Political opponents are blasting the St. Louis County Health Department for hiring a New York public relations firm to help promote vaccinations, but a local professor of public law is accusing them of making highly politicized accusations.
“It's all politics and not policy at a time when some issues should be above politics and I would put public health and safety in that category,” said Richard Reuben, professor of public law at the University of Missouri. “Public health and safety should be, at a fundamental level, beyond this.”
Council chairwoman Rita Days is among the critics that Fenton Communications was awarded a $2.3 million public relations contract being funded by the CARES Act, according to media reports.
“The CARES Act money and how it’s going to be spent has been the subject of considerable controversy in St. Louis and that's largely among the Democrats,” Reuben told the St. Louis Record. “I think people are more upset about the fact that there was $2.3 million spent because many don't believe there should have been a campaign to begin with because they don’t feel the government should be encouraging people to get vaccinations or wear masks or do anything that might help with what in Missouri is a very serious public health problem.”
Jennifer Hahn, managing director of Fenton Communications in New York, rejected Days’ invitation to appear before the city council to answer questions about the contract.
“While I respectfully decline your invitation to appear in person before the County Council, I hope to help deepen your understanding of our work and its impact on the community,” Hahn wrote in a letter obtained by NBC 5 On Your Side.
Reuben believes that what may have partly irked Days is the fact that the county health department contracted with a New York PR firm rather than a local one.
“For them to go out and hire a PR firm and pay them $2.3 million for a broad-based campaign is not that much money,” Reuben said. “The dog whistle that’s embedded within that is the fact that they hired a New York firm. That’s a big deal in Missouri. It's $2.3 million and to a layperson who's unaware of what a public relations campaign costs, it sounds like a lot of money.”
Fenton Communications describes itself as a social change agency.
Their website states, “At Fenton, we are strategists for social change. Our clients are the foundations, non-profits and brands taking on the world’s toughest challenges in human rights, social and economic justice, environment, education, and public health.”
Although the health department may not have enough media staff to launch a media campaign of such magnitude, Reuben said hiring a Missouri or St Louis PR firm may have been a better choice.
“They know the culture better," he added. "They know Missouri better. They'll be able to craft a better message but I don't know what the conditions of the contracting process were and maybe the New York firm made the best offer and had the best proposal. At some level, you've got to trust local government officials. They have information we don't.”