Joliet's Latest PR Disaster: Council Votes To Get Rid Of PR Firm

JOLIET, IL — At Tuesday night's meeting, Joliet's City Council voted 8-0 to reject Joliet City Manager Jim Capparelli's recommendation to spend $12,000 every month through the rest of this year to pay Mac Strategies for the public relations services of Matt Butterfield.

Over the past several weeks, Joliet City Manager Jim Capparelli has utilized the services of Butterfield, who is a partner and chief strategy officer with Mac Strategies Group, a Chicago-based public relations firm.

On Tuesday night, Councilwoman Sherri Reardon pressed Capparelli for more details of his current agreement with Mac Strategies. Capparelli said he's been paying them to work for Joliet since January or February, but Capparelli was positive that the amount of money spent using the firm had not topped $25,000.

"Having spent over 15 years at network-affiliated television stations, Matt values journalism as his foundational career preparation, even receiving the prestigious Peabody Award in 2010," states Butterfield's profile on the Mac Strategies Group website.

Last December, Joliet's Council balked at the idea of creating a full-time public relations director for Joliet's City Hall as Capparelli and Mayor Bob O'Dekirk had suggested.

In the alternative, Capparelli has chosen to use Mac Strategies Group as a consultant to help with Joliet's public relations efforts around City Hall.

During Monday night's pre-council meeting, several Council members expressed concerns about the proposed contract for $12,000.

Some of the press releases Butterfield has written during the past month were of little consequence, according to Councilwoman Jan Quillman.

Quillman pointed out that Butterfield has been regularly sending out news releases on issues that are already old news.

"Now this Matt Butterfield, is he one of the contractees?" Quillman inquired.

"Yes," Capparelli answered.

"So, all I have noticed is news that I already know," Quillman remarked Monday night. "If you read the paper, listen to the radio, watch television, it's everything we already know. Why are we paying that type of money ($12,000 per month) for that?"

Butterfield has emailed Joliet Patch a handful of news releases during the past month, news releases that Joliet Patch chose not to publish because they were on topics that draw little public interest from regular readers including one from last Friday proclaiming, "Joliet Joins the National Mayor's Challenge for Water Conservation."

According to Tuesday night's meeting agenda, Joliet "would benefit from a firm to perform public affairs and media relations services. Mac Strategies Group, Inc. has been identified as a well-respected firm with the knowledge and experience necessary to provide said services to the City. Mac Strategies Group, Inc. will work with City staff and administration to maximize transparency and communication between the City and the public. The Professional Services Agreement is for the term April 1, 2022 through December 31, 2022 at the rate of $12,000.00 per month."