Brochure Snafus with the County Attorney

By on January 17th, 2008 In Hype!

The meth ads that County Attorney Andrew Thomas has produced in AZ have definitely raised local awareness about the problem.  All that good work has been tainted a little, however, with the latest uproar over the brochures.

Now, I like the brochures.   I was surprised to pull it out of my copy of the Arizona Republic last week.  Promptly saved it and told my husband to be sure not to mistakenly throw it away.   The “Road Map to Crime Prevention” consolidates a lot of crime-related info that would take some time to compile, particularly if you’re an older constituent who isn’t web-savvy.   As an information junkie, I’m all for anything that gets the word out and raises awareness.

What gives me pause, however, is the reported cost of the brochures and the miscellaneous “crime prevention” funding it came out of.   If I only had a certain amount of funding for that line item, I’m not sure I would use nearly $200K to produce brochures.  Maybe I’d compile all the info in a one-page ad in the Arizona Republic – not as durable as a brochure, but it goes to the same demographic, and it wouldn’t be adding any incremental mailing costs.

And if I included mention of any names in support of the brochure, as the Road Map does on the last page, I’d make sure to check with those folks first before including them.  

I’m willing to attribute good intentions to the production of the brochure, and it’s definitely medium quality printing, so they didn’t go to the highest bidder.  And it doesn’t bother me that Thomas has a letter in first page and a small photo.   But it does bother me that his office hasn’t (according to the Arizona Republic) responded to requests for more information about the brochure production and distribution costs.  I haven’t seen stonewalling as a PR tactic work yet, unless you count the Patriots coach Bill Belichick’s stonewalling about the spying on offensive signals.  Belichick’s reaction was terse and very un-contrite, and that issue has mysteriously gone away.    

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