Friday, November 29, 2013

Got Ethics?

The Fort Worth Weekly and Mary Kelleher do a good job at putting the new Water District employee in perspective.

“If what the TRWD is hiring him to do is to help it be more transparent and accountable to the taxpayers, I think that would be great,” she said. “I’m hopeful he will be helpful in convincing the administration that they work for the taxpayers and [that] the taxpayers are entitled to know what is going on.”

Kelleher sees some positive changes. Water district staff have begun posting online videos of board meetings and publicizing some committee meetings. The staff is considering testing the Trinity’s water quality  once a week, rather than once a month, and publishing the results. And more seating has been made available for visitors at board meetings.

However, Kelleher’s hope dimmed when she realized that she’d run across Fischer’s name a few days before. On Nov. 5 she had submitted a public information request seeking what she considered basic information on district records. She received a response from Fischer 10 days later, on his Austin law firm’s letterhead.

The response was similar to many of those that residents have received when soliciting public information: in the eyes of Kelleher and others, the runaround.

“At such time as you are able to provide us with your written reply to this letter, for purposes of clarifying or narrowing your request, we will attempt to respond to your clarified request at that time,” he wrote.

Kelleher had anticipated such a reply when she submitted the request –– she included a note to Oliver that said, in part, that the water district “has expended extraordinary efforts to deny information to the general public” and used “technicalities to wiggle out of your duties and legal requirements.”

Kelleher now wonders whether Fischer is here to provide transparency or just to act as another obstacle.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

WHO? WHAT? WHY?

So we've been hearing about this voluntary(?) traffic stop/ DNA swab deal that took place on the border of Fort Worth and Haltom City. 

Watch the video from NBC5, then ask these questions.

If this was all voluntary and on the up and up, WHY would Haltom City nor Fort Worth know about it? 

WHY would Fort Worth have no record of it? (A later update on that in their article).

WHY would the NHTSA block a major arterial road during lunch hour on a weekday?

WHY are they paying for your DNA and blood?  WHAT are they going to do with that? 

WHY hasn't the agency answered the "news" questions?

We saw Bud jumped on this story too---

star-telegram.com/2013/11/19/5352309/fort-worth-police-stopped-motorists.html

We also talked to the one lady who did not stop. She said she didn't have time for "silly stuff".  We couldn't agree more.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Earthquake!!!

So there were several more earthquakes in North Texas today.

One of our readers left a comment -

Anonymous said...

Felt a strong one in my apt. building, tonite at ~6:40pm, Nov. 19, 2013. Shook whole building several times, after the initial one, which nearly knocked my laptop off my lap. Strongest one I've felt here in the 6yrs I have live here. Live in 76107 zip code, close to town.

Did we miss something?

Since we are nearing a dozen quakes, this month, have "news" outlets said how far these quakes are taking place from the injection well?

Have any of them told you what happens to gas pipelines in earthquakes?

No ethics?

Buy some.

The new water district hire may be the best money spent yet.

Ethics and openness have been the subject of great debate at the water district since the spring, when three political newcomers challenged long-time board members. The campaign was laced with allegations that water district board members and staff were personally benefiting from the district’s assets, and conducting business in secret.

Only one of the challengers, Mary Kelleher, won a seat — but the criticism of the water district hasn’t waned. Kelleher, for example, has abstained from voting on many issues involving major water district projects, saying she is concerned that some work may have been done in violation of open meetings laws and is therefore illegal.

Read more in the FWST

Monday, November 18, 2013

There's something happening here...

Lots of going's on lately in Haltom City.

They just elected (finally!) their first Vietnamese councilman and now a nice, quiet meeting about compensation.

If you live there, be there.  YOU can't afford not to.
Here's to Haltom City moving forward------

NO, it's waaaay past "high time" sumpin' is done A-bout the compensation package for OUR PO-leece Officers and Firefighters!!!!  For the uninformed, said "PO-leece Officer's" startin' pay is more or less in line with most other Cities of OUR size BUT, somewhere A-round the end of the third year, aka when they are well trained at OUR expense, their pay scale falls waaaay behind said "most other Cities"; THIS IS A CRIME (pun intended, but it ain't funny).  Is it any wonder A number of OUR Officers deem it necessary to seek well-deserved compensation in other municipalities every year?  Let me help you out here……..NO, IT IS NOT "ANY WONDER"‼‼  As far as I can tell, OUR Firefighters have much the same problem, but I believe Monday’s meetin’ will mostly deal with OUR PO-leece; I have no way of knowin’ what/who will be discussed as the postin’ of same is so non-descript.   

Anyhoo………what are OUR City head potatoes, and potato heads doin' A-bout said "CRIME"????  Not much as far as I can tell L   Monday night, November 18th, there's to be A waaaay under advertised "Work Session" held in OUR waaaay cramped, non-televised "Pre Council Room"; I guess if one purposefully under advertises such A "Session" A lot of seatin' is unneeded L   I say what's needed is for A few hundred of US to show up at 5:45pm and force the "potatoes" to move the meetin' into the what could/would become OUR waaaay cramped City Council chamber.

If this, what to me is A VERY BIG issue, is unimportant to you, delete this email and stay home Monday watchin' some inane TV show; if you think this even MIGHT be important to you, and/or yours, forward this email to every concerned Citizen you know AND come on out to show OUR support for Haltom City's finest.

Monday, November 11, 2013

Thank You


Sinkholes and Earthquakes...

Welcome to Texas.

Springtown continued to have earthquakes this weekend, making lots of folks there extremely nervous.

They can't help wonder, what's coming next after almost a tremor a day for a week.

One resident can tell you...sinkholes.

The most telling sentence from the NBCnews.com article - The family has reached out to the Parker County Commission, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the Texas Department of Agriculture and other government agencies, but has gotten no explanation, Napier said.

Friday, November 8, 2013

Get in line!

Remember just a few short years ago when the cities and thier "leaders" were lining up to support Chesapeake?

Now they are lining up to sue them.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram gives you the bare bones on the latest group to join the fight.

If they are jacking with city, school and billionaires royalties, what do YOU think they are doing to yours?

How do you like them now?
 
Joining a line of other governments and individuals in North Texas, the Arlington school board voted Thursday night to sue Chesapeake Exploration, claiming the company has underpaid royalties for natural gas.

The companies have oil and gas lease agreements that cover more than 1,000 acres owned by the school district involving 40 producing wells, according to the suit.

The school board’s vote to join the suit was unanimous.

In October, the city of Fort Worth also sued the energy companies. Other suits have been filed by financier Ed Bass, Trinity Valley School and several Fort Worth landowners.

WHAT is going on in Haltom City?

First Wendy Davis, now Erik Estrada?

"Ponch" will be at the Birdville Baptist Church Saturday night. The Birdville Baptist Church has also recently made news with their 160th anniversary celebration.

This time they are helping Mr. Estrada promote a new film to help keep kids safe.

Read about it in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

“This is the real deal, the real world, and we need to make our children aware of the dangers of the Internet,” said Erik Estrada whose TV character Ponch isn’t unlike the sheriff he portrays in a film called Finding Faith.

The film is based on the true story of a teenage girl who was lured away and kidnapped by someone she encountered online. Estrada will be at Haltom City’s Birdville Baptist Church Saturday evening to introduce the film. The point of the film is to let children know about the dangers lurking on the world wide web.

“The point of the movie is to teach kids to avoid this situation,” said Tom Howe, the pastor of Birdville Baptist.

Beware of "Outsiders" at YOUR paper

If you move a portion of the paper to Dallas, even though it was founded in and named after, Fort Worth, does that make YOU an outsider?

Sounds like it.  Wonder what's going to show up in the actual print when FW starts making fun of Dallas again?

Maybe this will help with all the terrible typo's as of late.   Maybe they'll move the whole "news"paper there and we'll get real news.  And reporters instead of columnists.

We can dream can't we?

(By the way, will Dallas be hiring for the 275 jobs the FWST cut?)

A quake a day...

Won't keep the drillers away.

Five earthquakes have been reported in Tarrant and Wise counties this week.

Makes you wonder what's next?

Read about the earthquakes here.

Earthquakes were detected near the Mid-Cities, Reno, and Springtown from Nov. 1 - 7, 2013.

Dispatchers in Richland Hills, North Richland Hills, Haltom City and Hurst say they received calls asking about an earthquake on Nov. 1.

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

If early voting tells us anything...

It tells us they bought YOU.  Hook, line and sinker. 

Did you go anywhere that you didn't see a politician or Nolan Ryan (!) spouting off about Prop 6?

If it was truly about water, would they really need to go that far?  Spend that much?  Wouldn't EVERYONE vote for a water bill about water?

We hope the politicians who just profited from buying you are good stewards of the funds and the water supply.  They've all done such good work with that in the past...

Hey, it worked for the Tarrant Regional Water District...

Sunday, November 3, 2013

WHO is meddling?

That's what a local columnist is asking.

In case you didn't know, though we don't know anyone here who doesn't, it's OK to ignore food critics.

What's the world coming to?


Apparently the former Speaker of the House can't vote around here.  If it's this difficult for him, what's it like for normal folks?

Read about Jim Wright and the voter ID mess in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.