Public Relations Controversies
In December 2008, the New Orleans CBS affiliate television station publicized an incident in which employees of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers used taxpayer-funded computers to post derogatory blog comments deriding citizen activists' efforts. In response to the news story, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers described the event as an isolated incident.
Three days after the incident was publicized, the District Commander of the Army Corps of Engineers, Colonel Alvin Lee, issued a formal apology. “Please accept my apology for the unprofessional comments someone in my District posted to your web site,” said the letter. “I have reinforced with my entire staff that this was an inappropriate and unacceptable use of our computers and time.” However, many residents are calling for those responsible to be fired from their posts.
In 2007, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New Orleans District hired a PR firm, Outreach Process Partners (OPP), to help improve its reputation. For this work, OPP received $1,000,000 in federal dollars in 2007. The base award of the contract was for $1,750,000 with options which could've brought the total cost of the contract to $4,750,000. However, the options apparently were not awarded as OPP did not receive any money the following year.
Read more about this topic: U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers Civil Works Controversies
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