Public Relations Controversies
In 2007, the New Orleans District hired a PR firm, Outreach Process Partners (OPP), allegedly to develop educational materials and set up public meetings that the Corps is required by law to hold in order to get valuable feedback from residents about the Corps' projects. For this work, OPP receives over $1,000,000 in federal dollars per year. The total cost of the PR contract is $5,250,000.
In May 2009, an internet blogger discovered that OPP had a bar graph on its website that boasted how it helped reduce negative news coverage that plagued the Corps following Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans residents felt that the Corps' should not be spending taxpayer dollars trying to repair the Corps' public reputation.
Read more about this topic: U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers Civil Works Controversies (New Orleans)
Famous quotes containing the words public and/or relations:
“[T]he minister preached a sermon on Jonah and the whale, at the end of which an old chief arose and declared, “We have heard several of the white people talk and lie; we know they will lie, but this is the biggest lie we ever heard.””
—Administration in the State of Miss, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“I only desire sincere relations with the worthiest of my acquaintance, that they may give me an opportunity once in a year to speak the truth.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)