Page Two
By Louis Black, Fri., April 23, 1999
What once we thought would be a volatile campaign season has turned pretty calm. There may be some surprises, incumbents beaten or forced into runoffs. That decision is pretty much in your hands.
Over the weekend we had a surprising (for the Black family) number of social occasions. What interested me was how little of the talk was about the upcoming council election. Among the folks we spent time with were some of the most politically astute we know, with whom once we would have talked of little else. Instead, the focus was on Bush, with speculation about how he would survive the national press. Daryl Slusher, Jackie Goodman, Beverly Griffith, and the challengers running against them were mentioned and discussed only briefly.
Below we repeat the Chronicle editorial board endorsements. Let me reiterate our strong though concerned support for this council and praise for what a terrific job they've done. Our obligation is to serve as a strong council critic and raise all the questions we can. This is part of the democratic dialogue. We have, and will share with our readers, serious hesitations about some of this council's positions. We still offer them our respect. Please vote. And vote for Slusher, Griffith, and Goodman.
Over the last couple of years, a pattern has developed here at the Chronicle. Sept. through Dec. are nuts with consistently large issues and everyone cranked to 10. Logically the pace should slow in January, only then, Nick Barbaro and I, as well as other staff, are wrapped up in SXSW preparations. June, July, and August are the big vacation months here at the Chronicle, with large chunks of the staff gone for extended periods of time.
Going back, the end of March is for SXSW rehab. This leaves April and May as the months where we do the most long-term planning and short-range decision making. Over the years the definition of what is a small issue has changed (it was once 20 pages, and then 40, and later 80). Now, during this period, we've been producing medium-size issues, mostly at about 144 pages. This leaves us time for more ambitious projects.
We've also made lots of small and relatively big changes over the last few months. Usually we report on them in this column, but there have been so many, I'm nervous I would leave some out. Take our word for it, lots of change has happened and more is scheduled, from floor plans to people's responsibilities. When the smoke settles, I'll fill you in on who is what and where. For the time being check the slowly changing staff box.
At least it keeps things interesting.
