Which Tarrant County Boondoggle are you talking about?

There was also an article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram this week by State Representative        Konni Burton.

The FWST "Highlights" were as follows:

• Most people are not aware of the cost
• About $468 million of total is not yet funded
• Public vote should have been required

Now those of you long time readers are probably thinking this is concerning the Trinity River Vision, or Panther Island, or whatever they are calling that Boondoggle this week, when what this article is actually talking about is Tex-Rail.

How many Boondoggles can one county have?  Well, how much time you got?

It boggles our mind the people of Tarrant County keep falling for these taxpayer schemes and funding them. Some would say, you didn't get a vote.

Well, in a way you do.

Every time you vote for one of these crony incumbents; on the city council, mayor, commissioner, water district, you are voting your money away.  Your kids would like you to stop.  Some day the bills are going to come due.  Somebody will have to pay.

A quote from the piece on Tex Rail, that should make you question their sanity, as well as yours -

"Local officials are aggressively pushing forward despite not having secured complete funding for the project"

Party Politics

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram had an editorial yesterday...

We're not posting it here for a couple reasons. One reason being because they probably wouldn't give you access to it without paying and the other reason, well, it wasn't that great an editorial, but the article did have a point.

The editorial questioned the role of party politics in races that are supposed to be non-partisan.  Pretty much saying there's no such thing anymore.  So that leaves you on the other side of the aisle (right or left) wondering if those who are elected to represent you, represent you at all?

Apparently Mayor Price has been picked to head some conservative group somewhere.  This comes as a real shocker to those who know Betsy to be a Democrat.

Some question why Betsy made a split second appearance at a large Republican shindig last January.  Guess they have their answer now.  Well, that and she follows in Kay's footsteps.  (Watch your step, this is Texas after all).

Please Mark your Calendars for Tandy Hills Brush Bash

The weather forecast is excellent for getting some serious work done.
Thanks a mil!
RSVP

In the beginning, wildfire and wildlife maintained the Tandy Hills prairie keeping it free of woody growth. The grasses and wildflowers flourished without the hand of Man or Woman. But those glory days are over, so…

...Friends of Tandy Hills Natural Area hosts a Brush Bash one day a year to clear sections of the prairie of invasive and unwanted trees, brush and trash. On some years we re-work previously cleared areas. Your help REALLY makes a difference! Manly Men and Wild Women welcome.

WHO: Friends of Tandy Hills Natural Area

WHAT: 8th Annual Brush Bash

WHEN: Saturday, January 30, 9:00 a.m.- 12:00 p.m.

WHERE: Tandy Hills Natural Area 3400 View Street Fort Worth, TX 76103

BRING: gloves, sturdy shoes, hat, water, lunch, tarps, loppers, wheelbarrows and wagons.

Coffee, tea & morning snacks provided.

More info tandyhills.org/events/brush-bash

No drinking water for Dallas

That’s the latest insanity coming from the Corp this week.  There were two meetings of note held this week…you HAVE to read this to believe it.  Though to some of you in the know, it’s just another day in Congress.

Here’s a note from someone at the COG meeting –

One of the council members spoke of the Lake Lewisville Dam / sink/ slide due to 16 inches of rainfall, “some reporter wrote shock & awe”…Corps of engineers had to do damage control to correct initial report of imminent danger. However the attention it garnered gave the political push that just may quickened the time frame to make the dam safer & extend its life.

In addition to the COG meeting, there was a closed door meeting at City Hall in Dallas, where there were threats, big ones.  You can read it all in the Dallas Observer.  Though some of the highlights are so good, we’re saving them here for future reference.  Heads up, Fort Worth…

COULD THE STUPID WHITE WATER FEATURE ON THE TRINITY FORCE US ALL TO MOVE? REALLY? 

City attorneys told the council in an emergency executive session Wednesday that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was only hours away from shutting down almost the entire drinking water system for Dallas if the council didn't immediately cough up $3 to $5 million to fix or (better idea) demolish the stupid white water feature. Some on the council didn't believe the lawyers, so thank goodness they balked at signing the check.

All of a sudden — bang! out of nowhere! — the lawyers lock the council up where the taxpayers can’t see them, shove a letter from the Corps in their faces and tell them if the council doesn’t agree to spend millions more on this already atrociously over-budget fiasco by 5 p.m. that day, the Corps is threatening to yank federal permits that could effectively shut down the city’s water supply.

Apparently the socialites glimpsed a man-made whitewater park over the rims of their martini glasses while semi-reclined on a canopied deck somewhere in Colorado and decided they wanted to bring one home. But they thought it would be better for the taxpayers to pay for it, because … money.  (Psst – you, listening FW?)

The original estimate given to the City Council more than five years ago was $1.5 million.  When construction on the fake rapids was finished, the cost was more than $5 millio

Oh, they didn’t issue a permit, they told me. They said it fell within something called a “nationwide permit 42 for recreational facilities.” It was permissible without a specific permit, they said. All it needed was a “letter of permission” from the Corps, which they granted without any environmental study.

But all of a sudden the Corps is desperately serious about making something happen. And it’s weird. The Corps, a gigantic public construction company run by the Congress, never acts this way with client cities. It kisses cities’ butts so it can get more work and not make local congressmen mad. The Corps’ emphatic behavior here this week was way outside their profile.

The big permits that  the Corps does hold over the city’s head, called 404 permits, could theoretically be construed to govern virtually the entire water supply of the city. And that’s the type of saber they are rattling. They don’t have a pea-shooter to aim at the white water feature alone, so they are bringing out bigger guns by threatening to yank the 404 permits, or so the lawyers told the council last Wednesday.

What happens when the Corps rubber stamps something?

This.              

Someone tell TRWD. And tell Dallas not to worry about it.  Fort Worth will get rid of it when they flood Dallas.

“I thought it was outrageous,” said council member Scott Griggs. “This is typical with the way many Trinity projects operate: They’re boondoggles, then the city staff and attorneys come to us with a gun to our heads and say, ‘You have to make a decision without all the facts.’”

Dallas tells corps it will repair or remove Dallas Wave in Trinity River and sue its designer

Dear Keller –

It’s your turn.

Apparently there are enough folks in Keller concerned about conflicts of interest that they have decided to recall their mayor.

If you live in Keller, you might want to pay attention.  You get to vote in on the recall in May.

Keller moves closer toward recall election of mayor

Goodbye Stockyards…

Yes, they’ve told you they are going to protect them.  It’s not the first time a politician has told you something to make a buck.

Read about it in the FWW and then ask Betsy, WTH?!

Get your Stockyards fix in before it’s another strip mall identical to all the rest.

Putting Stock in Preservation

Thought the Stockyards was already “historic”? Think again. A large swath of it –– Exchange Avenue east and west of Main Street and north to Stockyards Boulevard –– is unprotected. It has been for decades.

Last month, city officials approved 23 of 24 demolition permits requested by Majestic.

Remember last year when your taxes were screwy?

Well, this is Tarrant County, it ain’t any better.

The FWW tells you what the excuse is this year.

A TAD Screwy

Local property owners might notice something peculiar about their tax bills this year –– they’re really screwed up. Residents are complaining about property tax statements that don’t include homestead or senior exemptions, meaning their tax bill is higher than expected. And some say their tax statements are missing crucial information, including the property owner’s name, meaning some owners aren’t receiving bills at all.

The man wasn’t sure who to blame, but he didn’t like the idea that the guy in charge of the county tax office, Ron Wright, is busy being political rather than ensuring that tax statements are correct.

Former Trinity River Project Manager: "I Felt Like I Was Part of a Giant Con"....

We know the feeling, sir.

While this is from Dallas Observer and the title from D magazine about that other side of the Trinity River, we have a feeling those in Fort Worth will say the same thing one day.

Also, how many times do we have to say this, Dallas - you are downstream.  It doesn't matter what you do, between FW and the dam uphill from you, it's a washout.

Does any of this sound familiar Fort Worth?  All but the apology bit of course.  And where the hell is Don Henley when you need him?

Mayor Miller even gave me a dozen yellow roses for helping convince Don Henley to stop funding a lawsuit that would have forced the USACE [Corps of Engineers] to reopen the EIS [environmental impact study] for the Trinity…[and] probably would have put a stop to all of this nonsense a decade ago. Don’t let anyone say there’s no plan for the forest because they “don’t know enough about it” or whatever spin they’re using. The truth is, the Trinity project was always more about the toll road and the money it would bring to a select few Dallasites through development. At this point you’re entirely dependent on that road being built (or not) to even start construction on the levees that would give South Dallas equal flood protection all the while developers are remaking South Dallas in their image until there’s nothing but high end apartments named Bonton and anyone who lived there before has been displaced, forced further out on the fringe of “affordable” and separated from their community. I feel like I was part of a giant con and I’m truly sorry for the part I played.

ONCE UPON A TIME, CHOPPING DOWN WASN'T PART OF TRINITY FOREST GOLF COURSE PLAN

Former Trinity River Project Manager: ‘I Felt Like I Was Part of a Giant Con’

Dear Governor Abbott,

While we appreciate you taking up for people whose land is being stolen by rouge government along the Red River, we must ask, could you do the same for those along the Trinity?

Thank you,

Stolen in Fort Worth

Governor Abbott Sends Letter To BLM Director Over Federal Land Grab