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| No Administrator -- But New Position in Knox County Government |
The Knox County Board will now have someone to send out press releases, apply for grants, and be an economic development coordinator for Knox County.
The board Wednesday narrowly approved former Peoria Journal Star corespondent Gary Tomlin as their Development and Communications Coordinator. Tomlin, who was recently laid off from the Peoria newspaper, says that legislation in the state's public records laws says entities must have a public information officer.
Certain board members, including Paul Stewart, expressed concern that the board was trying to put together the duties of an administrator -- which he has pushed for unsuccessfully. Stewart says an administrator could do a more comprehensive job, including the duties granted to Tomlin. Tomlin tells WGIL Stewart's concerns are well founded, but his duties will be different from an administrator's.
"These are very specific duties," Tomlin said. "That would be a very talented public administrator that would be able to administrate all the department of a government and do public information, and do grant-writing, and do economic development. That's the difference. I will not have any authority over any of the other department heads or elected officials."
Tomlin says, however, the position will overlap in terms of both jobs handling communication. He says an administrator would communicate with departments and the public, which would be an overlap of responsibilities. Stewart wasn't the only board member who didn't think it was a good fit for the county as the hiring of Tomlin passed by a vote of 8-5. |
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| 04 30 09 by Newsroom |
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