ELGIN – The Elgin City Council took the first step recently toward hiring a part-time staffer to promote special events and find sponsors.
The council voted unanimously Nov. 12 to create the event coordinator position, which will pay $12,000 per year. The city and the Elgin Chamber of Commerce will split the cost of the salary, with the city paying $9,500 and the Chamber contributing the remaining $2,500.
Several raised questions as to the schedule and pay of the position.
Mayor JJ Francais said he thought of the events coordinator as a part-time staffer who would work as needed on publicizing activities and lining up sponsors for events and city venues.
“This is the start of this position, not the end of it,” he said. “This is us taking the very first baby step forward.” Promoting city events The council started discussing the events coordinator’s position earlier this fall, after Chamber officials asked Francais about hiring someone who would work with the city and the Chamber.
Chamber Vice President Sarah Lile said the organization’s leaders were currently volunteering for event-related tasks, Southwest Ledger reported in its Oct. 15 edition. However, she said, leaders also had fulltime jobs and were too busy to take on additional assignments.
Lile also said Chamber leaders would like to see the city hire someone who could promote Elgin’s small businesses in addition to special events.
The council delayed action on creating the position to ensure that it was included in the city’s current budget. Taking the first step Councilman Travis Bennett said Nov. 12 that he supported funding the position, but the city needed to draw up a more detailed job description.
“I’m OK with the money part of it, but I think there’s a lot to put together still to get it advertised,” he said.
Francais said the events coordinator would have tasks to perform every month, but the amount of work would vary each month depending on events being hosted in the city. He said the city must give the coordinator the flexibility to set his or her own schedule.
“The problem is, there’s not enough room in the budget to make this a full-time position,” he said. “And so, we’re just trying to take the next baby step.”
Francais said once the coordinator begins generating revenue through events, sponsorships and increased revenue the council could look at making that position a fulltime job.
“This is, for lack of a better word, a pilot program,” he said.