It may be legally sound, but don't forget the court of public opinion

Putting on a PR hat for a second, listen to this report by Marty Moss-Coane of WHYY 91-FM on Philadelphia's DROP program. Interestingly, the city solicitor approved a plan to allow two city council members to "retire", collect a lump-sum pension benefit of several hundred-thousand dollars, and return to their posts a day later. It seems that every effort was made to keep this issue quiet. At a time when Philadelphia is attempting to clean up the image of its city government and implement ethics reform, this smells particularly bad. It's an example of a decision made based on legal grounds, but without an eye to the public relations implications. Would a PR practitioner have greenlighted the deal?

Hour 2Is the City of Philadelphia's Deferred Retirement Option Program being misused? DROP was originally intended to help the City to retain its most experienced workers, but in the past year elected officials have begun signing up. We'll talk with ZACK STALBERG the President and CEO of The Committee of Seventy which called for the audit of the program which is now underway, BILL GREEN a Philadelphia City Councilman who plans to introduce a bill banning future elected officials from DROP, and BOB EDDIS the Past President of the Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police about why the program is still needed. Listen to this show via Real Audio mp3