The California High-Speed Rail Authority on Thursday awarded a $9 million contract to Ogilvy Public Relations to promote the multibillion-dollar transportation project through June 2014.
The authority board in September scrapped a staff recommendation to hire a different firm with ties to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mercury Public Affairs, after board members said the selection process was insufficient. Critics questioned past ties between members of the selection panel and Mercury partners.
The authority wants a new communications contractor in part because it hopes to counter opposition that has surfaced in some communities along the proposed route.
Rail Authority Deputy Director Jeffrey Barker said a lack of proper outreach and bad media coverage has led to "a void of information" that has produced some "misunderstandings."
He also said the new contract is necessary because the 2008 voter approval of $10 billion in state bonds dramatically changed the scope of the project, while the authority is required to reach out more to residents as part of the environmental review process.
Under a new bidding process, a staff selection panel that included three representatives from outside transit agencies chose Ogilvy over six other applicants. Mercury did not rebid, saying it lacked confidence in the new process.
Ogilvy managing director Christi Black told the board her firm initially plans to conduct research through public surveys, set rules to ensure that the rail authority provides a consistent message and localize the Web site so residents in different areas can see how the high-speed project affects them.
Under the deal, Ogilvy will face an annual review and the board can renegotiate terms.
Ogilvy also has past ties to Schwarzenegger. Ogilvy senior adviser Mindy Fletcher worked as a deputy chief of staff for the governor.
The company has retained an advisory council that includes former Schwarzenegger communications director Rob Stutzman, Democratic strategist Darry Sragow and Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California. Those advisers will be paid on an hourly basis as needed, Barker said.
Ogilvy also hired the authority's current contractor, Kris Deutschman.
Derek Cressman of Common Cause, a government accountability group, said the authority made the right move to reopen the bidding process if it needed to use a contractor. But he said the state should be capable of conducting its own outreach rather than relying on a private firm.
Barker said the contract will undergo review by the state Department of General Services before the authority officially retains Ogilvy.
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