Commissioners reversed themselves after their July decision to hire the firm to handle public inquiries.
Last month, the Vanderburgh County Commissioin voted to hire Indianapolis firm McFarland PR & Public Affairs to handle media and public inquiries to the commissioners.
At the time, Commissioner Jeff Hatfield voted against the contract. He made his reasons clear over the commission’s web feed Tuesday.
“I think this contract has some problems and that’s why I making a motion to cancel it.”
Hatfield says since commissioners are elected as individuals, he is philosophically opposed to hiring someone to create messages that speak for all of them. He also noted that the payments to McFarland would come from the same account that is used to promote minority and women owned businesses in the county, which could mean that not as much money would be available for that purpose.
The commission voted 2-1 to cancel the contract. Commission President Ben Shoulders reversed his earlier vote to hire the firm. Commissioner Cheryl Musgrave voted against the move.