Will the Veteran's Day Parade be canceled?
News (KTRH-740, KHOU-11) that Houston's Veterans Day parade might be canceled this year prompted lots of talk on the Houston airwaves today.
On KPRC-950, Councilmember Michael Berry faulted US for the possibility, suggesting that nobody downtown wanted to cancel the parade, but rather the veterans themselves were considering cancellation because of fears of low attendance (in other words, most of US staying home).
Later on KTRH-740, San Antonio talker Joe Pagliarulo criticized Mayor White for allegedly trying to cancel the parade. In the final few minutes of the show, Pagliarulo brought on Susan Christian of the Mayor's Office of Special Events, who said that nobody from the city wants to cancel the parade, and that indeed, city officials just want what the veterans want. With that, the show ran out of time, and "Houston" talk radio shifted back from San Antonio to the latest sub for Chris Baker.
I emailed the Mayor's communications team for comment, but [See Update] they ignored my email as they have ignored every single email I've ever sent them. Nevertheless, while we have our disagreements with Mayor White on any number of policy issues, we tend to agree with Councilmember Berry (as opposed to the Clear Channel guy from San Antonio talking about Houston) that neither Mayor White nor other politicians are to blame here. Rather, our general lack of interest seems to be most at fault.
Councilmember Berry pledged that he and early-morning KPRC talker Pat Gray would be gauging listener interest in the parade, in the hopes of persuading the veterans that they should not cancel it. Berry asked for emails from people who would pledge to attend the parade. I emailed Councilmember Berry that I thought a number of local bloggers and blog readers would make such a pledge. What do you think?
UPDATE (08-16-2006): This morning, Jessica Michan with the Mayor's office replied to my email from yesterday:
The decision has not been made as to whether we will host a Veteran's Day parade this year. One of the most respected veterans organizations in the city, the Veteran's Cemetery Council, will take the lead in the decision-making. The City is cooperating with the Council.
It was city employees who re-instituted the Veteran's parade.
The discussion on whether or not to hold a parade was being discussed by the Veteran's Council based on the experience of that group several years ago when Veteran's Day fell on a weekend.
I appreciate that information from the Mayor's office. It seems clear to me that Joe Pags was mistaken in beating up Mayor White on this issue. That can happen when people who live in San Antonio are asked to talk about Houston issues.
BLOGVERSATION: Easter Leeming Liberal News.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/15/06 11:44 PM | Houston Miscellany | Print | Comments (28)
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