Olivia Damavandi, former assistant editor of The Malibu Times, has been appointed as the City of Malibu’s media information officer.
This is a newly created position within the city and Damavandi’s salary will range anywhere between $63,000 and $83,000, plus benefits.
Damavandi as the media information officer will be responsible for the management and development of a city-wide communications and public relations effort based on the needs identified by an ad hoc committee that was formed to determine the city’s needs in this area. Other responsibilities of the media information officer would include overseeing the city newsletter and press releases, updating and improving the city’s Web site and cable television content, and serving as the principal city spokesperson with media representatives.
Mayor John Sibert told The Malibu Times in February that the new position would help the council and city staff be on the same page when interacting with the numerous government and private agencies that have a stake in Malibu.
“We’re 13 thousand people, but we’re subject to more jurisdictions and more controversy than almost any other city of even four or five times our size in California,” Sibert said. “We’re under scrutiny all the time, we’ve got a large number of visitors coming in, we end up with probably more lawsuits per capita than any other city in the state, because everybody just automatically sues the city.”
There was initial criticism at the announced salary at a possible $90,000, but city officials said it was lower than using the PR firm Fiona Hutton and Associates, which the city hired to deal with water quality issues facing Malibu. The contract with that PR firm, which cost the city approximately $96,000 per year, expired at the end of 2010
City officials also said the salary of the media information officer would never exceed the higher amount of $83,000, plus the benefits.
Damavandi, a Malibu native, graduated in May with a master’s degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She attended Webster Elementary School and graduated from Malibu High in 2003. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Hawaii. While at the school, she was the editor of The Hawaii Pacific Review, a literary magazine.
The 25-year-old had started her career at The Times in early 2008 when she became copy editor for Malibu Times Magazine and a freelance writer for both the magazine and the paper. She was hired as a staff writer for the paper to replace Jonathan Friedman in November 2008, and was promoted to assistant editor in October 2009.