We have just found on a government watchdog website, that the New Orleans District of the Corps of Engineers pays a PR company $1,000,000 annually to help its image and fight bad press.
http://bit.ly/XpjFr
That’s your hard-earned tax payer dollars at work!
OPP provides support for print, broadcast and Internet media including the Times-Picayune, WWL-TV CBS New Orleans, Associated Press, USA Today, The Weather Channel and The Today Show.
All on your dollar, OPP is being paid by the Corps of Engineers to foster “strategic relationships with media outlets that result in more accurate and balanced stories.”
How lovely!
Levees.org also learned, from a request under the Freedom of Information Act, that fancy ads on nola.com are costing taxpayers $2,995 every month. These ads say “building strong by reducing risk” in a 3-way flash ad that also announces public meetings.
These disturbing findings are especially galling since the Corps of Engineers in New Orleans continues to push ahead with what many local leaders consider a less effective, potentially dangerous plan for three New Orleans outfall canals because it’s the cheaper approach.
Shouldn’t the Corps focus on repairing levees instead of their reputation?
And this is yet another reason to refuse to accept the Corps of Engineers’ self-study of the levee failures and demand the 8/29 Investigation Act.
Click here and demand a truly independent analysis of the flood protection failures in metro New Orleans.
http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/1625/t/2541/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=2497
Click here for more details on the Corps’ expensive PR company (OPP).
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dc8dn5cg_110s54r52df
[...] Corps of Engineers New Orleans’ office spends a million taxpayer dollars protecting their image. Because just doing a good job and letting that be their PR is too hard. Related Posts:ASCE [...]