Erica Riggins is leaving local news to be the public information officer for St. Petersburg, Fla., mayor Ken Welch.
Riggins has been a morning anchor on Spectrum’s 24 Hour Tampa—St. Petersburg, Florida news channel Bay News 9 for more than 20 years.
Riggins, who has a degree in Mechanical Engineering, started her career as an equipment engineer with Motorola. After going back to school to get a journalism degree, she started her TV career at KXII in Sherman, Texas. She then worked at News8 in Austin before joining Bay News 9.
The Weekly Challenger reports, the Mayor’s appointments “come on the heels of two key staff members’ resignations earlier this month. On Sept. 1, former Communication Director Janelle Irwin Taylor resigned, citing a ‘culture of bullying’ fostered by former Deputy Mayor and Chief of Policy Stephanie Owens.” Owens has since resigned.