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The Metroparks sought the advice of a "crisis communications" expert to help the park system talk about CEO Brian Zimmerman's 2016 pay increase. In this 2014 photo, Zimmerman talks near the fire pit at the new Merwin's Wharf restaurant. Merwin's Wharf is part of the 2.8 acre Rivergate Park acquired by Cleveland Metroparks in 2012. (Lisa DeJong/The Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Cleveland Metroparks, which relies on hardworking taxpayers for its money, spent $560 in February for advice on how to talk to the media.

Never mind that the Metroparks has communications professionals on staff who deal with reporters regularly. The park system turned to Hennes Communications, which boasts that it specializes in "crisis communications."

So, what crisis was unfolding inside the park system? What drama was about to potentially tarnish the beloved park system?

The emergency at hand was reporters asking about Metroparks CEO Brian Zimmerman's most recent pay raise.

In January, the Metroparks' three-member Board of Commissioners boosted Zimmerman's salary by a more-than-generous 19 percent. Including this raise, the board has jacked up Zimmerman's pay an astonishing 52 percent during the last five years. And during that period, the board twice hired pay specialists to compare Zimmerman's salary to those of his peers and then set a new and higher pay scale for the park system's CEO.

I don't take issue with the nominal amount the park system spent on Hennes Communications. (Though the public would have been far better served by spending the money on a new park bench or two.)

A part of me is actually pleased that the folks at Metroparks engaged a crisis communications firm. Why? It tells me that some park officials at least privately recognize that not everyone believes Zimmerman deserves all that loot despite the board's publicly stated position that the CEO is worth every penny.

Hennes Communications advised the Metroparks' top two spokespeople, Sanaa Julien and Rick Haase, at times in February that correspond directly to CEO pay stories that appeared in Cleveland Scene and on cleveland.com, according to a copy of the invoice.

Haase told me in an interview Tuesday that Hennes Communications was advising them about CEO pay coverage, though he didn't say what kind of advice was given. Haase said Julien made the decision to seek counsel from Hennes Communications. (Julien is currently on loan to the Group Plan Commission, which oversees the development of Public Square.)

Hennes Communications' top guys - Bruce Hennes and Thomas Fladung - each charge $400 an hour, according to a copy of firm's invoice. (Fladung is the former managing editor of The Plain Dealer.) Hennes billed the Metroparks for 30 minutes of work; Fladung billed for nearly an hour. Haase said that Hennes Communications is no longer working with the Metroparks.

Here is what I hope Hennes Communications told the Metroparks staff: Worry more about the parks in your care than your personal image.

That is advice well worth $560.