The Tragic Irrelevancy of the Denton Record-Chronicle
Dan’s Silverleaf was packed last night – not for a show, but for a city council debate. With four seats on the ballot, this is arguably one of the most important elections in years. Last night’s debate, hosted by the Denton Downtowners, We Denton Do It, and Drink and Think, was an attempt to capture the momentum and attention of Denton’s growing creative class, a demographic that has made itself a force to be reckoned with in Denton. They are the creators of our city, the changers of culture, and are beautifully directing their democratic impulses back to their community.
By all accounts, last night’s debate had more people than any other forum to date and, according to many candidates and attendees, it stood out as the most important.
Yet our local newspaper, the Denton Record-Chronicle, neither promoted it nor covered it. Instead, the lead story for today’s paper was about the painting of walls at the Sanger library.
The first Denton Creatives Mixer from October 2012 at Oak Street Draft House.
This isn’t new. Despite the fact that there have been growing crowds of civic-minded young professionals, artists, and families coming together to help create Denton in the areas of culture, technology, and livibility, our local paper has acted like none of this is happening. Hundreds showing up each time we have a Denton Creatives Mixer or host innovative citizen engagement events like February’s Ideas for the City Forum, yet not a single story.
Meanwhile the paper continues perpetuating the now tired and outdated narrative that “City Hall is not listening to the citizens.” I have no interest in speculating why this is the case other than to point to something that is becoming increasingly obvious. The conspiratorial fantasies of those who spend a significant amount of time commenting on dentonrc.com stories tend to find their way into the headlines. It’s as if the coverage of local politics in Denton is written with an aim of causing a commotion among these curmudgeon commentators.
And this is tragic. A robust local news outlet is essential for a robust and healthy local democracy. With local newspapers failing all over the nation, it will be up to somebody or some entity to reimagine and transform the future of local news. And I can’t think of a better place where we have all the necessary ingredients to create a new model for the power and possibility of local news than Denton, Texas. And in doing so, help return a vibrant democracy to the city.
There are armies of journalists, photographers, videographers, creative writers, cultural thought leaders, and analysts ready to join with you in this ambitious project.
But you are ignoring them.
The Candidates Debate – April 14 – Dan’s Silverleaf
With four Denton City Council seats up for grabs and early voting for those elections beginning in less than a month, the time is now to start paying attention.
Once again, a bunch of local hackers are organizing all that info over at VoteDenton.org – there you’ll find all the candidates and links to their websites and social media sites. Becayse one seat is a district specific seat (District 2), you’ll be able to use the great interactive map in order to determine your district.
There are several opportunities to catch these candidates engage the issues and ideas, but there is one you should make sure to catch. We Denton Do It, Denton Downtowners, and Drink and Think are teaming up for The Candidates Debate on Monday, April 14 at Dan’s Silverleaf at 7pm.
Local politics, with beer. Probably the way it was intended to be.
Check out all the details on the Facebook event page.
On Storms and Humanity
There is something about the onset of stress that tests one’s character. What is true of an individual is also true of a community. This is why it is often said that natural disasters bring out the best and worst in humanity. Our moral progression as a civilization is revealed when our comforts of typical life are removed.
I went swimming with my family last night at the Denton Natatorium. All of a sudden, a lifeguard ran into the pool area, quickly gave a signal to all the other lifeguards on post, and within less than a minute the entire pool area was cleared and everyone in the building huddled in one of the locker rooms. The staff was calm yet directive. The entire operation seemed to be run by a staff of teenagers, but their age was no issue here – they knew what to do and we all followed their lead.
Soon, folks started coming in from the streets. There’s a sizeable mobile home community just Northwest of this area and the city sirens and other news announcements drew many residents out of there and into the closest open building.
City personnel, city buildings, and other city resources come to the aid of the city’s most vulnerable in ways we often don’t realize. Consider the homeless who find refuge and relief on hot or cold days in one of our libraries or rec centers. Consider the poor who are often invited in to the Civic Center pool at the end of hot summer days when the staff decide to stop taking payments early. The city is made up of people who are empowered to care.
Inside the locker rooms, people took care of one another. Towels were shared, anxiety-filled kids were tended to, updates were shared as some were able to access news and social media from their smartphones.
And throughout the city, similar stories happened throughout the evening. Street crews, DME workers, high-water teams, police, and fire teams got after it. The Denton social media team was active and responsive, providing information and responding quickly to reported issues. Here’s a shot of the DME crew restoring power to homes in our neighborhood which was accompanied by Twitter hashtag #lovethistown.
But the most impressive display of character I had the privilege of observing came from a 3rd grader from Ginnings Elementary School named Jake. His family came to seek shelter from a nearby neighborhood. As we struck up a conversation with his family, Jake jumped in to help translate for his parents’ broken English. Realizing that my kids and others around us were starting to go stir crazy after being in a cramped locker room for 30 minutes, Jake called the children to himself…
“Would you kids like to hear a story? Everyone come over here and I’ll tell you a story, OK?”
When the teenagers of your town are effectively managing emergency situations and the third graders of your city are bringing hope and encouragement to the kids, you’re doing it right Denton.