Will There Be A New Spin From City Hall?
Last week when I met the new head of communications for the City of Prince George, I said I would give him a "free" week before 250news began to write about the new hire.
The week is over.
Having a Communications Officer, in no matter what sort of enterprise you are operating, gives you the opportunity to spin what you want to try and convince the general public that what you are doing is all good.
That may fit, for example, in the case of say "Enbridge" which has spent millions trying to convince the people of the province that they are "good guys". You would expect that from them given that they are hoping to make a lot of money constructing a pipeline through our region.
On the other hand, the operations of the City are completely different.
We are the shareholders of the City of Prince George, and the shareholders are entitled to hear the story of the company's (in this case the city's) business from the ground up. If you have to resort to spinning the issues in order to try and convince the taxpayers that what you are doing is well and good, you have a problem.
The taxpayers simply want the facts, no sugar coating, no spin that makes the city look good. If we are behind the eight ball in road rehab, which we were, then have someone at the Hall tell us like it is. Over the past year that hasn't been the case and increasingly we have been finding that "we are open and transparent " as had been suggested by the outgoing Mayor, has not been the case.
If the new communications department, which will become an expensive item on the bottom line of the City of Prince George , wants to show the taxpayers that it really only has their interests in mind, then "open and transparent" means of communication is in order.
If on the other hand we suddenly find that every single item of news importance to those taxpayers, and answers to all questions must first be flushed through the Communications staff and the brass at city hall, then the taxpayers will have a right to express their displeasure.
We will watch to see just how this new office will function and how it will provide a service to the general public in this community.
I'm Meisner and that's one man's opinion.
Comments
Spin doctors.. If you need to hire them you shouldn’t be in office.
Exactly. The communications officer should be the council and mayor. That is what democracy is for.
One has to look no further than Rob Ford to see, no matter how dire the circumstances, the lengths a politician will go to in an effort to cling to power or try to convince voters that all is well to boost their image.
In the case of our Mayor, she is trying to cultivate an image of effectiveness & fiscal responsibility to help boost her career to the next level. Hopefully the voting public sees through the smoke & mirrors.
Green did something though.. She went against the Peter principle of rising to your level of incompetence , she did that with learning to walk.
Funny thing; even with a new Communications Director, we never heard anything about the latest reorganization and hiring of more managers at City Hall last week. The trough just gets deeper by the week. Great job Beth James. I wonder if the publicly elected watchdogs, aka City Counselors even heard about this?
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