The CA High Speed Rail Commission is on the hunt for a PR firm. And why not choose the firm that has Arnold’s political cronies?
California’s high speed rail commission, dominated by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s appointees, is set to award a $9-million contract today to a company led by the governor’s top political advisor and his former campaign manager.
The three commission staff members charged with recommending a public relations firm have advised the board to give the contract to Mercury Public Affairs at its meeting today. Schwarzenegger strategist Adam Mendelsohn is a partner at Mercury, as is Steve Schmidt, who managed the governor’s 2006 reelection effort. (LA Times 9/3/09)
Also of note, former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez is also a partner at the firm. Now, it can very well be argued that Mercury offered the best value proposition, but it could also just gives that whiff of a payback.
The deal still must be confirmed by the whole commission.
Arnold seems to be taking a greater interest in HSR. Curt Pringle, mayor of Anaheim and one of Arnold’s appointees, is the new chairman of the HSR board. From what I understand he and another of Arnold’s appointees, David Crane, are trying to position the CHSRA to play a more leading role in advocating for the project, which has been getting bogged down on the Peninsula.
The CHSRA definitely needs more PR work, and it makes sense to give that work to folks who have some political connections – something the Authority itself has never really had. Arnold to date has basically ignored or attacked them, and the Legislature doesn’t seem to give a fuck about HSR (except for Senator Alan Lowenthal, who is trying to gut the project).
So there is logic to them picking an agency that has these kinds of connections.
…the CHSRA board voted to postpone the contract vote. Some folks are quite upset about how this went down, and there was some behind-the-scenes organizing to try and block the contract. The postponement doesn’t mean Mercury is toast, but there’s going to be more time to figure this out.
More at the California High Speed Rail Blog.