HOW WE SEE IT You Get What You Pay For

WHAT’S THE POINT? We see little value in the $19,800 self-serving segment the Fayetteville City Council approved Tuesday.

— The Fayetteville City Council debated for more than an hour on whether to allow a business to get a plaque if it donates money to city parks. It split 4-3 on the question.

That same council on the same night voted unanimously to pay $19,800 to pay for a five-minuteplug on TV.

We should have taken an editorial stance on this TV idea before the vote. We have no right to be surprised at the speed of the council’s decision The item was on the agenda, after all.

We’ll do our best not to be surprised again.

This is the same council that’s debated on whether to allow furloughs for city employees because the budget’s tight. Then the council asked voters to change how the city’s hotel, motel and restaurant tax is spent to free up more money for park maintenance by cutting new park acquisition.

Supporters of this idea might object to our comparison of this spending to parks, furloughs and other city operations. The $19,800 will come from a fund that can only be used for economic development purposes. We contend that the city should consider changing the restrictions on that $800,000 fund if a project like this is among the best economic development ideas the council can find.

To put this purchase into perspective, $19,800 for five minutes amounts to $66 per second.

That may be a bargain when compared to just buying an outright commercial, but we have to look at this through a prospective viewer’s standpoint. How seriously would you take a “news” report in which the subject of the report paid a serious share of the production costs?

If the viewer isn’t told that this is, in essence, an infomercial, should the city be paying to pull such a trick?

The production company of “Today in America” took an interest in the Fayetteville Forward economic development initiative of Mayor Lioneld Jordan, we’re told.

We at least have to give the producers of “Today in America” credit for knowing how to pitch a sale.

The city will get to give final approval of the edited segment, too - destroying any pretense that anyone should take this account seriously.

Fayetteville will gain licensing and distribution rights that will allow the city and or the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce to use the segment for promotional purposes. OK. The city just passed a business license requirement to the primary benefit of the chamber.

Now it’s buying itself and the chamber a $19,800 video to hand out on DVD.

We hope the council votes against something the chamber wants soon - just to show they still can.

Casualties Of War To honor the men and women in our armed forces and remind our readers of their sacrifices, the Northwest Arkansas Times is publishing Department of Defense announcements identifying Americans killed in active military operations.

Staff Sgt. Justus S. Bartelt, 27, of Polo, Ill., died July 16 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd MarineDivision, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Sgt. Justin B. Allen, 23, of Coal Grove, Ohio, died July 18 in Zhari, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when he was shot by insurgents while conducting combat operations. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Hunter Army Airfield, Ga.

Gunnery Sgt. Christopher L. Eastman, 28, of Moose Pass, Alaska, died July 18 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 7th Engineer Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Opinion, Pages 5 on 07/23/2010

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