So the Malibu City Council “quietly” hired a PR agency for $50,000 to write 150 letters, among other fairly simple activities. The intention was to polish the City’s image with regards the deal it wants to make with our pseudo mayor Perenchio while he dictates how he wants the City run from now until all his properties are developed. The PR firm was supposed to make the City look all environmentally friendly so that when it needed support from elected officials to put in Perenchio’s 30,000 square foot wastewater treatment plant (think the size of Ralphs market), there would be hugs and kisses from all the legislators. Since I run a PR agency that sometimes competes with Edelman, I feel qualified to address their activities with some knowledge. While $50,000 to write letters that our agency could have personalized and pumped out in a matter of hours using a database program seems steep, attending meetings does take a little more time. However, I have never worked with a governmental agency or city (underline never) that did not put a PR contract out to bid when it was over $5,000. This is highly irregular, and the citizens of Malibu should grill the Council as to why there was no bidding process. Further, the City projects revenues from July 1, 2003 through June 30, 2004 at $18.6 million with expenditures estimated at $19.6! Do the math folks. We are in the hole, and yet we just spent $50,000 of your tax dollars on a subversive PR program to benefit Perenchio and his new toilet. Something stinks in Malibu.
Susan Tellem