Arkansas Blog

Smells bad. But I don't expect much out of CAW. They sold out under the influence of developer-whores Jane Dickey and Roby Roberson, who didn't have the wisdom or courage required to protect our water. Dickey's conflicts were horrendous, Roberson's failure was inexplicable.The LR City Board will reappoint these failures, the Quorum Court isn't going to have the problem dumped in their lap, Villines is standing short on the issues as he tries to hang on to his job. I expect it to be all downhill from here.

Smells REALLY bad: Like a 100-pound toe sack of smashed rotten potatoes. Not to worry, though. It will be forgotten by 6 p.m. today.

For what purpose does CAW need a PR firm? Sounds like a terrific waste of tax/money. The very connection made in Max's short post demonstrates more than enough -to close for comfort- conflict of interest in the choice they made.

What customers need to know, can be garnered by opening their doors to scrutiny, on the web and in meetings... not polishing poetic with PR firms.. The very fact they want a PR firm should be cause for alarm.

I have met Michael Steele and had the opportunity to hear him speak about Business and Marketing. He has a very impressive business background with Coca Cola, and nothing but professional in his interactions. His agency is a mature business and no doubt up to the task (unlike some startups which get serious consideration for Airport contracts).

That said, minority set asides and politics still should be fully transparant. I would question the ROI effectiveness of Ads in niche publications. My experience has been there is not enough to justify the $$ spend.

Good point ES. Why would a monopoly need a PR firm?

I agree with Eureka Springs [for a change]. A public utility does not need PR unless they are not doing their job. And no amount of spin is going to get the water to us any quicker or cleaner -- let alone less expensively. I would like to be able to deduct the cost of this PR "service" from my monthly bill. Seems to me it has nothing to do with their mission of providing safe drinking water to the public. This looks like a filter of some other sort --- one that filters out grease from dirty palms.

The only thing that will stop the senator from this gerrymander district will be the investigative results of his years of feeding at the publc trough at the MLK Commission.

They wouldn't raise their very low water rates to buy the Ferguson land, in the most critical part of the watershed, and thus permanently protect our water. But now they piss off bucks with Michael Steele. If they had served the public's interest in the first place, they wouldn't need spin doctors now.

ES et al-
I can understand one PR firm, but not TWO!
Good old LR, we were so proud of our water. Soon, the rich can piss IN the little man's water, as well as ON his shoes.

Well, Max, there you go again being vice president of the Tracy Steele Haters Club!

Good Gawd Dam...how does Graham Rich expect to make it in a job requiring doublespeak if he is accidentally going to speak the truth when confronted with the opportunity? You would think Advantage would have started earning its easy money by inserting a spokesperson between him and the microphone. You can be sure the CAW board and attorney will have woodshedded him aplenty by now.

If taxpayers knew how much of their money went to these "PR firms" and advertising agencies, their heads would explode. Of course the news media also benefits from all the advertising so don't expect them to ever tally it all up.

CJRW to work on "policy development?" What the $%#+ does that mean?

It means a politically and personally connected company is going to be given some money.

CAW also just produced new TV spots featuring actor Judge Rhienhold touting the quality of our water. Understand he was paid a very handsome talent fee. Would love to know how much and why we used a Holllywood type to talk about Little Rock Water.

He has connections to people here in LR. That's why they hired him. ALl of this is a way to transfer money to friends of those in government. It goes on all the time.