[Press Release] : FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: City hires community relations director

[Press Releases]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Sara Humm
Community Relations
573-874-7240

City hires community relations director

COLUMBIA, MO (December 21, 2015) - The City of Columbia has hired Steven Sapp as the community relations director.  While Sapp will be new to the position, his career with the City has spanned four departments and more than three decades.

Sapp said he’s humbled and honored to be chosen for the position and he couldn’t be prouder to dedicate his entire career to the City of Columbia and what it stands for.

“It truly boils down to the City’s vision statement: Columbia is the best place for everyone to live, work, learn and play. It’s a great organization to work for and Columbia is a great place to live,” Sapp said.

When speaking about his new role, Sapp stressed the importance of interactions between the City and community members.

“To improve the quality of life for citizens, we need to continue listening to our customers and be open and honest,” Sapp said. “We have a great team of public information officers and other staff members. I’m excited to work together to improve and expand on our City communications by using new technologies and new ideas.”

Columbia City Manager Mike Matthes said Sapp is the right person to become the City’s first community relations director.

“Steve knows the community and the community knows Steve,” Matthes said.  “He’s an honest and honorable man taking on a challenging task.”

This fall the Columbia City Council approved changing to name of the Public Communications Department to the Community Relations Department. The change was made to reflect the expanded functions of the Department which include internal and external strategic communications, listening and responding to citizens, telling stories through videos, photos and graphics, fielding media requests, conducting the citizen survey and public outreach.

When Sapp takes on the new position, he said he would like to work with others in the community to create a citywide strategic communication plan.

“My goal is community outreach,” he said. “We need to work with other community organizations and partners to make sure our communications are cohesive.”

Sapp, a fourth generation Boone County resident, will celebrate 36 years with the City next month.  His career with the City of Columbia began in 1980 with Public Safety Joint Communications answering 911 phone calls. In 1989, he joined the Columbia Fire Department as a firefighter. He was assigned to the Fire Marshal's Division as a lieutenant in 1998; he worked his way up to a captain, then to battalion chief as the fire marshal. Sapp retired from the Columbia Fire Department in June 2012. In July of 2012, Sapp became the public information officer for the City of Columbia Public Works Department.

“I’m delighted to have Steve in this position,” Matthes said.  “He’s had a great career with the City in different positions and he’ll be a great asset to the City in this capacity.”

Sapp will begin as the community relations director on Jan. 1; his starting salary is set at $92,040.



This release has the following attachments:

http://www.gocolumbiamo.com/CMS/pressreleases/downloadfile.php?id=1087



 -30- 

______________________________________________________

You have received this message because you subscribe to the City of Columbia's Web Mail service. To view linked material click on provided links or copy and paste them into your browser's address menu.
______________________________________________________

Archived press releases can be viewed online at:
http://www.gocolumbiamo.com/Public_Comm/Public_Information/Press_Releases/
______________________________________________________

If you would like to stop receiving messages, modify list options, or subscribe to other lists visit the Web Mail section of our Web site and follow the instructions provided. 

http://www.gocolumbiamo.com/Web_Mail/