Richardson Accounting Practice Fairly Common

Not much of a headline, I'm afraid. But that's the conclusion of a news story by Ian McCann in The Dallas Morning News headlined "Richardson officials defend use of bond vote money for project salaries". The word "defend" in McCann's headline certainly suggests we have a conflict, with someone on offense and someone on defense. Yet, I can't find anything in the story to indicate who is making a charge, nor what that charge might be, that anyone needs to "defend" against. In fact, in the second to last paragraph, McCann tells us,

"Robert Bland, a professor and chairman of the public administration department at University of North Texas, said using bonds to pay for project management staff is fairly common."

So there you have it. Richardson's accounting practice is fairly common. No one is quoted as saying it isn't. No one is identified as criticizing the city's practice in any way. McCann doesn't tell us why he's even writing this story.

Did you ever read a news story that left you feeling like you are picking up the thread in the middle? Today's story is like that. I'm left scratching my head, thinking I must have walked into this play at the start of the second act.