Citing an emergent need, Front Royal Town Manager Steven Hicks last November contracted the services of public relations firm Williams Media, LLC from the Richmond, Va. area. That may be news to many Front Royal residents, as, ironically, no press release was issued by the Town.
The firm’s owner, Joanne Williams, describes her role as a “Communications, Marketing, Public Relations & Crisis Management Strategist” according to her LinkedIn profile. She lists experience in several public relations roles, including “crisis communications for a complaint-plagued city.”
Town residents may be further surprised that a one-year contract, with options for renewal, agrees to pay Ms. Williams $125 per hour, with no cap on the number of hours worked, in addition to mileage when traveling to the area, and lodging arranged by the Town.
Because the hiring of Williams Media, LLC was never on the agenda of a town council meeting, nor was there any council discussion of bringing on a public information officer (PIO) to be paid with public funds, Royal Examiner, on Jan. 20, 2022, reached out to each member of the council, as well as Mayor Holloway, with several observations and questions:
- Through a FOIA request, it appears that the Town’s Public Information Officer Joanne Williams (Williams Media LLC) was hired without the proper Virginia Procurement Act procedures being followed.
- Ms. Presley, your clerk of council, confirmed on Jan. 19 that the council did not discuss the contract with Williams, nor did council vote on the contract. Furthermore, there was no bid put out to solicit candidates for the contracted position.
- After speaking to Joanne Williams on Jan. 19, I learned that she is being paid $125 per hour. She relayed to me that she and Town Manager Steven Hicks were friends prior to her being hired, and had worked together on a project in Petersburg, Va.
- What was the degree of council involvement in the decision to hire an outside contracted PIO versus keeping the function in-house at minimal expense (most recently whatever compensation, if any, Todd Jones was given to add PIO responsibility to his IT Director’s duties)? And what was the circumstance of council input, if any, in the process?
- With whom did the idea of an outside contracted PIO position originate? And who decided the scope of work?
- When was the contract provided to the council?
- Was there a bidding for services? If not, why not?
- The language of the contract suggests Ms. Williams will be included in important discussions and policy decisions. One of Ms. Williams’s duties is listed as “building political alliances” — By Town Charter, town elections are mandated to be non-partisan, which has been circumvented in the last decade by partisan political endorsements and sample ballots showing party-sponsored candidates. Who decided that aspect of the contract? And is there any council concern of a potential charter conflict there?
- Did the council ever discuss the need to hire a public information officer with no connection to the community? Why was having a contracted person handling FOIA requests and carrying out duties that have historically been handled by town staff, as well as developing a public relations strategy, necessary?
- Ms. Williams indicated in our conversation on Jan. 19 that if she learned she was improperly retained by the Town, she would “step back” from her duties. Will the council seek termination of her contract because the Virginia Procurement Act procedures were not employed, as is required by Virginia code?
- Will Mr. Hicks be asked to explain his reason for abandoning the Virginia code pertaining to procurement? Will he be held accountable?
- How much taxpayer money has been paid, or is due to be paid, to Williams Media LLC since her contract began? Is there a limit on annual payments to the PIO Officer?
- The Town Manager does have the authority to sign off on contracts up to a certain amount, ($25,000) but shouldn’t those contractors be found using the Virginia Procurement Act parameters as well?
Regarding these submitted questions, Councilwoman Amber Morris immediately replied, “In your request of a response from each of us I must let you know that this predates my time on council. I do hear your questions and concerns and I will ask questions.”
Councilman Joseph McFadden, whom Royal Examiner spoke to via phone on Jan. 19, regarding the circumstances surrounding hiring Williams, emailed on Jan. 20 to clarify his comments during that conversation, “For clarity: I said that I believed that she may have been brought in to bridge the gap after Todd Jones left for his position with the County. Which I believe may still be accurate. Todd had already left.
“Also, I said I did not recall discussing it. Which remains true. However, after following up with Steven immediately following our call, I understand why a Council discussion on this point would have been very brief.”
McFadden, however, did not respond to any of the questions posed to him, other council members and the mayor.
Four days later, Councilmember Letasha Thompson replied, “I have had a lot going on the past few days. I apologize for not meeting the deadline in your email. I am requesting additional information from our staff to better answer your email.”
Thompson has not responded further.
Mayor Holloway and Council Members Lori Cockrell, Gary Gillispie, and Scott Lloyd failed to respond in any way to the questions posed to the panel.
Hicks, in a Jan. 20, 2022, response to a Royal Examiner email inquiry “Was the hiring of Ms. Williams due to an emergent need?” replied, “Yes. In my Town Talk with Mike – which he thought was as [SIC] good idea – I shared we were getting a PIO so he and other media/press can have a one-stop-shop (PIO) like other localities since Todd Jones left. I am also hoping she can do the Town Talk with Mike soon. There is so much good stuff going on that we need to get the word out. Mike has been very helpful and between the Royal Examiner and Joanne – we will be able to share those stories.”
Hicks refers to a “Town Talk” interview with Royal Examiner publisher, Mike McCool, recorded on Dec. 14, 2021, some two weeks after the contract was signed with Williams Media, LLC.
In the same Jan. 20 email, Royal Examiner asked, “Which would permit the usual process to be bypassed?” Hicks wrote in reply, “All processes were followed according to procurement requirements and appropriate reviews and approvals from the Town Attorney and Purchasing. The Town Manager can signed [SIC] a contract up to $25K.”
On Jan. 26, 2022, Royal Examiner reached out to Ms. Williams, asking how fees for her services would be paid. She initially replied, via email, “The fees are expected to come out of 1205-43002 Tourism Professional Service and are expected to remain the same for FY23.”
A short time later, however, Williams sent another email, stating, “I gave you incorrect information in the earlier email today. Funding for special events (through the Special Events Coordinator) are expected to come out of 1205-43002 Tourism Professional Service. Fees for Williams Media LLC will come from each department, as public information touches each department.”
There may be a bit of confusion swirling around the need for and the hiring of a public information officer, but one thing is abundantly clear: with budget time upon us, and departments being urged to trim their requests, everyone will have less money to work with, as $125 an hour is bound to add up fast. That may be especially true as Royal Examiner was informed the afternoon of Jan. 26, that ALL media inquiries concerning town operations and business, right down to the correct spelling of names of involved parties or sign-up sheet public speakers at town meetings, must now go through the out-of-town PIO, rather than town departmental staff members.
That was a situation Council Clerk/Administrative Assistant Tina Presley was apparently not aware of the evening of the Jan. 24 council meeting in question when she was queried by Royal Examiner reporter Roger Bianchini at the meeting’s conclusion for correct spellings of the names of recognized Solid Waste staff, one BZA appointee, and one of four signed up Public Comments speakers, in addition to verification of the makers and seconders of several motions made that evening. “That’ll have to be tomorrow,” Presley told Bianchini of assembling the requested information without mentioning a necessity of the inquiry having to be made through the Public Information Officer.
With no names yet provided 2-1/2 days after the meeting, Town Manager Hicks was contacted by the Royal Examiner reporter late Thursday morning, Jan. 27, about this policy change. Prior to going off the record for a more informal conversation, Hicks claimed such redirected municipal information-gathering policies away from staff were commonplace in order to save that staff time in dealing with the media. Bianchini replied that perhaps that was due to some staff, such as the town manager himself (now town manager, FREDA executive director, and town building official) and Ms. Presley (administrative assistant and council clerk), now pulling what had been two or three full-time or near full-time jobs in the wake of his predecessor’s downsizing of the town government staff and operations. It was a downsizing famously labeled “right-sizing” by the interim town manager, that has been coupled with the likely more expensive outsourcing of functions like Public Information Officer, tourism marketing, and intra-municipal agency (vs. WC EDA) civil litigation legal representation.
“Don’t punish the media for the internal mismanagement of the town government by recent managers and elected officials that have resulted in staff having less time to deal with media questions, which heretofore seemed to be considered part of their job,” Bianchini said he suggested to the current town manager.
About The Author
