City of Howell hires PR firm to revamp image after incidents involving racism
A public relations firm out of Holland, Michigan, has a big task ahead of them to rehabilitate the city of Howell's image after multiple instances of racist behavior make headlines.
In December 2024, the city announced it was working on hiring a PR firm to rehab its image. The move came after a couple of racist incidents relatively close together, including reports of a Nazi demonstration outside a performance of the play "The Diary of Anne Frank."
"I hope that they give us some meaningful communication plans to help us tell our story," said City Manager Erv Suida.
During the hunt for a PR firm to help, the city experienced another racist incident with another reported Nazi demonstration, this time outside of the Historic Howell Theater.
"One of the things we all have to realize is that there seems to be a rise in racism and antisemitic rallies," Suida said. "We don't want to focus around those groups. We've had the White Lives Matter group that has been here and around other communities in Michigan. We want to make sure that we're responding appropriately, but we don't really want to give them that much attention."
The city hired Burch Partners to undertake the project. The city shelled out about $20,000 for three months of work, and then any additional help they get, like crisis communication, will be billed at an hourly rate.
Suida tells CBS News Detroit that the firm will work behind the scenes to better prepare city officials to respond to situations and better tell the city's story.
"One of the things about a good communication plan is how do we communicate with residents and our businesses so they'll definitely see a change in that we want to be more proactive, more outreaching and more transparent," said Suida. "We have a great story we plan on telling that story over the next couple of years, and I think if they can help us do that, then it's money well spent."
