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FPUA adopts written branding and communications policies, names public affairs as brand steward
Summary
The board approved Resolution UA2025-22 to add Section 7 to FPUA rules, establishing written policies on public content oversight, media relations, social media, crisis communications, volunteer participation and naming the public affairs and sustainability team as the official steward of the FPUA brand.
The Fort Pierce Utilities Authority on Dec. 2 adopted Resolution UA2025-22 to formalize branding and communications policies.
Rachel Tennant, director of public affairs and sustainability, introduced the package and said the authority had been managing communications in an "ad hoc" way without written policies. Tennant said the new Section 7 codifies processes so staff and managers know how branded materials are routed and approved and to set expectations for media and emergency communications.
Teresa Coulter of VanCour Jones Communications, the outside consultant on the project, said the team began work in January and iteratively revised policies with program managers, HR and legal review. Coulter said the policies are grounded in FPUA's core values; "core values don't mean much unless you're actively acting them out," she told the board.
The policy package includes: 7.1 public-content oversight; 7.2 media and press communications (including nontraditional media and influencers); 7.3 social-media guidance and the note that fpua.com remains the official information source; 7.4 crisis-communications protocols to create a coordinated response team; 7.5 volunteer-activity participation and updated volunteer incentives in rule 2.11; and 7.6 establishing the public affairs and sustainability department as brand steward for logos, templates and tone.
Board members asked about the board's role in crisis communications; Tennant said the rules govern staff conduct and that staff will make messaging support available to the board so members "can all be speaking from the same informed position." The resolution passed on a roll-call vote.
The board also approved a modification to rule 2.11 to add incentives for staff volunteering as part of the same action.
