Middletown terminates contract of communications manager

City has had three employees in this position the last seven years.

MIDDLETOWN — For the fourth time in seven years, the city is looking to hire a communications director.

The termination of Byron McCauley, hired as communications manager in July 2023, was unanimously approved during Tuesday’s City Council meeting. He was on a six-month probation.

He was scheduled to make $70,915.52 annually, according to city records. A communications manager typically handles internal and external communications and is the city’s spokesperson when dealing with the media.

McCauley was the city’s third communications manager hired since 2017.

In April 2023, Missy Knight, the city’s communications manager, resigned, City Manager Paul Lolli said at the time.

When contacted by this news agency, Knight, who was scheduled to make $68,148 in 2023, said she signed an “agreement,” and didn’t resign.

Knight, Lolli and Ben Yoder, the city’s law director, signed her separation agreement at the end of March 2023.

She was hired when Shelby Quinlivan, the city’s communications manager for nearly five years, resigned in January 2022 to accept a position as community relations and development manager with the Washington Centerville Public Library.

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