The Tolbert Report

In a bit of poetic irony, the Arkansas House of Representatives is in the middle of a public relations nightmare over the signing of a contract for “Communication Services.” According to the press release from Speaker of the House Robbie Wills office, the House Information Office will become the House Communication Office. What is the substance of this change? As far as I can tell, it primarily involves the firing of one staff member and bringing in some well paid taxpayer funded public relations consultants to serve at the pleasure of the Speaker.

As part of the change, House Information Officer Stephen Steed was fired and a new contract was signed with Craig Douglass Communications. This group will receive $60,000 annually plus a 15% commission on an undefined additional contract services. In addition, a Communication Director will be hired with a salary to be determined. It is unclear exactly how much this new change will cost us in tax dollars since will largely depend on how high the commissions will run.

Speaker Wills told the Arkansas News Bureau in an interview last night that the new Communication Office will represent the House Leadership. He was also quoted as saying, “I’ve talked to all of the Republicans that are in leadership, and they’re on board with it.” I have asked Speaker Wills for a list of these Republicans but have not heard back.

However, I have spoken to several Republican legislators and none of them were consulted. Minority Leader Bryan King told me that as of this morning neither he nor Minority Whip Mark Martin has even had a phone call from Speaker Wills on this. In addition, King sent out a message to all the Republicans asking if they were consulted by Wills and  so far no one has confirmed that they were consulted.

In addition, I am confused where these funds suddenly came from, particularly since we were told during the previous legislative session that there were not adequate funds to put the House proceedings and committee meeting online. I, a right leaning blogger, worked across the aisle with Democrat Rep. Steve Harrelson, a left leaning blogger, on a set of bills that would have accomplished this. Rep. Harrelson’s proposal was shot down in the Rules Committee (made up of appointments from Speaker Wills) with the lack of funds as the main excuse. Would it not be much more in the public interest to use these funds to give the entire state access to watch the actual unfiltered debate instead of using them for a public relations office controlled by the Speaker’s bias viewpoint?

I have asked Speaker Wills about this matter and will update you with his response and any more developments.

UPDATE – In the video above, Rep. Dan Greenberg discusses the issues that many House Republicans have with not such much the contract for communications services but rather the new direction of advocacy that what used to be the information office may toward.

“The central question here is not really a financial question,” said Greenberg. He said that problem that communication officers that “they seem to confuse their first mission which is to let the public find out about what is going on with a mission that they acquire over time which is to make the boss look good.” He went on to say that “whenever something takes place with taxpayer money our only goal need to be transparency, openness, and getting information out to the public.”

Greenberg also took issue with statement Speaker Wills made that the office would be representing the views of the House. Greenberg asked how can this be possible when each of the one hundred members all have a different point of view. “I think the Speaker needs to be much more careful in his statements about the House Information Office,” said Greenberg. “Because it is so important to underscore that the House Information Office needs to be neutral, non partisan and not show favoritism.”

Another issue that Greenberg touched on was the statement Wills made yesterday indicting he had consulted with Republican leadership on this contract. I talked to numerous House Republicans today and so far have only found one that the Speaker consulted.

Rep. Rick Green tells the Tolbert Report, “I was on a conference call where the Speaker advised me and others of his intent. I do not know who else was a part of that advised but ASSUME it was other members of House Management and there may have been other members of the Speaker’s leadership team informed also at that time or individually. There was not an official meeting called on the matter.” Green went on to tell me this conference call occurred last Thursday.

Rep. Green went on to tell me “The Speaker has full authority to make changes such as this without being required to get approval. It is my opinion that the Speaker was just giving a few a heads up on his decision.” 

Rep. Green was appointed by Speaker Wills to the House Management and House Rules Committee and as such is considered by the Speaker to be part of his leadership term.

A commenter also points me to an Arkansas News Bureau story quoting Rep. Jon Woods and Rep. Bill Sample as also making comments in support of Speaker Wills decision.