Journal coverage of last night’s stadium vote.
I’m also confused by the editorial headlined “End the Secrecy.” At first, I thought it was directed at Billy Prim.
But instead, the Journal is patting itself on the back for reporting the name of the company that last week received $640,000 in economic incentives from Davidson County:
Steve Googe, who heads the Davidson County Economic Development Commission, said the name so fast during a public hearing the night of the vote that it was hard to understand what he’d said. He wouldn’t clarify the company’s name after the hearing, saying that negotiations were continuing and he didn’t want to risk that the company might decline to consider Davidson County because of publicity, the Journal’s Michael Hewlett reported. McClure referred the Journal to a tape of the meeting to get the company’s name, but the name is unclear on the tape as well.
If the Journal hadn’t finally nailed down the name of the company and reported it Thursday, many Davidson County residents still probably wouldn’t know the name. That’s unacceptable for a deal involving tax dollars.
Good for the Journal. The only problem is the hometown Dispatch didn’t seem to have any trouble nailing down Arneg’s identity.
So either the Dispatch’s listening skills are a little better or Davidson County commissioners, supposedly a “fiscally conservative bunch,” just don’t go out of their way to make sure the Journal gets the info. I wonder why.