4 October 2019
Media: The Mud
Topic: Council public relations staff
Enquiry
What comment does the council have to the finding of a Radio New Zealand investigation that found the following:
"Rotorua was a big spender on them - $166,000 in 2018-19 - though at the same time it boosted in-house PR staff by 250 percent from two to seven."
*The Mud also asked the Mayor for comment. She referred The Mud to the CE for comment as it was an operational matter.
Response
We firstly need to clarify that the increase from 2 to 7 staff has occurred over a six year period not 2018-2019 as you've quoted from the RNZ story.
See below comment from CE Geoff Williams.
From CE Geoff Williams:
Council information five years ago was what appeared in newspapers but now people expect to be able to engage with Council in a variety of ways including face to face, by phone and via the likes of social media. In addition, there are heightened expectations to have a say on all sorts of council matters and to know about a multitude of council work that impacts on them or is happening in their community. Those expectations are real and are something this organisation has worked very hard to try and meet.
During the past few years Rotorua Lakes Council has made a considerable effort to increase engagement with the community and increase the reach of council information by using multiple channels, recognising that people want to access news that is relevant to them in different ways.
The declining reach of traditional media has added to the increased need and demand for Council communications, information and engagement in order to reach the more than 72,000 people now living in our district.
Council has introduced new channels including livestreaming of meetings, a dedicated online consultation tool (Let's Talk - Korero Mai), a weekly e-pānui and the Tatau Tatau magazine.
Added to that is the need for internal communications, information and engagement, the management and maintenance of multiple channels including social media, supporting and maintaining stakeholder relations, graphics, servicing media, providing communications support for multiple projects, services and work programmes, corporate planning and civil defence.
Communications plays an essential, multi-layered role that requires adequate resourcing. We continue to monitor and review how we engage and communicate with the community and will continue to assess opportunities and seek new channels and new ways to reach residents.
