a new county jail on a property the public rejected as “toxic.”
Councilwoman Sunny Simon previously suggested council needs someone on staff to defend council against what she called a “constant barrage of attacks” by media, especially cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.
Jones said that’s one view of the position, but his expectation is that the person will “play a broader role than simply responding to press coverage.” He said the focus is on enhancing council’s reach and visibility in the region.
The idea for the new job came out of a committee discussion back in January, based on suggestions from Councilman Martin J. Sweeney for how to enhance council functions. As head of the Operations, Intergovernmental Relations and Public Transportation Committee, Sweeney recommended conducting a “deep dive” on how the county charter is working, setting council’s legislative priorities and spending $250,000 for a consultant to determine how best council can reach constituents.
At the time, Sweeney said he is “frequently surprised” by how little residents know about the council and what they do. He called for more engagement. Someone suggested hiring a full-time communications specialist to promote more of council’s work in the community, instead.
Sweeney said he’s not convinced a communications specialist will accomplish the same goal.
“It’s premature,” Sweeney told cleveland.com Thursday. “We don’t even know if we need a comms person.”
He also questioned the motives for the new job title.
“If we’re hiring someone to defend us against negative criticism, that’s probably not my number one priority,” Sweeney said. “Having an opportunity for people to understand that we exist and are here to help them...that’s my number one priority.”