Malibu is offering to pay a media information officer a base salary of $66K to $86K plus benefits. This is way, way too much for a government job like this, especially in our economy. The job description says the person will be the media spokesperson. Every article I have seen in the past two years has the mayor or the mayor pro tem speaking on behalf of the city. Further, the job description says, “Knowledge of various journalistic styles; English usage, spelling, grammar and punctuation.” Every public relations intern at $10 an hour is expected to have these skills. Councilman Sibert commented that the PIO is responsible for describing what the city is doing. Huh? When he added that “it’s a tough job,” I threw up my hands.
So retract that salary range and give us taxpayers a break, City Council. I guarantee that you can find someone for $35-40K with lots of experience who will be thrilled to get the job.
Susan Tellem