{"id":8133,"date":"2017-06-19T07:00:32","date_gmt":"2017-06-19T11:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/?p=8133"},"modified":"2017-06-18T18:53:09","modified_gmt":"2017-06-18T22:53:09","slug":"a-troublesome-situation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/?p=8133","title":{"rendered":"A Troublesome Situation"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Adam Pagnucco.<\/em><\/p>\n

By running for an at-large County Council seat and retaining his position as the council\u2019s spokesman<\/a>, Neil Greenberger is creating a troublesome situation for both the council and the public.\u00a0 That situation is rooted in the significant conflicts that Greenberger will now have between his two roles.<\/p>\n

As we have previously written<\/a>, the position of spokesperson for an elected official \u2013 or in Greenberger\u2019s case, nine of them \u2013 is a position of trust.\u00a0 Elected officials must believe that their communications personnel will represent their positions and actions fairly towards members of the public, who after all will determine if those officials are reelected.\u00a0 That\u2019s hard to believe when the spokesperson is a candidate who is running for the same office held by the elected officials he is supposed to represent.\u00a0 In at least one case \u2013 incumbent Council Member Hans Riemer \u2013 Greenberger is running in the exact same contest.\u00a0 (Disclosure: your author is Riemer\u2019s former Chief of Staff and regularly worked with Greenberger.)<\/em>\u00a0 That means Greenberger is supposed to be trusted to represent Riemer fairly during his day job while he could very well criticize him or his positions on the campaign trail after hours.\u00a0 The same situation could apply to District 5 Council Member Tom Hucker, who may run at-large.<\/p>\n

This is not a hypothetical scenario.\u00a0 Greenberger is already running against last year\u2019s tax hikes, telling MCM<\/a>, \u201cThis county cannot take another property tax hike\u2026 I will guarantee no budget in the four years I\u2019m in office will exceed the charter limit. That\u2019s a guarantee.\u201d\u00a0 He also told the Sentinel<\/a>, \u201cThe number one thing is, no matter what their incomes, people are still feeling the pain of the big tax increases \u2013 actually the two tax increases of last year\u2026 And I don’t think they need any more tax increases in the next four years.\u201d\u00a0 Your author has some sympathy<\/a> for Greenberger\u2019s opinions<\/a>.\u00a0 But the fact is that all nine of the Council Members Greenberger represents in his day job voted for the tax hikes and those who are running again will be defending them on the campaign trail.\u00a0 And yet their own spokesman is contradicting them.<\/p>\n

There is more.\u00a0 Greenberger runs the council side of the county government\u2019s cable channel, County Cable Montgomery (CCM).\u00a0 He even hosts his own county TV show<\/a>.\u00a0 He is also a liaison between the council and Montgomery Community Media (MCM), a non-profit that covers the county and receives county funding.\u00a0 In those capacities, Greenberger will be in a position to influence the coverage his opponents \u2013 including those who employ him \u2013 receive.\u00a0 It\u2019s a huge conflict.\u00a0 But Greenberger ignores that.\u00a0 According to the Sentinel<\/a>, \u201cGreenberger said he plans to continue to work his job while he campaigns for County Council, saying there is not a conflict of interest because his job is not political nor is he required by law to quit.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s a questionable contention at best.\u00a0 Many communications from elected officials to the public have a political dimension to them.\u00a0 Elected officials who issue communications making themselves look bad may not be elected for long!<\/p>\n

Neil Greenberger interviews one of his nine employers \u2013 and future political rival \u2013 Hans Riemer on his county television show in 2011.<\/em><\/p>\n