PR for Brentwood Government Comes at a Cost
The city contracted someone for public relations consultation following the recent financial scandals.
The costs for Brentwood's two recent financial scandals have been mounting.
After the $30,000 in embezzled funds from Chris Seemayer, $85,000 spent on a labor attorney and the hundreds of thousands lost in undeserved overtime pay, the city added one more cost on Monday: $3,000 for "PR for legal matter," as noted in a city document.
The Brentwood Board of Aldermen approved a list of expenditures that included a $3,000 payment to Margaret Welch, a public relations consultant who operates her own business. The city hired her to help with public relations following the recent financial scandals.
Welch helped with press releases and developed talking points for Mayor Pat Kelly, Kelly said.
"We don't have a PR person and we're short-handed enough without a city administrator," Kelly said."Throughout the years, we've used PR firms to help us with different things because we don't have somebody."
The city last hired Welch about a year ago, Kelly said.
See related on Patch:
- After Plea, Details on Seemayer Investigation Are Scarce
- Brentwood Residents: "I'm Embarrassed."
- Overtime Pay Scandal Plagues Brentwood Fire Department
- For Seemayer, Gambling Addiction Could Have Gotten Worse
- Following Scandals, a Q&A With Mayor Kelly (Part I)
- Mayor Kelly: "I Feel Bad for the Reputation of the Firemen"
Bill McKenzie
12:02 pm on Friday, July 22, 2011
It becomes more and more clear that it was a big mistake to increase the mayoral term from two years to four years in the last election. Now with the hiring of a PR consultant I am paying tagain. This time I am paying to have someone put words in the mayor's mouth to placate me about the last time he picked my pocket. And we have to endure this for another four years? I would like to offer my PR services to Mayor Kelly free of charge. It may be for a bad cause but at least it will not cost me anything.
Steven L Vanden Hoek
1:52 pm on Friday, July 22, 2011
This makes my blood boil. If our own elected officials have to hire someone to speak for them, then why are they in office -- this isn't DC, its Brentwood - just talk to us and save our money.