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Staff Editorial

Editorial Cartoon

Brandon Moeller

I hate it when "The Man" gangs up on someone. As a member of the media, I hate to admit it, but we can be "The Man" sometimes.

This is the column in which I formally apologize for my criticism of the UH administration. Or I would, if their actions merited it. But they don't.

I am not "The Man." So who is he? In this column, he is none other than radio personality extraordinaire Kevin Dorsey, producer of KKRW 93.7 "The Arrow's" drive-time program.

Dorsey, lacking all sense and judgment, verbally attacked City Councilwoman Annise Parker, who played an instrumental role in the city Public Works Department's refusal to issue the Westheimer Street Festival a permit for what would have been this year's second installment of the festival in May.

Did I mention Parker is the first city councilwoman to be openly lesbian?

Dorsey didn't overlook this fact: He aired his own editorial bashing Parker's sexual identity, which some are flagging as "hate speech" against the entire Houston gay and lesbian community.

To "The Arrow's" credit (besides the fact that they play damn good music), Parker's letter to Brian Purdy, vice president and general manager of KKRW, did not go unanswered. KKRW issued an on-air apology to Parker.

But what about Dorsey? His motive was to bash someone who helped cancel a 26-year-old festival. But Dorsey was wrong.

Here's the real humor, kids: The Westheimer "Drunk" Festival isn't even a noble cause to fight for. I attended the last one, and it was nothing more than a huge gathering of rowdy drunks.

What happened to the culture, I posed to myself? The art -- where had it gone? I was uninformed, I'll admit, but I recently found out that the art festival had moved and changed its name to the Bayou City Art Festival. This festival, I hear, is a real gathering of artists. And that festival, is the real one, the one that is truly a 26-year-old festival. It was originally located where "West Fest" is currently held.

I wasn't the only one to notice the degradation of the "West Fest."

Parker's main argument against the festival was that it is too big for the residential area that the Westheimer/Montrose locale has become.

Jeffrey Cole, head of the Avondale Association, also condemned the festival in a Houston Chronicle story.

In the Chronicle article, Cole was quoted as saying the crowd is unruly, occasionally lewd and sometimes near-riotous.

"We have about 45 minutes of video of nothing but people urinating in public," Cole told Chronicle staff member Edward Hegstrom.

In fact, "West Fest" is only seven or eight years old. It should not be allowed to continue in its current condition. I am not anti-"West Fest." However, it needs to be revamped. And Dorsey needs to be reprimanded.

He never should have let his anger get the best of him; he never should have made it a personal matter. If Dorsey was a responsible member of the media, he would know better. 93.7 is too good a station to have Dorsey on its crew.

He should be replaced. By whom? I am quite confident that I could do a better job than he could. I challenge "The Arrow" to give me his job.

Ha! Maybe not. But I am ashamed to have listened to Dorsey's program. I am advocating a community boycott of "The Arrow's" morning program until it gets rid of Dorsey.