Transplanting

I had to learn a lot when I bought my first home with my wife. In fact, our first crisis happened less than one day after we signed the paperwork to our new home. The crank on the Florida style jalousie window broke off as I attempted to open the window.

"Who do we call to fix this?" my wife asked, concerned about our new home issue.

"You are looking at him," I said, as I drove off to the nearest home improvement warehouse to get the parts I needed to fix the window.

What I hope my yard will look like one day...

Another important thing I learned is that when you buy some expensive plants to decorate your front yard, you have to know where to plant them to grow the best. If you don't put them in the right situations with the proper sun, moisture, protection from wind and the like, well, that investment may not blossom like you wanted it to.

No, the PIO Chronicles isn't about to become a gardening blog. It is time, however, for me to make a big announcement about my future as a public information officer. Last week, I accepted a position at the Hillsborough County Communications Department to become one of their public information strategist.

This job represents an opportunity for me to advance. After my 21 years at Pinellas County, I owe them a tremendous debt of gratitude for all of the opportunities they have provided me, but the time is right to make the move.

In the meantime, I will still be asked to help with the emergency management effort, in addition to working with the county's water and sewer division, something I have a lot of experience with as well.

The Howard Frankland Bridge crossing Tampa Bay

Even though it will be a short hop across Tampa Bay to my new work location, I will continue to write for this blog to share experiences, tips and tricks of the trade to help create a nationwide virtual joint information system.

Thank you for your continued support.

Tom Iovino, Public Information Specialist
Pinellas County, Florida
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomiovino