Alan Arkatov realigns

Back in Septemer 2003, Alan Arkatov walked down the hall from the downtown office he rented at Fleishman-Hillard and told his pal and F-H boss Doug Dowie that they were now competitors. Arkatov, who had helped guide past campaigns for Jim Hahn, had taken the job as President and CEO of Burson-Marsteller Southern California. He also was going to lead the PR firm's national education practice and oversee its West Coast public affairs group. That's still what the Burson-Marsteller website says, but not for much longer. Today, Rogers and Associates announced Arkatov is coming on board as Chief Strategy Officer. That's the local firm headed by Ron Rogers, who is mentioned in the LAT today (with a misspelled name) as a supporter of mayoral candidate Bob Hertzberg. Rogers' wife, Lisa Specht, has a prominent title in the Hertzberg campaign. Presumably, Arkatov's shift is purely professional and he and his wife Mary Leslie, a Hahn commissioner and former deputy mayor under Richard Riordan, are still supporters of the mayor's reelection.