Kinston moves forward with hiring Public Information Officer

Photo of the city council meeting held on February 21, 2023 inside the Kinston City Council Chambers. Screenshot from Facebook.

During Tuesday night’s meeting, the Kinston City Council authorized city manager Rhonda Barwick to move forward with hiring a Public Information Officer for the city.

I am excited that my colleagues on the city council have agreed to move forward with the hiring of a public information officer for our city. The City of Kinston, North Carolina is a growing organization, with nearly four hundred employees and serving nearly 20,000 citizens. It’s important that an organization of our size has a member of our team dedicated to communicating effectively with the media and members of the public.

The position was budgeted in the Fiscal Year 2023 budget adopted in June 2022, but the city council could not yet reach a consensus on the pay and structure of the position. During Tuesday night’s meeting, the council agreed to use the $40,278 budgeted for the position to hire a part-time employee.

The city manager has shared concerns with the council that we may not be able to attract a multi-media professional with the level of experience that our city needs at this current funding level, and I wholeheartedly agree with her concerns. I’m hopeful that the council will revisit this item in our upcoming budget meetings this spring to ensure that the person who fills this role is adequately supported with the hours, compensation, and resources needed for this type of work.

The city manager’s office hasn’t shared a timeline yet for when the position will be posted, but once it is posted interested individuals will be able to find this position along with other job opportunities at www.kinstonnc.gov.