I told a group of state government spokespeople today that, as a group, the Fletcher administration has the best set of PR people I've dealth with since I've been covering Frankfort. That dates back to 1981. I'm talking about the folks who work in the various cabinets and departments.

The Fletcher administration did a good job of hanging on to employees who do a good job (Gil Lawson, Lisa Lamb, Mark York and Gwenda Bond come to mind) and hiring new ones who are reliable (Vikki Franklin, Chuck Wolfe and Chris Gilligan).

While we know about the past troubles in the Governor's press office, these folks return phone calls, get information quickly, stay in touch with reporters and line up interviews when needed. That's all we ask. And that's all the public should ask. Because the free flow of information is essential to a thriving democracy.

Kudos also to Jodi Whitaker, who's doing a good job, with limited resources, as Gov. Fletcher's press secretary. All these words are true, but don't expect me to suck up to you guys any more.