It wasn’t long ago, during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, that Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard seemed like the last person on planet Earth who would ever have to bypass the media to get out his message. At the time, Broussard had reporters from Washington D.C. to Ireland swooning at his every word as he railed against the Bush administration’s handling of the hurricane.
In recent weeks, however, Broussard’s ability to hand-feed the press has started to falter. As we noted earlier, the New Orleans Times-Picayune recently chronicled Broussard’s dubious decision during the hurricane to evacuate the workers manning the pump stations that protect the eastern end of Jefferson Parish — a decision that appears to have cost many of his constituents their homes. At the time of the Times-Picayune article, Broussard did as Broussard does — wildly and wittily deflecting the blame. But the Times-Picayune wasn’t buying it. Last week, the editorial page paddled Broussard for his role in the flooding.
All of which might help to explain why the former media darling is now doing the seemingly unthinkable — trying to bypass the media. Shades of the Bush White House!
On Sunday, Broussard published the first of four full-page advertisements in the Times-Picayune, explaining (read: justifying) his decisions during the hurricane. Unfortunately for Broussard, his attempt to defend himself on the pages of the Times-Picayune without those meddlesome middlemen known as reporters hasn’t escaped the notice of said reporters.
To wit: Today’s Times-Picayune sheds some light on Broussard’s latest PR campaign.
“Facing a steady barrage of criticism and now a lawsuit from owners of flooded property, Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard has launched his most overt — and possibly most expensive — public relations venture since Hurricane Katrina, an attempt to explain his decisions during the storm and to lay out plans for the parish’s future protection,” the Times-Picayune noted today.
“The first installment — inside Sunday’s Metro section — set out a chronology beginning Aug. 28 at midday,” reported the Times-Picayune. “It included Broussard’s decision to evacuate pump station workers to ‘save lives,’ a judgment that has fueled wrath from residents whose properties were flooded while other public employees, including fire and police personnel, manned their posts.”
After noting that ads will cost a total of $38,000, the Times-Picayune revealed one final, ironic twist of the saga — according to his spokesman, Broussard is hoping that FEMA will reimburse the cost of the ads.
Yes, you read that correctly.
The politician who once unfairly blamed FEMA for the death of his coworker’s mother is now hoping that FEMA will pick up his PR bill.
To date, FEMA appears to be balking at the request. As the Times-Picayune reported this morning, “FEMA spokesman Mike McCormick said that while services such as debris removal and fire response will be repaid fully by the agency, ‘I’ve never heard of a category that would cover’ such government advertising.”
Perhaps, Broussard should try sending his bill directly to the President, who would no doubt be thrilled to pick up the tab.
Absolutely thrilled.
–Felix Gillette
Felix Gillette writes about the media for The New York Observer.