Valley PR Blog

Gilbert Mayor Berman’s (At Least) 8 Big League PR Mistakes

By Dan Wool on February 15th, 2008 In Advice

Have you seen this ABC 15 interview with Gilbert Mayor Steve Berman? You’ll find yourself leaping at the screen in slow motion yelling “NOOOOooooooooooooo!” It is one of the biggest PR train wrecks (alas, case studies) I’ve seen since moving to AZ.

The Town of Gilbert recently built one of the coolest parks in the country, Big League Dreams, which has several little league baseball fields designed like replica major league ball parks. Before completion, though, there were significant cost overruns ($20-40 million – gulp!) and the contract award went to the same company that created the feasibility study for the project. The controversy is captured in this Tribune article. Now the Mayor is facing a possible recall.

Could this have been avoided? Call me the consummate PR guy — but yes. The facts are there but certainly, it could have been mitigated. Certainly, the Mayor’s PR staff should be flogged because this is what they get for ducking this particular press request.

But let’s focus on the TV interview. What happened – or didn’t?

(1) Take control of the interview setting. Berman was approached when he was at the park privately with his family. He should have graciously told the reporter straight-up to make an appointment to come to his office. “Gee, you caught me at kind of a bad time, but I’d be happy to talk with you on-camera first thing in the morning at my office.” This would have also bought the Mayor and his staff — apparently critical — time to prepare. That said, his staff should have taken the interview in the first place — he wouldn’t have been in this awkward position. You cannot nor should not duck the press but unless it’s a major crisis, you can usually buy yourself prep time. Once you agree to be on camera, it’s over.

(2) Have key messages — and have some civic pride. Foremost: “Big League Dreams in Gilbert is one of the coolest and most unique parks in the country. We have replicas of Wrigley Field and even Fenway Park complete with “Big Monster” in left field, etc. etc. This is the greatest Little League baseball and softball destination in the West!” Get excited talking this place up — you’re the Mayor!

Also, I think the issues, while regrettable, are relatively easy to explain.

First, “Noone likes cost overruns but we were committed to this unique project and bringing excitement to East Valley children and families.”

Second, “We were in fact dealing with two completely separate organizations and staffs within Big League Dreams — one that analyzes whether towns like Gilbert should create these projects and one division that develops the fields. (Sub-point: Our staff is too small to do the sophisticated studies they do and this was a unique project). We had the same concerns as the public on this and Gilbert had every assurance there was a firewall between the two entities.”

(3) Take responsibility. When you’re the chief, no matter what, the buck stops with you. Especially when you are a public official — it’s what the public expects. It’s not about you, it’s about them. Don’t spread the blame, it’ll only spread the flame. And don’t court the fire.

(4) Use simple, positive analogies. Berman got too much, shall we say, “inside baseball” on the workings of the “Council-Mayor form of city government.” Taking responsibility would have knocked that out — but he also attempts to do a good thing in the interview: he tries an analogy. However, he compares explaining lax construction cost oversight for a public park to explaining Abu Ghraib? Wow, that was bad. (It should be clear by now that President Bush is not a communication role model for anyone).

(5) Don’t break into jail. Berman breaks into jail (volunteers information he shouldn’t) big time: “Tell me where I broke the law”. The reporter cites him the city code. D’oh! This is a controversy, not a legal situation — there is a difference. (But not anymore).

(6) Use the environment. Behind the Mayor, it’s a sunny day and children are laughing and playing and families are cheering. (You even hear it when he takes off the mike). Leverage that! (See key message). It might have been cheesy to say but what’s the price of children laughing? He should have started there. They could even have set this interview up as a tour of the park. Again, control.

(7) Be empathetic and keep an even keel. Berman is stubborn and quickly loses his patience. From the get-go he does nothing to create empathy and make the audience like him. Part of this is the setting (see #1) — he’s on personal time, his family is waiting and he’s annoyed by the intrusion. Part of this is his omission of enthusiasm for the project. But – bottom line – if you lose your cool, you’re effectively toast and Berman does it quick. It’s one of my Two PR Commandments — don’t be a jerk.

(8) Don’t break the equipment. Did you watch the end?

These are just off the top of my head… anything I’m missing?

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