A communications officer in Marlborough? Why mayor, city council are at odds over job

MARLBOROUGH — Mayor J. Christian Dumais' desire to hire a communications specialist is being questioned by some members of a City Council subcommittee.

During a meeting of the council's Finance Subcommittee on Feb. 21, Dumais requested that a new position — communications and special projects director — be created at City Hall. Whoever is hired for the position, which would come with a salary of $79,000, would be responsible for generating press releases, maintaining social media accounts, updating the city's website, writing monthly newsletters and other communications-related tasks.

Dumais said the communications director would also be responsible for releasing and updating information about city events, letting residents know about programs being run throughout the city, being a point of contact for residents and alerting residents about emergencies or active situations taking place in the city.

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Dumais, who was elected mayor in November, said during his campaign that a key part of his platform was increasing the city's communication to residents, something he suggested was lacking in the previous administration under Arthur Vigeant.

"As a member of the City Council, I knew that this was information that I wanted, and that feeling was only increased during the campaign last year," Dumais told the Daily News this week.

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Similar communications positions exist in other communities, including Framingham and Natick. Dumais' chief of staff, Ryan Egan, was Framingham's public information officer in 2022-23.

Dumais said the salary figure comes from a survey of similar positions in surrounding communities.

"We did a survey of the other positions and picked the average from those results," he said. "This is a highly skilled position — it isn't an entry-level job for someone that is fresh of out of college."

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Dumais told the Daily News he wants someone who is fluent in Portuguese to improve communication with Marlborough's growing Brazilian-American community.

"We've noticed there is a real lack at City Hall for someone who can speak Portuguese," the mayor said. "There is nobody in the mayor's office at this time that speaks Portuguese. We need to be able to have somebody that can speak the language and translate for the city."

Some subcommittee members question job's necessity, salary level

Some Finance Subcommittee members questioned whether the position is necessary. Ward 5 Councilor and Finance Subcommittee Chair John Irish expressed concern about the economics of spending money on this position.

"My concern is strictly the economics side of it, creating this new position at this salary," he said.

Ward 6 Councilor Trey Fuccillo agreed the city needs to improve its communication, but is also concerned about the salary level.

"I was very surprised this week when I had two constituents reach out, and they both had concerns about the salary, and it does look like it is to be on the higher end," Fuccillo said. "I do agree that communication is the backbone of what is happening (in the city), but I do still have a concern over the salary and that amount. There is a need for an increase in communications, but I just don't know if another position adds to that."

City Council President Mike Ossing said during the Feb. 21 meeting that there are more pressing city positions to be filled.

"I'm not thrilled (about) adding a new position just six weeks in," he said. "To me, there are higher priorities in the city — hiring a DPW commissioner, hiring a comptroller — those are more important in my world than an information person. I feel like it is premature to move on this order."

Should communications specialist report to the mayor — or to the council?

Ossing added that he thinks the City Council should have authority to hire for the position, because the employee will be working for all residents.

"I don't want this to be a PR tool for the mayor's office, but a PR function for the city; therefore, the City Council needs to have input into the hiring," he said.

Ward 4 Councilor Teona Brown said the position is important, and that the best candidate should be recruited.

"I don't find the salary of $79,000 to be too much," she said. "I know that I want to have the best person possible in this role. The technical knowledge that is necessary to handle the website and the social media, I would move to approve this position."

At-Large City Councilor Mark Oram said the position is needed, noting that other communities have had similar positions filled for years. He said that during a recent meeting with the city's emergency management group, being able to communicate efficiently with non-English speaking portions of the city was cited as a top issue, something a bilingual communications specialist could assist with.

"When you look at all the towns that do have it, we need to catch up to those other communities," Oram said. "Last night I attended the emergency management group's meeting, and one of their most important needs is communication with various ESL communications."

The Finance Subcommittee motioned to table a vote to its next meeting.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: New Marlborough communications officer? Mayor's pitch questioned