Discuss the Draft Communication Coordinator Job Description

The purpose of this case is to receive City Council approval, by consensus, to proceed with the recruitment of a Communications Coordinator. 

This position, based on the discussion from the June 28, 2022, work session, will not include event duties unless otherwise directed by the City Council. The primary event that would normally be handled by this position is the annual Happy Days festival.  For 2022, existing staff are sharing the responsibility to ensure the festival coordination occurs.  For 2023 and beyond, further discussion would be required to address how the festival is organized.  Options being considered are keeping the planning in house under the purview of a different position.  This may include shifting the responsibility from the Administration Department to the Parks Department.

This position will include a variety of full-time communications-related work, including assisting the City Administrator on the recently discussed City Policy project and other initiatives to increase transparency and engagement with the public.  This position will work closely with the management team to proactively get ahead of upcoming City matters and follow through with communications to stakeholders, including staff, the City Council, the public, and others, as appropriate.  This position would be expected to grow our communications efforts to obtain better engagement with the public.  This could be done by implementing new content to our social media platforms, newsletter, and general website content.  As discussed, staff met with the City of Elk River's communications team.  Specifically, this position will model many of its duties after the Elk River format, including the "What to Expect" social media/website posts which include the upcoming topics for the next City Council and work session meetings; and, the "If you Missed the (day-date) City Council meeting check out some of the following actions" (a summary would follow).

Included with communication, would be to ensure the City's branding is consistent across all content distributed to the public.  This would include, but not limited to, formatting of presentations, policies, memos, flyers and advertisements.  This position would work with individuals within the organization to create easy to understand messaging to share with the public.  This will be crucial over the next several years as the City will be experiencing many large projects.  I.e. Ramsey Gateway (Hwy 10), Water Treatment Facility, COR Development and other City infrastructure projects.

Up to 10 minutes. 

Not applicable at this time. 

Colleen Lasher, Administrative Services Director

Based on discussion.