By Tom Henderson • Staff Writer • 

Parking laws, RV 'outliers' on council agenda

Only online subscribers may access this article.

One-day subscriptions available for just $3. Click here for one-day access.

For all other subscription offers, click here.

Already a subscriber, please .

Comments

racemom

Wow! That tells me a lot about Chief Scales to hear that the homeowners concerns are "somewhat inflated at times" and that the "RV dwellers cannot simply be given the bum's rush". Perhaps Chief Scales needs to be reminded that he is charged with enforcing the laws that are currently on the books. As a homeowner who has an RV Dweller parked in front of my house for 1 week today I can confirm that nothing has been done to enforce the 72 hour limit regardless of my daily phone calls and those of my neighbors. Perhaps the Chief would like to advertise his address and we could send the outliers to park in front of his house.

Lulu

I wonder how many of these mislabeled "outliers" pay property taxes.

Tom Henderson

That "RV dwellers cannot simply be given the bum's rush" was not a direct quotation from Chief Scales. That is why the remark was not set off with quotation marks. It was a paraphrasing of the chief's assertion (reported verbatim in the quotations before and after the paraphrase) that the RV dwellers should not be removed without compassion and consideration for the consequences for them as individual human beings. That, too, is a paraphrase. Remember, only remarks set off with quotation marks are direct quotations.

racemom

And yet it was followed by the words Scales said.....certainly it was your intention to infer that it was a direct quote from the Chief. Guess my apologies to the Chief. Thank you Mr. Henderson for the education....I will use it in the future to dissect the true meaning of the NewsRegister's fake news.

Bill B

So, can we can an update on last night's meeting?

Bill B

oops, misread the article

sbagwell

Use of direct quotes is always conveyed by enclosing the quoted words in a set of opening and closing quotation marks. That's what quotation marks are for.
Anything else is paraphrased. That means the reporter is summarizing the comments for you.
Paraphrase is typically more direct, compact and to the point, so dominates in stories. Direct quotes are typically reserved for particular memorable, powerful or colorful remarks.
That's standard practice in journalism. We didn't invent it here.
Steve

racemom

It may be the standard for journalism, but that is precisely the reason the general public no longer believes journalists. You are so busy trying to create a good story rather than just state the facts. This story leads the reader to believe that Chief Scales was actually interviewed for the piece. No where in Chief Scales document package provided to the council ( the document used to paraphrase this entire article) did the Chief ever characterize the homeowners concerns as inflated.... this was purely the writers opinion. I have lost all trust in the NR staff.

sbagwell

1) The story took pains to note, immediately on its first reference to Chief Scales, that he presented his recommendations "in a memo to the council." The story was based on written memorandum. There was never any attempt to suggest otherwise.
2) Immediately after the one-line, seven-word paraphrase, suggesting the chief felt "the public’s concerns are somewhat inflated at times," his exact words were provided so the reader could make his own assessment. The following paragraph, enclosed in quote marks in the original, to show that it was a direct quote from Scales' staff memorandum, read as follows:
“The problems mentioned at city council meetings do exist,” he said. “However, these issues do not exist with every complaint we go to or every vehicular camper we contact. The testimony from the citizens should not be taken as all-inclusive. There are some vehicular campers who do obey the laws and respect the neighborhood or areas they are parked in.”
Where is the "fake news" when we actually provided the direct quote in the story so readers like racemom could form their own opinion and reach their own conclusion?
It seems to me that concerns expressed about the story have proven "somewhat inflated at times." But maybe that's just me.
Steve

racemom

Once upon a time........

Denise

I agree with racemom,

It’s pretty misleading in regards to what the chief did, or didn’t say. I don’t believe it to be so called “fake news”.

I do sense her frustration, as I would be. What a horrible situation for her to be in. Taxpayers should have priority I would think in these situations, and Scales seems to be siding with the people causing the problems.

I wonder if Scales can provide his address and an open invitation to have a 70’s RV and broken down vehicle parked in front of his house, complete with gun toting pit bull owner.

Or is he just talking out of both sides of his mouth like every other city official?

Anyways, good luck racemom. I’ve seen what you’re dealing with and am sending you my best wishes.

Bill B

Did anyone from the News Register attend last night's meeting?

Reporter Starla Pointer

Bill B., yes, our reporter attended the Wednesday meeting at which RV parking was discussed. The story will be in Friday's paper -- and, since there's such high interest, it is already posted on this website.

Web Design and Web Development by Buildable