Sheriff’s Office Spends Millions on Media Advertising — to Companies Large and Small

Sheriffs in Pennsylvania are required to publish ads about upcoming sheriff sales for foreclosures and tax liens in at least one newspaper of “general circulation” and a legal publication.

Philadelphia’s sheriff has gone further. In all, Sheriff Jewell Williams spent $7.8 million last fiscal year on ads in 22 media organizations, ranging from the Inquirer and the Legal Intelligencer to publications called Fun Times and the Neighborhood Leader. Williams, like the sheriff before him, has authorized spending millions of dollars in excess of the legal minimum.

The ads in 17 of the organizations are placed by Cardenas Grant Communications, the firm of two former spokeswomen for Mayor John Street. The other publications are affiliated with Kenneth Smukler, a veteran Democratic political consultant.

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Sheriff’s Office advertising spending in fiscal 2017

SOURCE: Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office

Staff Graphic