One of the endearing and annoying characteristics of journalists, especially those of us who’ve embraced our profession for decades, is that we tend to question almost everything.
We can see something as seemingly innocent as a digital Christmas card from the county’s longtime Tax Collector, and find reasons to be curious.
That’s exactly what happened here after Carole Jean Jordan posted on her agency’s Facebook page last month a photograph of a beachside scene emblazoned with the message, “Happy Holidays from the Tax Collector of Indian River County and EverGreen Media.”
The post included a caption that read: “Wishing Everyone a Wonderful and Safe Holiday Season & Merry Christmas to all.”
It was, without question, a nice gesture from Jordan, who said she plans to seek a fifth term in 2024.
But it also made me wonder: Why was EverGreen Media included in the Tax Collector’s holiday greetings?
Which led to my next question: Why was our Tax Collector’s Office using its Facebook page to promote EverGreen Media, a local advertising agency?
Which eventually prompted me to ask: Why does the Tax Collector’s Office – which has its own website and Facebook page, as well as access to free public service announcements – need to pay an advertising agency nearly $24,000 for a year’s worth of services?
So I called Jordan.
That call, as you might’ve guessed, led to more-pressing and potentially more-unpleasant questions that needed to be asked.
Before I get to them, though, Jordan explained that she contracted with EverGreen to help keep the community informed about the services her office offers, such as tax bills, vehicle and boat registrations, and driver’s license testing and renewal.
“They do the same things we normally do, but they’re professionals and they’re better at it than we would be,” Jordan said, citing EverGreen’s script-writing skills, production of podcasts and other advertising expertise, as well as studio availability.
“I feel having that professionalism is important, especially with everything that’s gone on the past couple of years,” she added. “We need to let people know how we’re there to serve them during the pandemic with our appointment system, drive-through service, and at our branch offices.
“They’re very on top of communications in this day and age, and they’re helping us get our message out.”
Jordan said she previously relied on Vero Beach-based Treasure & Space Coast Radio, which owns several local radio stations, to provide similar services in past years, but she was impressed by EverGreen’s “young, energetic, IT-savvy, millennial spin” on marketing when the company’s owners approached her last year.
EverGreen is owned by Julie Lilliquist, Arita Koehn and Kimberly Kriske, and on the company’s website they describe themselves as “three creative boss ladies” with “diverse energies” and “passion” for their work.
“This is NOT your grandma’s advertising agency,” EverGreen heralds on its website.
One of the advertising agency’s owners, however, is the daughter of Jordan’s executive assistant, Adria Espich – which brings me back to one of those more-unpleasant questions.
Such as: Did the fact that Espich and Koehn are mother and daughter influence Jordan’s decision in September to hire EverGreen, only months after the company was created?
And: If so, did Jordan do anything wrong?
Jordan said she sees no nepotism issues related to her throwing some business to EverGreen, though she admitted that Koehn being Espich’s daughter made her aware the company was in business and interested in providing its advertising and marketing services to the Tax Collector’s Office.
She also pointed out that Koehn, along with Lilliquist and Kriske, previously worked together at Treasure & Space Coast Radio, so she was familiar with them.
“I know Arita and knew of the company, but they initiated things,” Jordan said. “They came to us and gave a proposal, and we liked what we saw.”
Besides, she added, the mother-daughter relationship between Espich and Koehn – and its potential impact on EverGreen’s performance – should be viewed as something positive.
“In my opinion, it makes sure they do the very best job for us,” Jordan said, “because Arita doesn’t want to disappoint or embarrass her mother.”
She feels the same way about one of Espich’s granddaughters, Ashlyn Powell, who Jordan hired in 2020 and now works in the Tax Collector’s Vero West branch office.
Jordan said she’s “very pleased” to have Powell working in her office, and that Powell receives “no special treatment” from management.
“She started out like everyone else,” Jordan said, adding, “Ashlyn is the one who takes the hit, because she needs to keep her grandmother happy.”
In Florida, constitutional officers have the authority to write their own policy manuals, so Jordan didn’t do anything statutorily illegal when she hired her executive assistant’s granddaughter and the advertising agency co-owned by her executive assistant’s daughter.
As for whether she did something that doesn’t smell quite right, that’s a question you’ll have to ask yourself.
