Cities for Sale: Municipalities as Public Relations and Marketing Firms

Acknowledgments

xiii acknowledgments itake a moment here to thank those who helped me with this project along the way. First, my parents, Nancy and Richard, supported me with love and encouragement—despite telling me repeatedly, “we don’t really know what you’re writing, but we’re proud of you!” (Love you both!) Next, Art Sementelli was there from the beginning of this project, which started as a small idea I shared with him in a parking lot one evening. his careful attention to detail and words of wisdom were instrumental in helping me refine the argument while keeping me on track. he knows I could not have succeeded in the project without him, but it needs saying anyway. To Terence Garrett and Donald Cooper, I owe another enormous debt of gratitude for helping me revise and refine my ideas. Rick Abel took time to provide feedback that assisted me with further honing the argument. I also want to thank Thomas Catlaw and Patricia Patterson for comments along the way. The editors and staff at SUNY Press, too, deserve a great deal of my gratitude. They helped me navigate my way through, and ultimately improve and refine, this project. For that, I thank Michael Rinella and Rafael Chaiken for their seemingly unending time, attention, and support. I also want to thank Alan hewat for his expert editing of the manuscript, as well as Ryan Morris for her unyielding assistance in guiding me through the production process. To those not named, thank you for all your time and dedication to this project. Finally, thank you to the wonderful employees of the city of Coral Springs. You helped shaped my research along the way, and everyone, xiv acknowledgments especially my friends in the Communications and Marketing Department, is owed a great debt of appreciation. An earlier version of arguments found in this book appeared as “Municipalities as Public Relations and Marketing Firms” in Administrative Theory & Praxis 32(2) (June 2010), 191-211. ...