County ends UMC contract with firm run by candidate

Adrienne Packer

Friday, May 10, 2002 | 11:06 a.m.

One day after the political season fully bloomed with the opening of filing, Clark County commissioners voted not to renew a $1.9 million contract held by a firm that has an executive running against an incumbent commissioner.

The University Medical Center board, made up of the seven county commissioners, voted unanimously Tuesday to end its eight-year relationship with DRGM Advertising and Public Relations.

Esther Quisenberry, a Republican running for UMC board chairwoman Erin Kenny's District F seat, is director of public relations for the firm.

Kenny's assistant said Thursday that the commissioner "really wishes she had more time to talk more about it," but was not accepting phone calls because she was studying for law exams.

DRGM's contract was not extended an additional three years because the firm failed to reach out to the minority community, said Yvonne Atkinson Gates, vice chairwoman of the UMC board. Board members expressed their concerns to the company last year, but did not see improvements, she said.

"We had a lot of complaints so we said when the contract was up, we'd go out for a (request for proposal)," Atkinson Gates said. "The contract is up and so we did."

DRGM President Michael Mayes did not return repeated phone calls. Quisenberry declined to comment.

A UMC report said that with hopes of increasing revenues, the hospital was searching for a firm to help inform residents about its wide range of services and encourage insured patients to use its clinics.

"UMC has contracted with DRGM for the past eight years and they have done a very good job," UMC Chief Executive Officer Bill Hale's report to the board says. "However, UMC administration decided to conduct a request for proposals to examine the interest and creativity of the advertising community."

Dale Pugh, assistant administrator of public relations for the hospital, said each time DRGM's contract has expired, UMC has sent out a request for proposals. Until Tuesday DRGM, which has won national awards for its work with the hospital, had kept the contract.

The seven firms that responded were Brown and Partners, DRGM, Virgen Advertising, Storant Pann Margolis Partners, the Merica Agency, MassMedia/ Vanguard and Hall Communications.

Brown and Partners, a firm former Station Casinos Vice President Mark Brown started in 2000, was awarded the three-year deal.

"Brown was able to present varied and comprehensive creative ideas for advertising," Pugh said. "They demonstrated good knowledge of the hospital, where it's been and where it's going."

Brown thrust himself into the political arena in 2000 when he orchestrated a campaign to unseat former commissioner Lance Malone. Brown was cleared of extortion charges later that year.

Malone infuriated Brown when he promised to vote against a neighborhood casino that would have competed with Station Casinos, then at the last minute became the swing vote to approve the project, which was in Kenny's district.

While Kenny, who also voted for project, escaped criticism from Station Casinos, Brown went after Malone. His bid to oust Malone included a flier with a caricature of Malone under the headline, "You Just Can't Trust Malone."

Brown is also a campaign contributor. Brown has contributed $2,500 each to Kenny and Myrna Williams' campaigns and $2,000 to Commissioner Dario Herrera's congressional campaign, according to fund-raising records.

Brown, whose client list includes Bellagio and Expedia, said he is upset the contract has raised questions about whether the board's vote was political and offered to present his proposal to anyone questioning his company's qualifications.

"I'm offended that sour grapes and political motivation is overshadowing the work of our employees," Brown said. "I have a thick skin, but this goes to the heart and soul of the people who work for this company."

The termination of the DRGM contract isn't the first time Quisenberry has suffered from a decision made by Clark County commissioners.

Last summer, the board approved new district boundaries. In a last-minute change to the maps, the District F boundary jogged around Quisenberry's home, leaving her in Commissioner Chip Maxfield's jurisdiction.

Quisenberry sold her home and moved back into the district to challenge Kenny.