CdA OKs $72.7M Budget, PR Person

On Tuesday, the City Council approved a budget that trimmed $1 million from a previous draft. However, a line item of $65,000 for a communications person ($45,000 in salary) remained in the budget. The Coeur d’Alene Press reports on Councilman Dan Gookin’s attempt to remove the line item: “The budget also includes $65,000 for a contracted communications position where a part-time contractor would share city information in a variety of print and online mediums. Around $45,000 of it would be for wages. A motion by City Councilman Dan Gookin to remove the position from the budget - as well as several other line items like $16,000 for East Sherman Avenue -failed four votes to three before the budget was approved by the same tally. “We need to get facts out to the public,” Mayor Sandi Bloem said on the need for the communications position, pointing to topics like the McEuen Field project that were constantly being discussed around the community for more than a year/ Tom Hasslinger , Coeur d’Alene Press. More here.

Question: Should the city spend $65,000 for a public relations person?