French criticizes Hession’s use of PR firm

Spokane Mayor Dennis Hession’s use of a public affairs firm with a political tie to his campaign was blasted Thursday by one of Hession’s potential opponents in the race for mayor this fall.

Councilman Al French, who is expected to announce his candidacy for mayor at the end of January, said on Thursday that Hession has plenty of expertise within City Hall and doesn’t need a pricey consultant to tell him how to explain the need for more efficiency.

Talking before the media on Wednesday, Hession said he is excited about the possibilities of cutting costs and improving city services as recommended by the newly released, $260,000 efficiency study conducted by Matrix Consulting Group of Palo Alto, Calif., over the past several months.

He acknowledged he hired the Gallatin Group, a Pacific Northwest-based consulting firm, to help him hone his message, which will cost about $2,000.

Hession explained that the public affairs consultant helped him deliver what he called “strategic communication” to employees and the public on potentially major changes in city government.

That explanation fell short for French.

“It’s not that complicated an issue,” said French, who also criticized Hession for withholding the efficiency report after it was received in late December. “Why do you need advice on how to be transparent?” French asked. “It’s a little contradictory in nature.”

The city has a public affairs officer and top officials who should be able to help Hession formulate his comments, French said. The city spends nearly $1 million a year on in-house employees devoted to external communications.

Hession also hired the Gallatin Group on two other occasions for city business, and one of its principal members, Chris Carlson, is a friend and political supporter who has contributed to Hession’s campaign for election to mayor this fall.

Hession said the practice of using outside consultants on key issues dates back to the past two mayors.

The efficiency study calls for major changes in the way some departments operate. But it’s up to the mayor, City Council and union leaders to determine how many recommendations are implemented as well as how many jobs are eventually trimmed. Unions have influence through labor contracts.

Among the changes, the Matrix consultants recommended streamlining the way the city delivers information to the public to eliminate the potential for confusion in messages coming from various spokespersons.

Spokane is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on salaries of workers devoted to disseminating public information.

Hession said he delayed the release of the Matrix study because he wanted to make sure its findings were accurate.

However, the report first became public after a copy was obtained by The Spokesman-Review and published Wednesday on its Web site at spokesmanreview.com.

French said the relationship between Hession’s campaign and his decision to hire the public affairs firm with city funds is questionable. “That’s a relationship that doesn’t pass the sniff test,” he said.

Hession disputes the criticism, explaining that the Gallatin Group is not involved in his campaign and that Carlson is supporting him as a friend.

The mayor defended the city contract with the Gallatin Group. “I do see this as strategic communication, which is something the Gallatin Group is a specialist in,” Hession said on Wednesday.

He said in a news conference that city government can improve people’s lives, and that by conducting a “top-to-bottom review” the city can do a better job of delivering services at a better value.

Among those services is communications, which in city government ranges from a crew devoted to broadcasting city government over cable Channel 5 to individual spokespersons in various departments.

The city also has three budgeted positions for managing its Web site at spokanecity.org.

Two Web designer positions at annual salaries of more than $40,000 have gone unfilled recently because the city has been unable to find qualified applicants for that price, said city spokeswoman Marlene Feist.

The city has public affairs employees in police, parks, fire, streets, libraries, the regional solid waste system and neighborhood services.

However, some of those employees have roles that are unique to their departments. The Fire Department, for example, has a public education officer who works mostly with school children on fire prevention. The assistant chief handles media releases.

The Matrix report acknowledged the unique work done in some of the positions, but suggested that the city could consolidate some information functions.