NEWPORT BEACH

City leaders are discussing whether to hire a public information officer to coordinate public and press inquiries to the city. The information officer would distribute information to residents, act as a liaison with homeowners associations and respond to the community’s complaints. If approved by the City Council, the estimated budget set aside for the effort would be $125,650 per year. Of that, $55,000 to $65,000 would be used to pay for the officer.

The idea of hiring a public information officer immediately had some community activists concerned that they would no longer be able to directly speak to council members and city officials.

But Deputy City Manager Dave Kiff reiterated that the spokesperson would act as a middleman and would not prevent contact with officials.

A decision on the issue has been temporarily shelved while the staff continues to research other options that wouldn’t involve hiring another staff person, Kiff said.