[Archived] City Manager Appoints Public Information Officer

City Press Release


	City of Alexandria, Virginia Office of the City Manager Alexandria City Hall 301 King Street, Suite 3500 Alexandria, Virginia 22314-3211 www.alexandriava.gov Telephone: 703.838.4300 Fax : 703.838.6343

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2001
CONTACT: PHILIP SUNDERLAND, CITY MANAGER (703) 838-4300

CITY MANAGER APPOINTS PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER

City Manager Philip Sunderland announced the appointment of Barbara J. Gordon as the City’s new Public Information Officer. Mr. Sunderland said, "I am very pleased to have Barbara Gordon as Alexandria’s new Public Information Officer. Her extensive public information and media experience, her knowledge of local government and her work in the private sector, all of which has occurred in Northern Virginia, means that she already knows Alexandria and is very familiar with the issues affecting the City locally and in the region." Ms. Gordon is scheduled to begin work on July 16.

Ms. Gordon’s career in public information and media relations in Northern Virginia spans 23 years. The majority of Ms. Gordon’s professional career has been with local government, beginning in 1981 as Public Information Officer with the City of Falls Church, Virginia. In this position she provided citizens, civic organizations, staff and news media with timely and accurate information about activities of the City government through monthly newsletters, annual reports and calendars, news releases, brochures and cable T.V. programs.

In 1990, Ms. Gordon became Deputy Director for the Office of Public Affairs in Fairfax County. In this 10-person office, Ms. Gordon headed the Operations/Special Projects Division and oversaw the Publications and Citizens Assistance Division. She planned, supervised and coordinated special projects and events. She also assumed the duties of acting director of the office in the absence of the director, and had responsibility for the supervision of administrative office functions including the preparation of the budget, staff supervision, purchasing and personnel.

In 1992, Ms. Gordon returned to the City of Falls Church to become the Assistant to the City Manager where she supervised the Public Information and Economic Development Offices. She was editor-in-chief of the monthly government newsletter, the chief spokesperson for all City government departments including the City Manager and Police Department, and produced and hosted the monthly "Focus on Falls Church" cable TV news/feature show. She provided daily reports to the media, held frequent interviews, scheduled press conferences and press briefings, and wrote press releases. She also directed the Economic Development staff in promoting business retention and expansion through various business publications. She represented the City Manager at state and regional meetings, including the Virginia Municipal League and monthly meetings of the Northern Virginia and Metropolitan Chief Administrative Officers.

Ms. Gordon became Director of Media and Community Relations for Virginia Power, now Dominion Virginia Power, in 1998. In this position, she was responsible for media relations and planning, coordinating and administering community activities for the Northwest Region, which includes Northern Virginia west to the Blue Ridge mountains and south to Charlottesville. She was the company spokesperson during electrical outages, storms and other events. She developed the media relations program and outreach, and wrote the operations manual for media relations.

In 1999, Ms. Gordon was appointed Executive Director, Greater Falls Church, Virginia, Chamber of Commerce where she is currently the President and CEO. In addition to running all aspects of the Chamber of Commerce from programming to membership, she is also the liaison with Falls Church officials regarding business-related issues.

Her private sector career also included working as a Northern Virginia reporter for a number of newspapers beginning in 1978, prior to accepting her first job with Falls Church.

Ms. Gordon has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a major in Journalism and minors in Political Science and English.