The Mayor's Spin Zone

Thanks to Chaz Stevens for pointing out the slogan of TransMedia, the firm hired by Mayor Al Capellini to combat bad press about his dubious dating and business habits: "What can we SPIN for you today?" Another TransMedia client is Walter Shaw, the famed jewel thief and cat burglar of...

By Bob Norman

June 6, 2006

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Thanks to Chaz Stevens for pointing out the slogan of TransMedia, the firm hired by Mayor Al Capellini to combat bad press about his dubious dating and business habits: "What can we SPIN for you today?"

Another TransMedia client is Walter Shaw, the famed jewel thief and cat burglar of West Palm. The company boasts of its successes in marketing Shaw's "It Took A Thief To Stop A Thief" DVD. In it, Shaw shows people how to prevent scumbags like him from breaking into their houses. Go here and check out the TransMedia-planted WPBF-Channel 25 "Special Assignment" on Shaw, who hawks the DVD like a pro on the West Palm Beach news station. WPBF even includes hilarious footage from Shaw's DVD featuring a black-suited cat burglar breaking into a mansion late at night.

Shaw and Capellini. What a pair. But all of the mayor's efforts at good P.R. don't seem to be paying off. On his blog, Stevens reveals that he just filed formal ethics complaints against both Capellini and City Manager Larry Deetjen. Guy can't buy a break.

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Journalist Bob Norman has been raking the muck of South Florida for the past 25 years. His work has led to criminal cases against corrupt politicians, the ouster of bad judges from the bench, and has garnered dozens of state, regional, and national awards.

Contact: Bob Norman