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Hill rips SLO County for hiring PR firm over Holland video

April 10, 2018

Several opponents of San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Ian Parkinson’s reelection bid are criticizing county officials for spending money on hiring a public relations firm to direct crisis communications in the aftermath of the release of the video showing Andrew Holland’s jailhouse death. [Cal Coast Times]

Critics, including the Holland family, are alleging the money spent on crisis management amounts to taxpayers aiding Parkinson’s reelection campaign. However, an executive with the public relations firm says the company was not hired to do anything political.

Recently, SLO County Chief Administrative Officer Wade Horton disclosed to the board of supervisors that the county spent $21,625 on public relations consulting to handle the fallout from the release of the Holland video. The county hired AMF Media Group to advise them on how to “quickly, efficiently and clearly” address the situation surrounding the video release, Horton stated in an email to the board of supervisors.

AMF Media Group is a San Ramon-based public relations firm with an office in San Luis Obispo. The company recently acquired longtime San Luis Obispo public relations firm Barnett Cox & Associates.

Dave Cox, now vice president of operations for AMF Media Group, told Cal Coast Times his firm was hired in March after the jailhouse death video went viral and the story became national news.

“We were hired to get the facts out, to put out a list of changes the county had made,” Cox said.

Cox added that AMF Media Group was not told to do anything to support Parkinson or District Attorney Dan Dow.

However, Supervisor Adam Hill responded to the county’s disclosure about hiring the public relations firm by lashing out at Horton.

“This is very disappointing to find out, Wade. And to find out in this manner is even more disappointing,” Hill said in an email to Horton. “While you may not have to check with the board on such matters, let me tell you right now, I find this and other attempts to ‘handle’ this tragic issue to be distasteful, counter-productive and biased.”

Hill is currently aligned politically with the Holland family, which is financially backing Parkinson’s opponent, as well as challengers to Dow and County Supervisor Lynn Compton in the current electoral races.


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Jorge at least some of those deaths in the jail are murders. Parkinson is responsible for the safety of inmates.

I doubt that they deserved a death sentence. This is due by incompetence and corruption in this county. How many SLOPD, Police Chiefs, Sheriff Deputies, and local CHP officers have been arrested and/or fired for drugs, DUIs and etc.? I do agree that the highway situation is a mess. That is due by incompetence and possible corruption by government. And also the drivers also are to blame to a degree. Poor judgement

and possible drinking and/or drugs under the influence.


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Bullies with Badges. I doubt this city will ever get their “stuff” together.


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A dozen people with serious issues die in jail and let’s hang the Sheriff but a dozen innocent people routinely die between Santa Margarita and San Luis Obispo on Highway 101 and Caltrans can’t justify repairing or even programming the unmet needs. This goes to show that death is all about blame when it can be associated to politics yet death is a business case when it can affect your pension.


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Caltrans is the states biggest waste of tax payer funds. Any and I repeat ANY contractor or local municipality, with a third the man power and funds, can outwork, out perform, and out produce anything Caltrans has ever done and will ever do. Another Jerry Brown failure. Far as the local yahoos there are the biggest outlaw club in SLO county. Recently the focus in on the incarcerated deaths, but what about the others like Jay Vestal to name just one in many. Remember the “Cowboys” to name a few. A few to many of the cowards of the county wouldn’t qualify as zit on a real lawman’s ass. Guess the FBI is to busy investigating important stuff like which politician screwed which whore eh?


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I’m glad I don’t work for that PR firm. Mission Impossible: how to make torture and murder look like something else.


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Parkinson should not stand for re-election. Regardless of his role in the death of Andrew Holland. The Sheriff’s Office will be under a cloud of impropriety as long as he is in office. This affects the jail personnel and the Officer’s in the field.adversely. The public support for the Sheriff’s Office has been eroded. If the Sheriff cared about the department he would do the right thing. Should he be re-elected a recall campaign, once a suitable candidate to replace him will follow, This will continue to erode public confidence. Do what’s right for the Department Ian.


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This is nothing new, the Progressives do similar shit all the time in this area. How many times has the People’s Republic of San Luis Obispo spent taxpayer money on advertising campaigns, expensive glossy color brochures, newspaper ads and lengthy television spots everytime they want to raise your taxes? Whenever SLO wants to squeeze yet another 1/2 cent out of your pocket for sales tax increases, out come the expensive ads telling you that the 1/2 cent will be used cure all the things that annoy you about the city (but actually they need it to fill the GREAT BIG hole in the budget caused by bloated union pensions). Using taxpayer money to sway how taxpayers vote is nothing new around here.


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I am not a fan of Hill’s outbursts but I agree with this one. Our county and SLO city waste untold fortunes of our money hiring consultants to tell them what time it is. As in other situations this one is pretty clear, just tell the damn truth and maintain a transparent communication with the public one is supposed to serve.

I would like to see a clear explanation of what we got for all the money, I bet not much.


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Be careful how you throw blame around, Adam (and your sidekick and enabler, Bruce Gibson). It may just come back to bite you. Your own progressives see you and Bruce for what you are- debased political opportunists- and have already turned on you. To wit:


“the Board of Supervisors saw all of this videotape and knew the truth, back when they were negotiating the settlement with the family – the family won 5 million dollars – months ago, and they did not come out and correct the record and say that the sheriff was lying. So, that’s deeply disturbing to me that not only is the sheriff lying and the DA is not investigating, the Board of Supervisors was complicit in this cover up.” quote from Nick Andre, in an interview with a Tribune reporter immediately after the SLO County Supervisor meeting protest.


Adam and Bruce- you can’t have it both ways, it doesn’t work that way. The public sees each of your for what you are.

And we know that is not good for the well being of the county.


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Adam Hill please just go away. It appears that your mental health issues and anger management is still an issue with you. I guess that he is upset that there exists no public relation company that could in anyway represent him and the corruption that he has been involved in. He is the one who is looking at political gain from this event.


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