The Office of Hamilton City Manager Janette Smith has committed $200,000 on a communications consultant to assist with “management strategies and strategic communication services as a result of COVID-19”. The purchase was done as a single source purchase because “it was more cost-effective or beneficial to the City” writes the City’s Director of Financial Services and Taxation & Corporate Controller in a procurement update given to Council last week. The City of Hamilton has one of the largest communications departments of any municipality in Ontario with 24 full-time equivalent staff. As John Best of The Bay Observer reported in March “By comparison Ottawa, with a population one and a half times Hamilton has a communications staff of 31. The Communications staff in Toronto totals 54, serving a population of 3 Million.” “A [Purchase Order] for $200K was established in the spring as part of contingency planning in case of staff illness/absences/vacancies, but to date the City’s COVID-19 communications have been handled by Communications staff, and that continues to be the case”, a spokesperson for the City emailed The Public Record after the publication of this story. Other emergency and non-competitive procurement spending by the City Manager’s Office includes $45,000 to Day Communications Group Inc. for internal communications work and $95,900.00 to Bang The Table Canada Ltd. related to the City’s new public engagement portal on the City website.