We never commented on a Chronicle story from the weekend that looked at METRO’s latest prized edition to its bloated and expensive PR department. Here are a few key grafs:
Next week, Jerome Gray, a former TV anchor with no background in public transit, is scheduled to start work as chief spokesman for Metro, earning $170,000 annually.
[snip]
Among counterparts at more than 15 local public agencies surveyed by the Houston Chronicle, Gray is the highest paid.
[snip]
“When you look at Jerome’s credentials, his resume and his market worth, Metro’s getting a bargain,” Greanias said.
Somehow, we think Mr. Greanias’s idea of a bargain (for someone without much experience in PR for a transit agency) isn’t the average taxpayer’s idea of a bargain.
But we can understand NEW METRO’s thinking. Despite the best efforts of pro-METRO Chron cheerleaders temporary media critics Lisa Falkenberg and Mike Snyder, Mark Greenblatt’s TV pieces did a lot of damage to OLD METRO (or, more accurately, brought to light the damage done to OLD METRO by its horrible leadership). And before that, METRO’s Raequel Roberts did not distinguish herself in TV appearances in which she compared the threat of stray current damage to a 9-volt battery. Having a former TV anchor in your hip pocket when you need to make a TV appearance or deal with a pesky TV news reporter is not a bad strategy. Every bloated PR department of a public agency surely needs a TV anchor who’s out of work! (Maybe two — Mike Barajas could be available before long!).
In addition to how Gray’s salary compares with other local public agencies, we’d like to know how METRO’s PR department compares to other PR departments of major metro transit agencies nationwide (in terms of numbers of staffers and their salaries). Maybe they all suffer from bloat.
