by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
If you can read it, see it or hear it and it has to do with what’s going on in City government, chances are it went through the Public Information Office on the third floor at City Hall before it reached the public.
Director of Public Information Susan Pelter and the department’s 48-person staff produce everything from brochures and posters to television commercials and the City’s Web site, www.coj.net. Public Information also manages the 630-CITY call center that serves as the public’s one-stop source for all types of City information and referrals for services. She also helps write Mayor Peyton’s speeches, including the one he will deliver next Monday about the City budget.
“Basically we provide communication to the citizens for all departments of City government. Anything the public sees goes through this office,” said Pelter.
There is quite a bit of music-themed art in her office and there’s a good reason for that. Pelter was in the midst of her post-graduate education in vocal performance at the University of Maryland when she got a job as a secretary at the U.S. Capital in Washington, D.C. She was the late Tillie Fowler’s press secretary when Fowler was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and also worked for U.S. Sen. Bob Dole. After Pelter left Washington and returned home to Jacksonville, she worked for mayor John Delaney’s administration for a year and a half and with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra for a couple of years. When John Peyton became mayor, Pelter went to work in the Public Information Office.
“This is the longest I have ever worked for one person,” she said.
There are also things in the office that Pelter said make her laugh, including a collection of memorabilia associated with the “Wizard of Oz.”
Pelter now spends her days managing the flow of information between City government and the people it serves, but she still enjoys singing.
“I don’t have an agent, but I do perform some recitals and sing at weddings and I got to tour France as the soprano in a Welsh choir.”
Pelter also said she’s sure she made the right choice when she decided to give up a career in the concert hall in exchange for one at City Hall.
“Sometimes it’s hard for me to believe I’ve been in government service for more than 20 years, but it’s steady work.”