The Colusa County Board of Supervisors has postponed their decision to vote on a lucrative communications contract that would enter the county into dangerous territory of state-funded media.
While supervisors ponder a solution to capture more taxpayer dollars to fund an ambulance service in the county, county staff have proposed an annual $45,000 contract with Caporusso Communications to empower the county administrative officer, protect the county’s brand, share and amplify the good work that the county is providing to the community, develop an editorial calendar to position the county as a reliable and reputable messenger, and to develop a community newsletter, “The Colusa County Courier.”
As a newspaper publisher, I am stunned at the negligence and tyranny of county staff to have the audacity to make such a proposal. However, if I am being honest, this isn’t a new topic. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the county, with COVID-19 funds, has utilized Caporusso Communications, as Supervisor Denise Carter said, to “put a positive spin” on pandemic and other communications.
Since when did the County of Colusa become a corporation and have the need to “protect its brand?” Is the county seeking to be a corporation like Peloton, which ran to protect its image after a fictional character on “Sex and the City” died, while allegedly using one of its products? Is this how the county is going to handle its messaging, when it cannot find funding for its ambulance service and refute any tragedy with a wonderful heartwarming story to divert attention?
The County of Colusa is a government entity – it does not have a “brand.” This bogus terminology is used by high dollar consultants to provide flashy words and colors to make someone feel good, to save face when something goes awry, or thinks of clever ways to get customers to pay more money so the corporation can shine in the limelight.
The only way for a government to have a brand is to promote propaganda, just like Kim Jong-un. North Korea has a brand, “Let’s live our way.” Sound familiar?
If you are scowling at my use of the word “propaganda,” look no further for confirmation, with the county’s proposed communication plan iterating “share and amplify the good work that the county is providing to the community.”
Why does the County seek to pat itself on the back, with kudos and cookies, for their “hard work?” I have never understood the incessant need for government employees, who are paid more than its general populace, aided with pension, health benefits, and copious amounts of paid time off, to have the need to be recognized at every turn. The taxpayers have already thanked them more than enough by providing them wages with their hard-earned dollars.
In my opinion, the County of Colusa has done a horrible job at its response in vaccinating its citizens with its lack of hosting vaccination clinics that accommodate the working public. The county has hosted one vaccination clinic a month, with residents being informed just hours before they occur, forcing them to make an appointment, and at inconvenient times of the day.
How do I know this? A few weeks ago, we made an error and listed Fouch & Son Pharmacy and Davison Drugs as vaccination sites. These locations were inundated with calls asking for the vaccine. Had the county done its job in scheduling better vaccination opportunities, and communicating effectively with this publication, this wouldn’t have been the case, nor would the demand for vaccine be as high.
The County of Colusa missed a great opportunity to host a vaccination clinic at the Arbuckle Car Show, where thousands were in attendance. Why don’t county public health officials open up the history book and take note during the polio and tuberculosis epidemics, where vaccines were offered after Sunday church? I am sure the tried-and-true response of “over worked” employees will be used.
I would ask them to provide better management and schedule their staff appropriately.
Additionally, the excuse of storage and transportation of said vaccines might be used, but portable trailers and generators could solve this issue. Would money be an issue? If so, I would then ask why the county would pay a communications consultant $3,750 per month? That money could be used for other things, even if the funds come from State or Federal COVID-19 funding.
If the county plans to fund its communications guru through its general fund – then hold on to your seats. County officials just released a report that county coffers cannot afford to provide an ambulance for its citizens. The report states that any viable solution would be asking taxpayers to foot the bill. Putting public health on its back burners – and public safety in the cupboard – the county is preparing to develop an editorial calendar to position the county as a reliable and reputable messenger.
As a newspaper owner, publisher, and reporter, my head nearly exploded at the thought. County staff truly believe that it is in the best interest of the public to develop an editorial calendar to be a reliable and reputable messenger. What I am writing is editorial. An editorial is a mix of fact and opinion from an editor or publisher of a newspaper or magazine. A government entity should not be producing editorial content; it is not reliable – and it is not reputable.
I will reiterate once again this year, a newspaper is often recognized as the fourth estate of the government. Its job is to be the watchdog of the government and to inform its citizenry on the matters of the public’s business, and is funded privately from readers and advertisers of its community. Our founding fathers wrote this into our constitution. Newspapers are the only industry listed by name in the constitution, THE PRESS.
When the government has the opportunity to talk directly to its people, it will lie. One can look toward history books and find many times the government lied or covered something up. But you don’t have to look far; simply pick up a copy of the Pioneer Review a few months ago and follow the City of Colusa’s Economic Development and Tourism scandal.
While the county cannot afford to fix the roads, provide adequate vaccination clinics, or simply provide ambulance service to its sick and injured, they seek to publish a newsletter with the nameplate “Colusa County Courier” to be the authoritative voice, promote propaganda, and demand recognition at every chance, all paid with your tax dollars – $3,750 a month – plus an unknown amount of staff time costs.
If Colusa County continues down this path of self-congratulatory and authoritarian propaganda, what rights will you be giving up next? What public official will deceive you for their own greater good? If your newspapers disappear, the public will never know the truth because the government isn’t going to tell you.
I think it’s time the supervisors step up to the plate, and end their contract with Caporusso Communications. I think it’s time for county officials and all county departments to step up and start working with this newspaper, the Pioneer Review, the only locally-owned newspaper in Colusa County.
The best part is, by the County working with us, your local newspaper, we are funded by readers and advertisers like you, and not with taxpayer dollars.■
