Michele Gerlach has been named director of communications for the City of Andalusia and the City Utilities Board, Mayor Earl Johnson announced Tuesday.

Gerlach is the former publisher and editor of The Andalusia Star-News, which she has led for the past 13 years.

In her new role, she will assume responsibility for external and internal communications for the City of Andalusia and the City Utilities Board; manage the city website and its social media presence; and work alongside the economic development team. She also will take on grant writing responsibilities when the city’s current grant writer retires later this summer.

“Michele is a natural fit for this job,” Mayor Johnson said. “Over the past decade or so, she has documented the major decisions of this administration and the outcomes of those decisions. She has been a champion of Andalusia and Covington County, and comes to us with a unique understanding of what we seek to accomplish for the City of Andalusia.”

In Andalusia, she has served as president of the Andalusia Rotary Club, and served on the boards of the Andalusia Ballet, the LBW Community College Foundation, the Andalusia High School Scholarship Foundation, and the Chamber of Commerce. She is the former president and chairman of the board of the Alabama Press Association, and is a graduate of Leadership Alabama.

“Michele’s understanding of our community, and her network of contacts throughout the state can only help us better deliver our message,” Mayor Johnson said. “We look forward to having her on board.”

Gerlach said, “I am incredibly excited about this opportunity to help build and promote a community I’ve come to love. My friends across Alabama are always amazed by the things we have in Andalusia that other communities our size don’t have. I tell them that we have been blessed with progressive leadership at the local level, and from those who have represented us in Montgomery. I could not have found more interesting work to do.”

Gerlach previously managed and worked in newspapers in Brewton, Atmore, Russellville and Alexander City, Ala. She was director of public relations at Jefferson Davis Community College, where she also managed a federal grant.

She will officially begin her work with the City of Andalusia and the City Utilities Board on July 1.