When you hear words on behalf of Taylor’s municipal government, odds are that the words come from two ladies in particular.
Stacey Osborne and Kendra Maness, Taylor’s respective communications director and assistant public information officer, were guests on the eighth episode of the Taylor Press video interview series with city of Taylor staff, “Taylor Talk with Jason Hennington,” on July 11.
“We are a two-person department. … I help out with their high-end communications and problems and issues,” said Osborne. “Kendra handles the day-to-day activities for the city and we’re so grateful that she’s there because she handles everything like all of the difficult things that happen throughout the day all of the complaints that come in. … She handles literally everything that’s at City Hall that needs to be done.” Osborne steps in when she’s needed.
“I help our City Council members. I help them talk to the media, and I also help city leadership,” said Osborne. “I give them support with long-term communications strategy and planning.”
The duo discussed many aspects of their job, including social media and what role its played with disseminating accurate and inaccurate information throughout the community. They will sometimes respond to residents’ comments on their official social media pages.
“It is a little bit of mixture of sometimes it’s just an opinion or someone’s just kind of venting about something,” said Manness. “On our official channel, if they ask a question or its something that I can actually answer and they’re not just trying to stir the pot a little bit, I’ll be sure to answer them as quickly as I can or direct them to whoever they need to talk to.”
Osborne and Maness also talked about their background in the industry, communication methods and more. The pair stepped in for planned guest Jeff Wood, Taylor chief financial officer, who will take the hot seat in a future episode.
The interview is a casual conversation where officials discuss their work, upcoming projects, parts about their life and ways their departments connect to the community.
The show is scheduled to broadcast on the second Monday of every month at noon. The show complements the Taylor Press’ other live show, “Around the Watercooler,” which airs at 11:15 a.m. Thursdays and primarily covers local sports along with other topics.
To view this month’s interview, visit http://www.facebook.com/gotaylortx and scroll down to the July 11 video.
