Tightening the noose

Fresh off their joint decision to annoint Chairman Al Ambrosini as the only one who can give instruction to the county's chief solicitor, Fayette County commissioners Ambrosini and Vince Zapotosky are taking aim at imposing another restriction.

Now they want to attempt to funnel -- and thus restrict -- the flow of official information through newly hired chief clerk Amy Revak, whose ever-evolving job description would be augmented yet again, this time to include the duries of "public relations officer."

If Ambrosini and/or Zapotosky are too lazy or lack the confidence to deal with the press directly, there is nothing that prohibits them from asking Revak to be their mouthpiece. But what they cannot -- and should not be allowed -- to do is force the third commissioner, Angela Zimmerlink, to be party to this abrogation.

Here is the key passage from Wednesday's story on this ("Fayette Co. commissioners table public relations job," HeraldStandard.com, July 18), which was thannkfully read aloud by Zimmerlink and reported by Steve Ferris:

http://www.heraldstandard.com/news/local_news/fayette-co-commissioners-table-public-relations-job/article_cf6a0d9a-405c-5a4c-b2ad-5863abc1b5f8.html

The parts of the job description she objected to included requiring all departments to report to the officer before any information is released to the public; requiring a majority of the commissioners to sign any information before it is released to the public; a directive that all media inquiries regarding the county’s point of view, direction, policy or intention should be directed to the officer; requiring all printed material bearing the commissioners’ signatures shall be directed to the officer for approval; making the officer responsible for all printed material designed to influence public attitudes toward the county and its officials; making the officer responsible for coordinating the release of the suggestion of any county news story and requiring the officer to approve all news releases written by the commissioners or department heads.

There are plenty of reasons why Zimmerlink is justified in saying, "There is absolutely no way I’m approving this" -- starting with the fact that she voted against hiring Revak. But the larger issue concerns how this change, like the one involving making Ambrosini the only one in charge of the county solicitor, serves to restrict the flow of information.

"Requiring a majority of the commissioners to sign any information before it is released to the public." So if there is a report, or a letter, or a request for comment from the media or a citizen, Ambrosini and Zapotosky want two at least two of the three commissioners to sign off on that? Exactly where to they expect Zimmerlink to get a second vote?

"All media inquiries regarding the county’s point of view, direction, policy or intention should be directed to the officer." So what happens if there is a difference in the point of view? If one of the three commissioners disagrees with the other two, which "point of view" will Revak disseminate to the media? Would it be that of her benefactors, Ambrosini and Zapotosky; or that of Zimmerlink, who did not want to hire her? Beyond that, reporters are free to call anyone they want for comment. Shouldn't Revak, the former HeraldStandard.com reporter hired partly for her media knowledge, be telling Ambrosini and Zapotosky that?

Making the officer responsible for all printed material designed to influence public attitudes toward the county and its officials. This is a good one. Does it mean that the county's PR machine will create printed material designed to influence public attitudes? If not, does it mean that someone says, "This (report, letter, etc.) will make us look awful bad. Let's pretend it does not exist"?

Requiring the officer to approve all news releases written by the commissioners or department heads. This one may actually have some merit as concerns releases from department heads, who may or may not have the skills or background to write them effectively. But if a single commissioner has the confidence and desire to pen and distribute a news release, there is no logical reason to require Revak to approve it. The concept is called Freedom of Speech.

We see this as a further attempt to marginalize the opposition, in this case Zimmerink, by laying down a set of rules that really aren't needed. If Ambrosini and Zapotosky want to utilize Revak as a public relations officer, they can do that without passing a resolution.