Interview with Andrew Laska
Pegasus News published an interview with Andew Laska, the man behind Pegasus News content partner The Richardson Echo. Laska explains why he started his independent local news Web site.
"There is no real source of news in Richardson. Richardson's daily newspaper went through the usual cycle of local newspapers. They were bought up by a larger company which then paid less interest and now we are lucky if we get a targeted article or two a week."Too true. Kudos to the people behind The Richardson Echo and Pegasus News for trying to change that fact.
Although Laska says he is more interested in news than mere opinion, I find his own opinion on the upcoming Richardson Council elections worth repeating:
"Particular races are interesting but the atmosphere of the races is more interesting. I have to say it's not a positive atmosphere despite many people's good intentions. There are various factions, formal or otherwise, that are creating a kind of political backbiting and focus away from issues. It is not so much the candidates as it is arrays of supporters and detractors on different sides. It's an issue of the whole and there isn't a one group or persons to blame."
I'm finding it hard to identify any candidates who are focused solely on the issues facing Richardson instead of distractions and wedge issues designed to gain electoral advantage. I feel such candidates must exist and I'll be looking for them to straightforwardly dissociate themselves from the factions that are fomenting division instead of unified approaches to the challenges facing Richardson, such as neighborhood integrity and revitalization, attracting businesses, regional transportation, and the current economic recession.
Sexually Oriented Businesses in Richardson
Why am I dredging up this old topic? Didn't the Richardson City Council deal with this issue in 2007? Didn't the council adopt an ordinance that restricted such businesses as far as legally possible? It did, but as we enter another election campaign, the Richardson Coalition PAC has decided to criticize some members of the city council for not doing more.
The Richardson Echo published an editorial response by William 'Bill' McCalpin that explains well the background of the issue and argues that spending hundreds of thousands of additional dollars in legal fees fighting new cases that the city is likely to lose is not a wise use of taxpayer money.
"I believe that the Richardson Coalition should be thanking the Richardson City Council for the activities that it has done in the past to restrict such obnoxious uses as much as is legally possible in this current legislative and judicial climate, and should further be thanking the Richardson City Council for husbanding in a wise and prudent manner the scarce financial resources of the City on behalf of the taxpayers in these trying economic times.So, why is the Richardson Coalition stirring up this issue again in this year's council race? That hasn't been adequately explained. How does the Richardson Coalition operate? Who writes and approves its editorials? Does the PAC really speak for all of the members that its Web site lists as supporters? A little independent background reporting into this PAC could serve the citizens of Richardson well.
2 comments:
Is the Richardson Echo a going concern? I put them in my weekly reading rotation but don't see much going on there.
Yes, it is a going concern, if not very active from time to time. Andrew Laska has done a fine job of presenting the news even-handedly, but, as you can imagine, a guy who has a wife and family and job isn't always able to update the site frequently.
I don't want to speak for Andrew, but I imagine that he is looking forward to news and editorial contributions from other people, so long as it's level-headed and they're willing to sign it. That's why I was happy to have my recent open letter to the Richardson Coalition published there.
Bill
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