Moorestown Hires Outside Firm To Handle Public Relations

MOORESTOWN, NJ — Moorestown officials acknowledge they haven’t done a great job getting information out to residents, particularly since the controversy over contaminants in the township’s water supply became an issue in 2014.

In an effort to fix the problem, it has hired Moorestown based Thomas/Boyd Communications to handle the distribution of its information. Council approved a consent agenda resolution by a vote of 4-1 to enter into a six-month contract that concludes on Dec. 31 and won’t exceed $27,000 at its meeting Monday night at town hall. This is to make sure the public relations firm’s work has the impact the township is looking for, and to keep it in line with the budget, Mayor Manny Delgado said.

Services will range between $105 and $150 per hour. Councilwoman Lisa Petriello was the lone member of council to vote against the resolution, and peppered representatives from the company with questions on Monday night, concerning the number of hours they spend working with municipalities and the services they provide.

Representatives from the company would spend about 25-30 hours with members of council and other township officials, conducting interviews to set up their newsletter and making their presentation. Along with the newsletter, they control the township’s social media. This includes monitoring other outlets on social media for misinformation.

Council members have called misinformation a big problem, particularly concerning water issues. They say other groups publish posts that are outright lies, while the township has struggled to get the correct information out there.

“We’ve been trying to do this in-house for the last several years, and it’s not working for us,” Councilwoman Victoria Napolitano said in response to a question from resident Paul Conlaw.

Staffing also hinders the township’s ability to put information out there.

“Our staff’s pretty-well burdened,” Councilman Mike Locatell said.

Deputy Mayor Stacey Jordan said she spent over three hours trying to put together an FAQ about water issues, and what went out turned out to be ineffective.

“We pay our engineers millions of dollars,” Conlaw said. “I bet they have someone who can put this in layman’s terms.”

“I’m sure they do, but they will bill us,” Locatell said.

When discussed at a previous meeting, opponents of the idea expressed concern that the township would be able to spin the news it puts out, but officials countered by saying doing it in-house would give them a better chance to spin the news than employing an outside party.

Thomas/Boyd Communications handles information distribution for Monmouth County, Mount Holly, Westampton and Burlington City, among others.

“They have the expertise that fits in perfectly with what we need,” Napolitano said. “Their Monmouth County posts show up in my Facebook feed, so whatever they’re doing works."

Patch file photo