The Mike Ferguson In The Morning Show discovered this week that St. Louis County Executive Sam Page hired a New York City-based public relations firm to handle messaging related to the County’s COVID-19 efforts…
…and maybe also to rehab his image and influence in the process.
Despite there being reputable public relations firms here in the metro area, Fenton Communications got the gig to the tune of just under two million dollars. That money is from the federal CARES Act and the funds in question are being paid out of a part of the budget that must not require Council oversite, because this was done without their input or approval.
As of this morning, Fenton Communications has been paid $1,253,073.19 according to the County’s website.
As Gabe and I discussed this morning, much of the tasks seem legit for money set aside for COVID-19 mitigation efforts.
But why is part of the $2 million job promoting specific politicians?
Fenton’s work includes the stated goal of “…further amplify [Sam Page’s and Health Department Interim Director Emily Doucette’s] messages and raise their profiles.” That part of the PR plan goes on to say the firm will “…increase their exposure to the public and continue to build trust with the people of St. Louis County.”
So, part of that two million dollars of taxpayer money went to St. Louis County just to be sent to New York City in order to convince the people of St. Louis County to like and trust the politician who signed off on the contract and bureaucrat more.
Side note: one way to build more trust – and this is a free option – is to be trustworthy.
LINK to the audio here: https://www.facebook.com/NewsTalkSTL
