Undermining a Brand- Hiregate

Over the past few days I have been stunned by the handling of the Wharton administration's hiring/appointment situation. (Has it reached scandal stage or warranted a "gate" yet?) I generally have contempt for marketing (especially after seeing the documentary "Century of the Self"), mostly because PR/spin has almost replaced governance. But however much I begrudge it branding is important for a politician. Wharton ran as a competent administrator, a unifier of the city, and basically the anti-Herenton, or at least that was narrative of the race.

The first few months has been a bit rough. While being quick to the microphone and public statements on the animal shelter, it took a while to get it moving in the right direction. Seems to be doing better now with the new director but no body has heard about it because Hiregate is sucking all the air out of the room. That dinged Wharton's competent administrator reputation a bit.

Next up was the homeless sweep. Wharton was relatively quick getting out in front of that situation, which appeared as though the MPD and CCC were running their own show in regards to the homeless. Wharton's administration seemed very responsive to any negative stories. This responsiveness carried on through the whole "Miserable City" conniption and the shot dog vet bills. Those were short lived though, the homeless issue stayed in the news for the almost 3 months.

We are now into week two of Hiregate. It is a story that has legs. The Commercial Appeal has been on it in here and an editorial. Like the CA said, Collins was correct to start questioning these hirings and firings. Then late this afternoon, this story came out from the CA. Now the talking points of the administration aren't straight, which is just going to keep the story going. More importantly, the comments to the CA stories are almost universally negative and people are saying Wharton is a just a continuation of Herenton. That is brand shattering. The weird thing is, it was completely self-inflicted. Nobody made him hire and fire these folks. Wharton seems to have forgotten that he benefited for years by standing next to Herenton. Endless Herenton scandal or drama made Wharton look very good. Yet this hiring stuff went on before. Check out this article from a couple years ago and related to Tennessee Waltz. Wharton doesn't have Herenton anymore. The spotlight is all on him. The administration can't get away with this kind of stuff without paying a political price and that price is getting higher everyday.

Wharton is going to need all the political capital he can get because the rest of the year looks bumpy. The city budget and tax increases this spring, consolidation vote late this summer, and Cohen vs Herenton, which will have its own gravitational force pulling Wharton in different directions. By September, a sledgehammer could have been taken to the Wharton brand and coalition. Right now it is a claw hammer pounding at them.