“That’s a measurable achievement.”

“Then put it in the report.”

We did.

The following quarter’s board materials included not just occupancy and margins but deferred maintenance, employee retention and unresolved safety reports.

Alan Price, once Preston’s most devoted defender, confessed that he’d stopped asking questions because the numbers had looked good on the surface.

“It’s embarrassing,” he said.

“Then let the embarrassment teach us something.”

He agreed.