Goodyear to centralize city communications; police and fire retain in-house public information officers

Tammy Voe, Goodyear’s digital communications director, told the City Council that the city will move to a centralized communications model that combines digital and marketing functions now dispersed across departments. “The plan item is to evaluate and implement a coordinated citywide public communications plan by the end of this fiscal year,” Voe said.

The plan responds to rapid growth — Voe said Goodyear now has about 117,000 residents — and heavier demand on city channels. Over the past six months, she said, the city’s main social accounts received about a million comments and gained roughly 55,000 followers. The proposed unified team would centralize media relations, photography, video production, graphics, website and social media management, internal communications and other core functions now handled in several departments.

Why it matters: Council members said conflicting messages from different departments motivated the change. A central team, staff said, should improve consistency, efficiency and the city’s ability to reach residents and people outside the city. Voe emphasized responsiveness: digital communications has handled an increasing number of service requests and routine questions on social media, and staff will use a new intake or “ticketing” system to measure turnaround times and expected deliverables.

What will change: Voe recommended moving four staff members from other departments (including parks and recreation and economic development) into digital communications while keeping police and fire public information officers inside their departments because of emergency-response needs. The plan also includes recruiting one additional position from an existing vacancy to support the new structure.

Timeline and next steps: Voe said the council will see a budget amendment at the next meeting to reallocate funds across departments to support centralization. Recruitment from an existing vacancy is expected in early spring, staff transitions in May, and implementation by the end of the current fiscal year. The communications team will run training on social-media best practices beginning later this month and continuing into March.

Council reaction: Councilmembers praised the analytics that led to the proposal and raised operational questions. Councilmember Laura asked how the new team will coordinate with police and fire during large-scale emergencies. Voe said the department will work “hand in hand” with public safety chiefs and their public information officers to coordinate messages during crises. Councilmembers also asked that printed outreach such as the city’s InFocus publication remain part of the education strategy.

Ending: Staff will return with the budget amendment at the next meeting and follow the timeline Voe described for recruitment and staff transitions. The council did not take a formal vote on the communications reorganization during this session.