When running for mayor of San Diego in 2005, retired police chief Jerry Sanders promised that he wouldn’t be “double dipping” at taxpayer expense by accepting the full mayor’s salary while collecting his police pension.
The mayor worked for three years of his first term for about $36,000 annually, about one-third of the approved salary for the office of about $100,000 (a small amount in itself given the job he faced!). Over three years, he saved the city about $192,000, which went into the general fund for the cash-strapped city.
On Dec. 8, 2008, the day he was sworn in for his second term, he began taking his full salary. Now for the little issue getting big: he never announced it.
The story came to light during media questions to the mayor and city council during budget hearings. The San Diego Union-Tribune broke the story on April 1. The story quoted the Taxpayers Association and the Municipal Employee’s Association who said the move was fine. Taxpayers asked the big question: why didn’t he inform the public?
The Union-Tribune reported that Sanders said he didn’t know how to address it because it didn’t feel appropriate to hold a news conference or issue a news release.
The online daily, Voice of San Diego, went highly critical with its first headline on the story: Sanders Caught Trying to Hide Again. It was subsequently changed to be more Socratic: Sanders Couldn’t Announce Pay Increase? The Voice opined on the outcome: “A simple three-line press release would have pre-empted all of this. Someone might have argued that the mayor didn’t deserve his salary. But they would have looked pretty weak. Now they can argue that the mayor tried to deceive us. And they’d be right.”
From a public relations standpoint, would a simple three-line press release have been sufficient, particularly given the major budget deficits facing the City of San Diego and ongoing decisions by city government to cut services and staff and make other reductions?
Did the change to full salary require a press conference?
Probably not, but being forthright and forthcoming in timely fashion are two of the fundamental qualities of authentic public relations, and the foundation from which future image grows (or suffers).
Posted by Tom Gable
Tags: Crisis PR, government, news, reputation
