Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves has faced a challenging couple of weeks, dealing with everything from a recycling program rollout gone wrong to the abrupt resignation of the city’s police chief to neighborhood unrest on the east and west sides of his city. Political strategist and crisis communications expert Ryan Wiggins recently sat down to dissect what went wrong and offer guidance on managing municipal communications during turbulent times.
The Mayor Gets Good Marks, But His Team Falls Short
Despite the recent controversies, Wiggins complimented Reeves’ overall performance. “I think that the mayor has done a pretty good job,” she said. “I’ve been pretty impressed with D.C. Reeves.”
- However, Wiggins was far more critical of the mayor’s communications team and staff support. “His communications team should never, ever, ever under any circumstance, make him handle these issues publicly,” she shared. “His comms team, that is their job. Their job is to handle crisis communications.”
TRASH TALK: The city’s recent changes to trash and recycling services became a lightning rod for criticism. Wiggins pointed out a fundamental flaw in the approach: “One of the things that’s really important is that you get the input of the community. So the community was liking twice a week trash pickup, and they did want recycling.”
- Instead of consulting residents first, the city implemented changes that reduced service for those who didn’t want to pay extra for recycling. “You cut a service for the rest of us who didn’t want to pay for that $8,” Wiggins noted, explaining the frustrations of families with multiple trash cans.
Community Satisfaction: “I think that makes people really happy when they feel like they have a say. They’re a lot happier. When they feel like they’re heard, they’re a lot happier.”
Own Your Mistakes Quickly and Completely
When things go wrong, Wiggins advocates for immediate transparency and ownership. “When you screw up, you’ve got to own it,” she said. “You got to say, you know what? This did not go out the way we intended it to be.”
- The key, according to Wiggins, is speed and sincerity: “If you tell your story first, no one else can tell your story. If you own what is going on, no one else can slam you for it.” She criticized the delayed response to the recycling controversy, noting that waiting a week to address public concerns only made matters worse.
Explaining Decision-Making: “I’m a big why person. I think why is the most important question that’s asked? Because if you understand why this mindset was happening, then you understand why they made the decision they made.”
Police Chief Situation: Sensitivity in Sensitive Times
The resignation of Pensacola’s Black police chief presented particular communication challenges that Wiggins believes were mishandled. She emphasized the need for context and transparency, especially given current national tensions around law enforcement and communities of color.
- “When there is a national kind of perception that law enforcement is against people of color right now,” Wiggins explained, “I think you have to be a lot more sensitive to that.”
Without proper explanation, the resignation sparked speculation and rumors that could have been avoided with a joint press conference addressing the circumstances.
- “I’m a big transparency person. Unfortunately, that was beaten into me by being in comms in the state where there is full transparency in sunshine laws and all of that. So I’m a big believer in full transparency upfront.”
On Finding Solutions: “You find solutions, but you have to explain why you made that decision to begin with for people to start understanding and for them to be where they can follow your methodology.”
The Seven-Touch Rule
Wiggins stressed the importance of reaching residents through multiple communication channels, citing the “seven hits” rule: “You don’t remember something until you have been exposed to it seven different times in seven different ways.”
- She criticized the tendency of modern communications teams to rely too heavily on social media: “You can’t just lean on social media. It is what comms people like to do right now. It is the easiest path.” Traditional media, direct mail, and community meetings all play crucial roles in ensuring broad public awareness.
Protecting the Principal
Perhaps most importantly, Wiggins emphasized that a communications team’s primary job is protecting their elected official from unnecessary public relations damage. “The role is to protect the mayor,” she said, criticizing instances where Reeves appeared frustrated or defensive on social media.
- “Whether you are using your official account or you are using your personal account, you are always the mayor of Pensacola.”
For Pensacola moving forward, Wiggins’ advised: invest in proper crisis communications, engage the community before making major changes, own mistakes quickly, and always remember that in public service, transparency and humility go hand in hand.
- “You can’t get short with people when they are frustrated with their government. They’re allowed to be frustrated with their government. It’s an expectation of democracy that you are allowed to speak to power. And power needs to understand that they work for the people.”
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