Apparently, if the Chron's writing makes you angry, and you respond to them angrily, the catapult gets locked down.
HPD Needs Help, Mrs. White, Chron.com
Experience has demonstrated that money will not solve the problem. Over the last decade, HPD has seen its budget grow from $468 million to $722 million - not including the cost of the crime lab and neighborhood protection departments. In that time, HPD actually lost more than 100 officers. So where did the funds go? That is the question that City Hall needs to answer before it cuts another check to HPD's questionable management.
The rest of the editorial is a scathing indictment of both HPD Chief Charles McClelland as well as Mayor Annise Parker, neither of whom have shown any leadership on this issue.
Credit where credit is due. After the possibly Chron-nominated Pulitzer finalist Lisa Falkenberg borrowed the catapult from Mrs. White in a ridiculous example of apologia it is possible that it was just decided that too much was too much.
Either way, both the reporting and the resulting editorial is a fine, if rare, example of solid watchdog reporting of the type newspapers once mastered. It's nice to see the Chron-crew practicing some actual journalism instead of just dutifly taking marching orders from institutional sources, insulting readers or (amazingly) suggesting anyone (else) is in need of an editor.
There's still way to much secretarial journalism going on over on Texas Avenue, but at least there are signs of life under the new leadership.
