Ohio AG: Cordray's PR Staff

Release:

Cordray’s PR staff consumes 20 percent of State Treasurer operating budget
31 of the offices’ nearly 150 employees make in excess of $1.8 million

Columbus – Nearly $2 million in taxpayer dollars are devoted each year to the public relations efforts of State Treasurer Richard Cordray. That represents nearly 20 percent of the office’s operating budget that’s being used to aggressively promote Cordray’s name while he runs for Attorney General.

According to public records, 31 of the 148 employees in the State Treasurer’s office – or 20.9 percent – are assigned to the Public Affairs (8), Community Outreach (13) and Community Education (10) departments. Together, these employees earn annual salaries totaling $1.8 million – nearly 20 percent of the Treasurer’s $9.3 million operating budget.

“If Richard Cordray is elected and applies the same lavish PR philosophy to the Attorney General’s office, we can expect to see roughly 300 state employees dedicated to public relations in that office,” Crites said. “This is a colossal waste of taxpayer dollars from someone who claims to be a guardian of the public treasury.”

Cordray is on record saying that the Treasurer’s office is the smallest statewide office, making it even more surprising that the office could afford to have such a large number of employees and fiscal resources committed to promotional efforts.

A previously-released analysis of the office’s more than 200 press releases since Cordray took office showed little in the way of new innovative programming but rather a slew of press releases publicizing the everyday work of the Treasurer’s office and promoting Cordray’s name at a time when public polls show he is unknown to most Ohioans.

Crites’ Campaign Manager Dan Baker recognized the need for elected officials to communicate with and educate the public on issues concerning their offices and services, but added that Cordray could likely achieve that for far less than $2 million a year.

“Clearly Richard Cordray places a high priority on getting his name in the press,” Baker said. “His decision to devote such a large percentage of his budget to public relations demonstrates a lack of concern for taxpayer dollars at a time when agencies across the state are enduring yet another round of budget cuts. Ohioans deserve an Attorney General who’s committed to doing his job, not one who’s using large amounts of public money to bolster his political career.”

“We fully expect that Cordray will claim that these public relations people are ‘educating consumers about financial issues,’ which of course is a valid government activity,” Baker continued. “Yet since every communication these employees produce and distribute prominently features the name ‘Richard Cordray,’ it’s easy to see the political benefit that Cordray is seeking to gain.”

“Providing valuable public information to Ohioans is a proper use of tax dollars, but not when it consumes 20 percent of the budget,” Crites concluded. “It’s ironic that at the same time Richard Cordray is advising Ohioans to carefully budget their own money, he is acting so recklessly with the tax dollars entrusted to him.”

The Cleveland Plain Dealer has a follow-up piece on this.