Hearing all the voices
The idea recently put forward of hiring a public relations professional
to represent the city of Traverse City brings up some interesting
questions. How will it be decided whose interests are advanced?
Which facts or viewpoints among the many will be advocated? Will
minority opinions have the same access to this representative
voice as the majority? And at what level on a divided city commission
would an issue or viewpoint be put forward in the public interest:
4-3? 6-1?
The primary concern here should be how voices
are represented in a democratic process. If keeping lines of communication
open is the goal, why the apparent (concurrent) effort to limit
the scope of interest and input of advisory groups?
If commissioners and others are truly serious
about "advancing the truth," would the role of a PR
professional then be to assist in helping represent the various
public interests that come before the commission?
If the answer is yes, then perhaps the addition
of such a voice would be helpful to fostering dialogue and open
communication between citizens and elected officials. Whichever
the case, the role and independence of such non-elected paid representatives
within city government merits further investigation.
Rolf von Walthausen
Traverse City
http://www.record-eagle.com/2004/jan/06letter.htm
Change meeting times
The careful orchestration of the recent city commission appointment
process was deviously clever in its execution. Kudos to the Record-Eagle's
Dec. 18 editorial, "Don't strain credibility by spinning
city issues," for hitting the nail right on the head.
When Mr. Jackson presented his idea of hiring
a public relations officer, my first thought was, "Oh goody,
just what we DON'T need: more 'spin' from downtown."
To improve communications with the public the
Downtown Development Authority should hold its monthly meetings
in the evening instead of at 8 a.m. when folks with day jobs cannot
possibly attend. These non-elected officials make a lot of decisions
on how to spend our tax dollars, and public input is nonexistent.
Grand Traverse County Commission meetings in the surrounding townships
are held at night, but county meetings in Traverse City are scheduled
for midday. Why? All public meetings should be scheduled when
the working public can easily attend. This includes the Bay Area
Transportation Authority, too.
A side note: Mr. Jackson's comment that changing
his homestead was a "technicality" and "irrelevant"
speaks volumes. It is amusing to think he is in touch with and
will represent the views of the typical Traverse City taxpayer.
Deni Scrudato
Traverse City
http://www.record-eagle.com/2004/jan/02letter.htm
Don't strain credibility by spinning city issues
It looked like a duck, walked like a duck, quacked like a duck.
And to no one's surprise, it turned out to be
a duck.
Plenty of people saw a plan afoot when T. Michael
Jackson last month switched his official residence from a home
on Long Lake to one on Sixth Street and registered to vote in
Traverse City.
And they were right.
Jackson was chosen on a 4-2 vote Monday from
among seven other candidates to fill a two-year vacancy on the
city commission created when Linda Smyka was elected mayor Nov.
4.
The apparently orchestrated deal didn't do much
for the commission's credibility. It became obvious after the
fact that all the rigmarole of bringing in candidates to answer
questions and talk about their commitment to the city was purely
window dressing.
It looked like a done deal from the beginning. The commission
majority got the candidate it wanted, the other candidates got
some smoke blown their way.
Now, the commission is flirting with another credibility-killer
- a suggestion from Jackson that the city hire a public information
person.
That shouldn't be surprising. Jackson is a career
public relations man who has worked and lived around the world.
His most high-profile job for Dow Corning Co. was working on its
long fight against breast implant lawsuits.
But this is local government. And the city commission
shouldn't be in the business of giving voters the perception that
it has something to spin and is hiring someone to do the spinning.
The move to put a public relations face on local
government issues has taken off in the Grand Traverse area in
recent years.
When local farmer and developer Bill Clous was
accused of multiple wetlands violations earlier this year, he
hired a public relations firm. So has the Traverse City school
board and Traverse City Light and Power. So did the Bay Area Transportation
Authority when it was drumming up support for a new millage.
Most recently, the Grand Traverse County Road
Commission hired a PR firm to help it make its case - or sell
its case - for the Hartman-Hammond bridge.
While it's likely comforting for local officials
to have a public relations professional to turn to, the same can't
be said for voters and taxpayers.
In a town of just 15,000 or so, taxpayers expect
to be able to pick up the phone and get answers from - or gripe
to - the people elected to make policy or those actually running
local government on a day-to-day basis.
Those who sought face time with voters when they
were seeking office should be willing to give them face time after
the election. And voters expect it.
The city commission didn't do its credibility
any good by the way it filled the vacancy.
It certainly doesn't need to hire someone to try to make us feel
good about it.
Keeping communication lines open
BY CHUCK LOMBARDO
It was extremely disappointing to read the negative
references to the public relations profession in the Dec. 18 Record-Eagle
Our View article, "Don't strain credibility by spinning city
issues."
While commenting on the appointment of T. Michael
Jackson to the city commission, the paper delivered an unwarranted
attack on the public relations profession. The editorial is anything
but an accurate portrayal of an honorable profession, and revealed
an uninformed bias toward the role of public relations in the
communication process.
For the Record-Eagle to suggest that the city, or any organization,
would lose credibility by hiring a public relations professional
goes against the principles that form the foundation of public
relations.
Every PR professional I know disdains the term
"spin." Public relations' job is to advance the truth
by presenting facts, not by trying to turn an issue into something
that it's not. In short, "spin" is about hiding the
truth. It's true that some PR people still engage in such tactics,
but they are the extreme minority. It's unfair to characterize
the entire industry with this ancient stereotype.
Our role as public relations professionals is
to facilitate, not obstruct communication as the Record-Eagle
implies. In our industry, the golden rule of media relations is
never, ever to issue a "no comment." In 18 years of
practice, I have never violated that rule. And, a public relations
professional has never, in my experience, been a barrier in the
direct line of communication between the public and decision makers.
To assert that a city public information office would somehow
prevent citizens from picking up the phone and calling their elected
officials is nonsense.
The Public Relations Society of America has a
strict code of ethics that sets the industry standard for the
professional practice of public relations. This code of ethics
includes values that we believe are vital to the integrity of
the profession:
- Serve the public interest by acting as responsible
advocates for those we represent.
- Provide a voice in the marketplace of ideas,
facts, and viewpoints to aid informed pubic debate.
- Adhere to the highest standards of accuracy
and truth in advancing the interests of those we represent and
in communicating with the public.
Any departure from those values is unacceptable
to true public relations professionals, just as it should be to
the public. It's time for the Record-Eagle to put the term "spin"
in the same resting place as the typewriter.
Communication in today's world is both increasingly
complex and a vital function of any organization. It's common
practice for government at all levels to use professionals to
assist them in keeping the public informed - just as they depend
on staff and outside consultants to help with the details of other
critical functions like legal, engineering and finance.
Responding to hot issues is one small part of
public relations. Building relationships with an informed public
through continual and effective communication practices is the
larger role we play. That's building credibility, not killing
it.
Chuck Lombardo, APR, is the president of CML
Public Relations in Traverse City. He is an accredited member
of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), and serves
on the board of directors for the West Michigan Chapter of PRSA.
http://www.record-eagle.com/2003/dec/26flomb.htm
