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    Sean BrodyJ.K. Trotter
    3/04/16 10:20am

    The spokesperson of SUNY Polytechnic — $151,950

    That has to be decent money if you’re living upstate.

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      brontebratSean Brody
      3/04/16 10:34am

      You’re considered to be rolling in it if you make half that up here. 150 grand? You’re basically a Buffalo Medici.

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      Sean Brodybrontebrat
      3/04/16 10:38am

      You’re considered to be rolling in it if you make half that up here. 150 grand? You’re basically a Buffalo Medici.

      Honestly. A co-worker had to meet for a project in Rochester. Comes back.
      “Parking is three dollars! A DAY!”

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    I Have No Account and I Must PostJ.K. Trotter
    3/04/16 9:58am

    Uh, I hate to be the one to point this out, but by giving the station the runaround and not giving them the “we fucked up big-time” answer that is obviously the truth, the state’s PR people are doing exactly what they’re paid to do.

    No doubt when and if the state pays what they owe and things are getting smoothed over they’ll have all kinds of time to crow about how they worked with their citizens to fix this error.

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      ThePriceofEggsinMaltaI Have No Account and I Must Post
      3/04/16 10:10am

      To some extent, yes, giving the runaround is an acceptable strategy. But a competent comm firm would have come up with some kind of bullshit kick-the-can response by now. Or at the very least, updated their public statements. Hell, the “Buffalo Billion” SolarCity page that J.K. linked to above still says:

      “On-site construction has grown to more than 200 workers, with an anticipated increase to 500 construction workers by summer 2015 and a total of 1,500 by fourth quarter 2015. The factory will be online and in high volume manufacturing as early as the first quarter of 2016.”

      That’s not deflection, that’s just flat-out not doing anything. I expect years-old copy on the websites of mom and pop dog groomers, not on websites pimping the Empire State’s much-crowed-about public investments. That’s bush-league. Just copy and paste some bullshit about administrative delays or something... Or at least just change the fucking dates.

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      I Have No Account and I Must PostThePriceofEggsinMalta
      3/04/16 10:13am

      If they were competent they’d be in the private sector.

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    IAmNotADamnWriterJ.K. Trotter
    3/04/16 10:22am

    Well duh. They’re “publicists” in “public relations.” “Mouthpieces.” “Flacks.” For the most part, their job description is “to obfuscate.” To put it nicely.

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      Ed SpockIAmNotADamnWriter
      3/04/16 10:42am

      Or to tell fucking outrageous lies every chance they get. To not put it nicely.

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      IAmNotADamnWriterEd Spock
      3/04/16 10:57am

      You’re right, I thought that was understood!

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    Darmok eats Challah at 12NagraJ.K. Trotter
    3/04/16 9:51am

    I wish I was lazy enough to be a public relations official or a member of Congress.

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      Hip Brooklyn StereotypeDarmok eats Challah at 12Nagra
      3/04/16 9:58am

      Are you filled to the brim with inane drivel? Because then you still have a chance!

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      Ed SpockDarmok eats Challah at 12Nagra
      3/04/16 10:40am

      It’s easy once you abandon any sense of decency or honesty.

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    norbiznessJ.K. Trotter
    3/04/16 9:55am

    From what I’ve seen in 20 years of state government, most are all intellectual descendants of Nixon Press Secretary Ron Ziegler. Ron was famous for just functioning as a huge meat puppet, mouthing nonsensical garbage for Tricky Dick without saying anything anything substantive and taking the hits from the increasingly skeptical/derisive press. See also: “Did you hear the stupid shit Dana Perino said?” (meanwhile Cheney blows up another country)

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      budgetrockshowcasenorbizness
      3/04/16 10:20am

      Many of the press secretaries I know are former news reporters who have been laid off. Sure, a $100k salary is more then they earned at the newspaper, but it is pretty low when compared with private sector PR execs.

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    The_Snark_KnightJ.K. Trotter
    3/04/16 11:29am

    “The spokesperson of SUNY Polytechnic — $151,950"

    For all the mandatory furloughs and cuts going on in SUNY, that number is more than three times the starting salary for a SUNY professor. $50K is certainly not peanuts, but it doesn’t get you very far in New York. Yet faculty (who do the heavy lifting on the grants that bring in projects like SolarCity) are treated like the overpaid corpulent ones in Albany.

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      NicoThe_Snark_Knight
      3/04/16 2:13pm

      Because finger pointing is effective. "Our tax dollars are paying your salary, how can you justify this payroll?" "Umm, it's the TEACHERS!!!!". "Your employees are on the poverty line while you're buying your 5th vacation home, what is the matter with you?" "Uhhh, I could pay you all more, but all my money is going to taxes for welfare! The welfare queens are the reason I don't pay you more, they took your raise!"

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    Ed SpockJ.K. Trotter
    3/04/16 10:37am

    Big deal.

    In Michigan we’ve had PR people telling Flint that brown smelly water that was coming out of their taps was OK to drink and telling the whole state that, even though everyone around him knew there was a problem and it needed to be addressed, that Rick Snyder had no idea what was going on for 18 months or he would have done everything possible to fix it sooner.

    PR people are paid bullshitters in case you hadn’t noticed.

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      toothpetardJ.K. Trotter
      3/04/16 9:52am

      Over $1.37 million combined.

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        Ned FreyJ.K. Trotter
        3/04/16 11:30am

        Their job is to communicate the answers from their superiors, the politicians. They cannot provide an answer if the politicians clam up and don’t have anything to say. There’s no way to get back to the press with a message if the people whose jobs it is to provide the info in that message won’t talk.

        So it’s likely that these PR/communications people are working very hard trying to get some info on this, but it’s a futile effort.

        They aren’t the ones who fucked up here. They’re the ones stuck trying to get an answer out of the people who did fuck up.

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          TakahashiNed Frey
          3/04/16 11:36am

          As a PR person who works for the government, THANK YOU! I’m only as informed as my boss allows me to be! Or if I do have information but I’m not allowed to say anything.

          Plus many times I want to be more open, especially when the answers aren’t that bad, but I’m not allowed because my boss thinks everything’s the next Watergate.

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        Mrs.Choate PFLAG GrandmaJ.K. Trotter
        3/04/16 10:11am

        It’s always the same with these payroll patriots in government. They are either friends of or donors to(or both) the party currently in power. Taxpayers foot the bill whether they do anything or not.

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