Untimely: Chron Editorial Board comments on parking revisions
Over the weekend, the Chronicle used one of its two house editorials to question the recent revisions to the city's parking ordinance:
Although the measure sailed through council without opposition, the Chronicle's Bradley Olson and Peggy O'Hare found the response from some downtown business owners and meter customers was less than enthusiastic.
Michael Massa, the owner of the longtime downtown eatery Massa's and a board member of the Downtown Alliance, says parking rules should be less restrictive. "Parking enforcement is already causing people not to come downtown," he commented. Because of the difficulties, "we don't have people dying to come downtown and shop."
Even the city's top elected official suggests that the new enforcement plan may need some tweaking. According to Mayor Bill White, the purpose of the law was to prevent downtown workers from turning street meters into publicly subsidized employee parking. However, the mayor allows that "whether or not there are circumstances that have created some undue hardship for people who must be at a place for more than two hours is something that we ought to look at."
Well, that's all well and good, but supposedly these revisions DO represent tweaking.
It's odd that the Chronicle Editorial Board waited until this weekend to comment on the matter, when their suggestions might have had more impact before the vote. It was on the published city agenda, and the Chron's Houston Politics blog posted about it as well. Nevertheless, the Editorial Board waited until after the fact to offer its sage counsel on the policy. Even worse, there were several days during the week that it ran an insipid "Another Voice" editorial instead of penning two house editorials. That's a weak performance from the Chronicle Editorial Board.
It's especially weak when contrasted with other units in the newspaper. For example, we've suggested in the past that the DC Bureau might be a luxury that the shrinking newspaper could no longer afford. However, after shedding several dead-weight columnists, the DC Bureau seems to be focusing more on local angles for their coverage; they're active bloggers, and they have a presence on Facebook and Twitter. In short, they seem to be working harder to attract, serve, and engage readers. The Chronicle Editorial Board might consider following their lead.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/11/09 10:26 PM | Houston Miscellany | Print | Comments (1)
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