A 2nd Public Information Officer

FortWayneNews.com has confirmed (and I have as well) that Ozzie Mitson has been hired as the city's 2nd PIO. For those that might not remember, Mitson was the campaign manager for Nelson Peters and was an integral part of John Crawford's campaign as well. It appears that mayor Henry is taking open government seriously and adding a 2nd PIO should make it much easier for citizens to get information. However I do have a couple of concerns.

First, the 2008 budget passed by the last city council only allocated money for 1 PIO (see image below) so it's unclear to me where that money is going to come from - especially in light of the City Controller's presentation on Tues night showing the city finances could be as much as $10 Million/year in the hole thanks to HB1001. Second, it's a little disconcerting that a press release was issued about the hiring of two PIOs yet nobody seems to be able to get a hold of it. I would suggest the first action the new PIOs should take is to place all the press releases in an easy-to-find place on the city website in a timely manner...


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