The interview with incoming Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran demonstrated the value of public officials doing interviews with the media. The state representative expressed his views and explained his actions. The listeners learned more about him and left understanding him better.
The Hayward Administration doesn’t do that. The mayor has not held a town hall meeting since December 2013. He did not give a State of the City address in 2014 or 2015. His last “Morning with the Mayor” session with local media was in January 2014.
The shame is they were effective and served a purpose. The town hall meetings took city officials into the neighborhoods. The State of the City addresses outlined his vision and goals for the city and tied them to his proposed budget. The “Morning with the Mayor” session let all the media ask questions, and the mayor was getting better at expressing his points.
Unfortunately, he and his constituents are the losers in this scenario. Most elected officials get better at dealing with the public and media toward the end of their first term. Hayward is not after five and half years in office.
Meanwhile, the public is left on the outside trying to figure what is happening in City Hall.
