FILE PHOTO - Kelowna City Hall

(CARLI BERRY / iNFOnews.ca)

Elected officials spend a lot of time speaking to the media and making public presentations, sometimes with the help of a professional speech writer.

In January, the City of Kelowna posted for a communications officer on its Job Opportunities website.

“This role will be primarily focused on supporting the Mayor’s Office’s communication initiatives,” the posting says. “This role will provide support for the Mayor’s Office, including: researching, writing, and advising on content for web and internal publications, responding to inquiries and managing correspondence, as well as authoring speeches.

“The Communications Consultant provides internal and external strategic communications primarily for the City Manager and Mayor and Council. The position also develops and delivers communications and marketing strategies to maximize effectiveness of corporate priority plans and departmental initiatives.”

The job was posted on Jan. 18 and closed on Feb. 6 so it’s no longer on the city's website.

It’s a non-union position with a salary range of $80,800 to $94,300.

"In the past year, the need to provide more support for advocacy efforts, speaking engagements, correspondence, media and other forms of communication has grown," the City of Kelowna said in an email to iNFOnews.ca. "As one of the fastest growing cities in Canada change is constant and Council has a clear focus on listening, engaging and responding with residents.

"In the past, the work has been done by a number of people throughout the organization including the Executive Office, Partnerships and Communications. It was decided, due to the increase in volume and number and complexity of the issues that span departments, it was prudent and more efficient to dedicate one person to work with the Executive Office.

The city has more than a dozen people working in its communications department.

READ MORE: City of Kelowna's spending of thousands of dollars on mayor videos is unusual

In August 2022, iNFOnews.ca pointed out that despite having 14 employees in that department, it was spending tens of thousands of dollars on outside contractors to film and produce videos, many of which focused on then-Mayor Colin Basran.

Current Mayor Tom Dyas is scheduled to deliver his first State of the City speech to the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce on Feb. 15. The event is already sold out.

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