Call it the Hippocratic Oath of what passes for local media in Houston: "First, say nothing negative."
As we pass Labor Day and get into the period where Houston's Mayoral Race starts claiming public attention the puff-pieces are coming fast and furious.
KTRK -13 has all but completed their run with the "Why ______ wants to be Houston's next Mayor" series. In the spirit of things I thought I'd provide the answers the candidates didn't, and the reporter didn't push for.....
Why Adrian Garcia wants to be Houston's next Mayor. - Because he did such a slap-dash job running the Harris County Sheriff's Office he's hoping for a clean slate to distract from the mess he left behind.
Why Ben Hall wants to be Houston's next Mayor. - Because we must stop TEH GAYYSSSSSS!!! Oh, and infrastructure, Malaysian solutions and more police or something like that.
Why Bill King wants to be Houston's next Mayor. - Honestly, I'm having some trouble figuring this one out.
Why Marty McVey wants to be Houston's next Mayor. - Increasingly it's feeling as if he had nothing else better to do and got bored.
Why Chris Bell wants to be Houston's next Mayor. - Because he's a perennial candidate and desperately wants to be elected to SOMETHING. (anything really, is the dog catcher election soon?)
Why Stephen Costello wants to be Houston's next Mayor. - Because he spearheaded a nifty slush-fund in RebuildHouston and realizes that the Mayor has control over the purse strings.
Why Sylvester Turner wants to be Houston's next Mayor. - Because he feels like he's the heir apparent, and coronations are supposed to go off without a hitch despite you offering nothing of substance and spouting inane platitudes.
The Chron is also in the middle of running puff pieces on the candidates. They haven't completed them yet, but here are the ones they've ran so far....
Timing, Fate, put Garcia into race for Mayor. - There's no mention that the "timing" was caused by several missteps as Harris County Sheriff.
Costello, with Council experience, looks to grab top job. - Spinning RebuildHouston as a positive takes some work. As does not mentioning the court troubles the program is having.
After stretch of campaigns, Bell seeks to capitalize on experience. - Experience losing?
Here's the big problem with drive-by journalism on big political races.
By all accounts Houston is entering a very critical period. From financial troubles to the very real possibility that Rebuild Houston could be taken off the books and the money forced to be refunded to a crumbling infrastructure, increasing crime. a deteriorating economy and resulting flight from the city to the outlying areas because of it what Houstonians need to know is whether or not the person for whom their pulling the voting leader is up to the job.
Taking that into perspective Houstonians deserve to have the candidates presented to them warts and all. Does it matter that Adrian Garcia proved to be an ineffective leader while Sheriff or that Sylvester Turner seems to have based his political career largely on the patronage of others rather than his own skills? Should we be concerned that Stephen Costello appears to be wholly under the influence of a specific lobby group that stands to make a significant windfall from the State? Does the fact that Chris Bell has proven to be an unserious candidate for unserious times matter? Should we be concerned that Ben Hall seems to be more of an attorney and opportunist than a leader? Do we know whether or not Bill King has the organizational and leadership chops to "get things done" as he claims?
These things matter. A lot. And it's a shame that, in the interest of future access to the eventual winner, the media seems to be hedging their bets.
Houston voters deserve better.
