Of Preachers, Practice, and Public Relations

The Pub-dogs had another interesting article up this week: PublicWatchdog.org - The Golden Girl. They cover a little-known get-around gal named Linda Szczepanski, or "Linda Ski" as they call her, and so will we.

Linda Ski is the Vice President of Empower Public Relations, which is owned by Samuel Chapman, Chief Executive Officer for Berman Center Inc., and husband of noted sex therapist, Dr. Laura Berman.

Linda Ski has also been the campaign and public relations manager for Mayor Howard Frimark, as well as providing her services to Frimark's aldermanic acolytes James Allspaghetti (4th Ward), and Thomas Carey the Unfriendly Ghost (6th Ward), and the Kalo Foundation of Park Ridge.

As the PRU Crew's curiosity about Linda Ski was raised, we started surfing the net to see what we could find. And we find irony hiding in plain sight.

It seems Mr. Chapman has banned gossip at Empower Public Relations, and is reported to have fired employees who have engaged in gossiping. Gawker.com has a video clip of brief interviews with several Empower employees: The Message Is The Message: Gossip-Banning PR Firm Is Its Own Best Client.

It seems to us that Linda Ski and her fellow employees at Empower Public Relations may preach about the ills of gossip, and may practice what they preach in-house. But the mandate against gossip doesn't seem to be something Linda Ski demands of her clients, such as Mayor Howard Frimark who many have said may be the biggest gossip monger in all of Park Ridge.

Or so we've heard.