City Chief Operations Officer Tamara Fountain issued this evening a statement to the Pensacola News Journal accusing reporter Will Isern of printing “allegations and innuendo” after he and Fountain had arranged an interview next week to discuss her background and current position.
She wrote that she had emailed the WEAR TV reporter about the July 24 interview correcting errors about her job title, salary and school attended. However, Fountain did not explain why she did not send a similar email to the daily newspaper when its editorial board quoted the WEAR interview.
Fountain also said that the job description for her position is on the city’s website and she fits all the requirements.
The city website doesn’t list the requirements for the COO position. It only describes the duties of COO:
As Chief Operations Officer (COO), Tamara Fountain serves as a principal advisor to the Mayor and key management staff on matters of operations, policy, and communications. In addition to managing communications, City Council relations, constituent services, and intergovernmental affairs, Fountain also has responsibility for the City’s enterprises, including Pensacola International Airport, the Port of Pensacola, and Pensacola Energy, as well as the Cityâs Human Resources and Technology Resources divisions.
The Chief Operations Officer is responsible for developing and managing the Cityâs communications initiatives and coordinating with City departments, enterprises, and operating units as well as the media in order to foster open government and transparency. The COO is also responsible for supervising and coordinating the efforts of Mayorâs Office staff as well as working to ensure that the performance of key management staff is aligned with Mayoral and City Council priorities and responsive to the needs of citizens.
Fountain also wrote that it’s not the culture of management-level staff to give interviews about themselves. But how is the public to know the qualifications and experience levels of its city leaders, particularly when they don’t even have a resume or job application in their personnel folder?
Maybe her point is that it’s her boss, Ashton Hayward, who should do the interviews and explain why Fountain should be the COO.
Read Statement
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Update: Readers have notified me that the city posted the job requirements today. The requirements are less than the department heads she manages and those of the council executive. Also this job description was not in her personnel folder.
from the city of pcola website……as of today 6pm
Job Classification: Chief Operations Officer
Job Code: 1209
Minimum Preparation for Work:
ï¼ Graduation from an accredited college or university with a Bachelorâs degree in Public or Business Administration, English, Journalism, Public Relations, Communications, Marketing, or a closely related field; and
ï¼ Four (4) years of relevant experience in public administration, business management, media, public relations, journalism, marketing, communications, or an equivalent combination, three (3) of which was in a supervisory capacity.
Necessary Special Requirements:
ï¼ Possession of an appropriate driver license for equipment operated and any license, training or certification required by law or regulation to complete assigned tasks.
Nature of Work:
Working under the general direction of the City Administrator, the incumbent performs a variety of highly responsible, independent, professional tasks and administrative services, which require the exercise of discretion and independent judgment. This position serves as a principal advisor to the Mayor and key management staff on matters of operations, policy, and communications. Serves as the Cityâs primary liaison to the City Council, various State and Federal government agencies, labor unions, community groups, businesses, and other external
organizations.
This position is responsible for developing, implementing, and enterprises, and operating units, as well as, the media in order to foster open government operations and complete transparency. This position reports directly to the City Administrator and serves at the pleasure of the Mayor.
Examples of Work:
ï· Serves as a liaison between the Mayorâs Office, City Council, City departments, and City staff to ensure the Mayor is informed of emergent, time-sensitive, and high public impact operational matters.
ï· Coordinates and directs the efforts of key management staff to resolve high level staffing and operational matters.
ï· Ensures key management staff performance is aligned with Mayoral priorities, responsive to the needs of citizens, and consistent with all applicable City ordinances and policies, as well as, compliant with the Cityâs code of ethics.
ï· Directs the development, implementation, and release of communication strategies, media advisories, press releases, annual reports, articles, speeches, fact sheets, media kits, newsletters, brochures and other publications to include social media, blogs, videos, and any other marketing or advertising efforts of the Cityâs departments and enterprises, in order to keep the public informed of City business and activity.
ï· Serves as the primary point of contact for City Council to discuss the coordination and cooperation of City staff, as needed, to meet the goals and objectives of Council.
ï· Outside of the formal collective bargaining process, serves as the primary point of contact for labor union relations and facilitates open communication and positive relationships with labor unions.
ï· Directs intergovernmental relations for the City and oversees all state and federal lobbying efforts.
ï· Develops, promotes, and builds strong partnerships with community organizations, including business associations, neighborhood associations, advocacy groups, universities, colleges, hospitals, and other institutions of public good for the benefit of improving the quality of life of the City and to support the Cityâs continued regeneration.
ï· Coordinates between the Mayor and key management staff to strategically identify, develop, and implement innovative Mayoral initiatives, programs, and projects.
ï· Supervises and oversees all Mayoral Office staff, including interns, work-study students, and other personnel on a project basis.
ï· Oversees the recruitment and selection process for all Mayoral appointments.
ï· Manages all public appearance and speaking engagement request for the Mayor.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
ï· Knowledge of the strategic role of the Mayor, as well as, the national, regional, and local governmental bodies and agencies that must be engaged in order to meet
Mayoral goals and objectives.
ï· Knowledge of the principles and practices of professional communications, media/public relations, and modern journalistic writing and editing, to include the use of social media, as applied to public relations and promotion of City activities.
ï· Knowledge of the principles and practices of public relations work by means of verbal, written, and visual presentation.
ï· Skill in public speaking and in influencing and facilitating the decision making process of others.
ï· Demonstrated ability to build effective teams, select and retain effective key management staff, and utilization of employee relations skills, as needed, to ensure effective and efficient City staffing operations.
ï· Ability to work effectively across diverse cultures and constituencies.
ï· Ability to communicate effectively to a wide range of people and organizations, together with a high degree of skill in using and improving communication networks across the City and within a large multi-disciplined organization.
ï· Ability to deliver innovative and resourceful solutions, with a demonstrable ability to link the needs of the City to the Mayorâs vision and values and to the cohesive policy framework.
The mental and physical demands and the work environment characteristics described below are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Mental and Physical Requirements:
While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to use hands and fingers to hold or feel, reach with hands and arms, walk, talk and hear. The employee is occasionally required to stand, sit, climb, balance, stoop, and crouch. Specific vision abilities include close, distance, color, and peripheral vision, and depth perception.
Work Environment:
Work is primarily sedentary in nature and performed in an office environment. Employee may be required to travel to and access various City departments to hold meetings with staff. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.
This description is not intended to be, nor should it be construed as an all-inclusive list of responsibilities, skills or working conditions associated with the position. It is intended to accurately reflect the activities and requirements of the position, but duties may be added, deleted, or modified as necessary. This description does not constitute a written or implied contract of employment.