By Thane Grauel
WESTPORT — The Board of Selectwomen broke its streak of unanimous votes Wednesday morning when Selectwoman Candice Savin voted against a proposal to again declare an “exclusive magazine media sponsor” for an upcoming series of business talks.
The contract renewal passed in a 2-to-1 vote, however, with First Selectman Jennifer Tooker and Second Selectwoman Andrea Moore sanctioning the deal between the town and Lifestyle Publications LLC for the Westport Means Business series of panel discussions and podcasts.
“Obviously the series is excellent,” Savin said, “the publication is excellent, and everyone’s intentions are excellent, but this just doesn’t sit right with me.”
“Doesn’t Seem Appropriate”
“There’s something about a government entity sort of tapping a certain media outlet, that doesn’t seem appropriate to me,” she said.
The contract states, “Lifestyle shall be the exclusive magazine media sponsor of the Series and the Podcasts during the Term of this Agreement. During the Term, the Town shall include the Westport Lifestyle logo on all marketing materials for the Series and the Podcasts created by or for the Town, including without limitation, all web ads, print ads, posters, social media images and anywhere else the Westport Mean Business imagery is promoted by the Town.”
In exchange, “Lifestyle shall promote the Series and Podcasts via its Social Media Accounts, and Lifestyle shall print Westport Means Business event photos …”
Eileen Lavigne Flug, assistant town attorney, said the agreement “does not preclude any other media outlet from interviewing Jen about it, the series or the podcast, or from taking pictures, from attending, from promoting or doing anything.”
“It doesn’t prevent any other media outlet from doing anything they would normally do,” she said. “The only thing this does is they cannot be a magazine media sponsor.”
“I don’t have any legal concerns about it at all,” Flug said.
Tooker noted the contract was being renewed, and that it cost the town nothing.
Sewer-Use Fees Reduced
In other action, the board approved next fiscal year’s sewer-use fees, with Westport’s charge for every 100 cubic feet of water use dipping from $6.40 to $6.20.
Asked how that was possible, Bryan Thompson, collection supervisor for the Water Pollution Control Authority, said it was mainly because some of the debt load had been paid off.
Thane Grauel is a freelance writer for Westport Journal. To learn more click here.
I wonder if such an agreement and its ramifications are covered by our insurance carriers. Can it be? Should it be?
Do we have a policy in place regarding when an a new activity triggers a review? Do we have benchmarks for when a proposed activity needs review? Is there an assessment tool for evaluating such activities? Is it published? Can citizens access it?
Westport’s compensation seems to be promotion. Is it clearly defined? Are there benchmarks that must be met?
Contracts such as these, although seemingly at no cost to the town, beg for a policy that has been developed under public scrutiny and approved by our RTM.
This issue raises many questions. Thank you Candice Savin, for bringing the issue into the public.
What is Lifestyle magazine? What is its circulation? Who gets it? And who even reads it?