Pros pan Easley performance

Strategists: He flubbed effort to manage crisis

RALEIGH -- Gov. Mike Easley might have thought he was getting out in front of criticism over the state's mental health system with his news conference Tuesday, but he ignored basic rules of crisis management, public relations professionals and political strategists said Wednesday.

Not only did the governor not accept fault for the failed reforms, he also made it look as though he was ducking the issue by taking only a few questions from reporters, scolding one who tried to ask a second question and then dodging reporters outside his office, they said.

"Rule No. 1 in crisis management is ownership," said Tim Pittman, who was former Gov. James Martin's spokesman. "Get there quick. Stand your ground, and get it fixed."

Renee Hoffman, a spokeswoman for the governor, disagreed that Easley didn't accept responsibility or offer solutions. "The governor did say perhaps we could have done this better," Hoffman said, noting that he also said he didn't want to place blame.

She pointed out that Easley called for a three-part plan to make the system more accountable. She said the governor has been trying to fix the problems in the system since last year.

However, some of the communications professionals said Easley's message was further weakened by his insistence that he had "vigorously" opposed the reforms that went into effect in 2001, despite evidence to the contrary.

His news conference was also upstaged by the firing of the Department of Health and Human Services public affairs director who dealt with News & Observer reporters involved in a recent series of stories on mental health. Debbie Crane's account of her termination was carried on television news, on the front page of The N&O and in a video on the newspaper's Web site.

The experts said the governor should have accepted responsibility, explained how he was going to deal with the problems and answered all the reporters' questions.

It just looks bad

Mike Herman with The Catevo Group public relations company in Raleigh said shifting blame and dodging questions looks bad, even if you're in the right. Herman worked for Union Carbide in 1984 when a gas leak at its plant in Bhopal, India, killed thousands of people.

"It tends to communicate to the public that there's something there, whether there is or not," Herman said.

"What I'm seeing is a mad scramble to not be the one that the questions are pointed at."

Rick Rountree of Rountree Communications in Raleigh said it was surprising that the governor made factual misstatements, especially knowing that reporters who had spent months investigating the issue would be at the news conference.

"It appears he didn't road-test his position, having his team look for holes in what they were going to say," Rountree said.

He said the image of reporters waiting by a decoy car while the governor slipped out another exit seemed more at home on the celebrity Web site TMZ.com. "To create a situation that doesn't befit the office of the governor is not good," he said. "It looks more like something you'd see with Huey Long."

'Drip, drip, drip'

"He would have been better off taking his lumps for one or two days or news cycles addressing very tough questions that didn't get asked," Rountree said. "Instead now he may find a drip, drip, drip for days to come."

Judy Hoffman of Clayton, author of the book "Keeping Cool on the Hot Seat: Dealing Effectively With the Media in Times of Crisis," said it's hard to persuade clients to admit fault. She said the public is willing to forgive if a person admits mistakes and promises to make things right.

"It sounds like there was blame to go around; he shouldn't have to shoulder it all," Hoffman said. "He would have been better off to say we were all led down the same path, we now know it was a mistake, we're all working together to make it better."

Longtime Republican strategist Carter Wrenn said the governor is a likable guy who doesn't take himself too seriously as a politician, but he also seems detached from state government. "It's almost like in this whole thing he's been detached up until now, and all of a sudden he's focused," Wrenn said.

Wrenn also said he doesn't understand Easley's insistence that he fought the mental health reforms seven years ago.

"He added misstatement to detachment," Wrenn said. "That'll just make it worse. ... When politicians go from trouble to huge trouble is when they make a mistake and then try to cover it up or whatever."