Gainesville, Fla. council doesn't get it

Here's another example of a city council that doesn't get the importance of communications. Faced with tough economic times and a tight budget, the Gainesville, Fla. City Council is thinking of cutting back or even eliminating its city communications department. 

According to an article in the local Gainesville paper (which has since been removed from the web), council members recently engaged in a conversation about the merits of having such a department, and whether it was a "nice to have" or a "need to have" element of the city government. 

I would argue that city communications departments are more necessary than ever in challenging times. How else are you going to get your message across to your residents and other audiences? How else are you going to promote what's happening in your city to those who will come to Gainesville and spend money or open a business? If a negative news story arises (and Gainesville has had a few of those as I remember), will you be caught with no media strategy or way to effectively communicate your point of view? Will you need to hire a PR firm at $150 an hour instead? How does this possibly help your city grow and prosper?

Cutting communications will take Gainesville back several steps. Residents, business owners, visitors, the news media, and citizens of surrounding communities would be left to their own devices to find out information about the city. As I tell clients, if you don't fill the airwaves and the newspapers with your point of view, someone will fill it for you.