How dumb can some people be?

Wait, don't answer that.

Nowhere in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram article (probably the bill itself either) did we see that part of the reason Kay Granger wants to keep Trinity River Vision funding in the bill is to keep her son employed.

And isn't the Trinity River Vision, formerly known as Trinity Uptown, Central City, blah, blah, now called the Panther Island District?

With an East Island, West Island and a Houseboat District?

Let's see, TRV Boondoggle vs. Flint, Michigan water crisis.  These shouldn't even be in the same ballpark, let alone the same bill.  We're curious as to how our frequent Washington blog visitor sleeps at night.

Flood control my Fat Aunt Fanny.

And a special welcome, Rep Veasey.  We look forward to your next election!

Democrats threatened to hold up the spending bill if funding to resolve the Flint, Mich., drinking water crisis wasn’t somehow provided. Republicans agreed to let Flint funding be considered in the water bill.

The local funding appeared at risk earlier in the week because Rep. Pete DeFazio, D-Ore., was upset that a provision impacting a harbor maintenance trust fund was removed. So he asked for an amendment to cut the Army Corps of Engineers funding for the TRV because the project included recreation facilities.

This $526 million of federal funds is a key part of fully funding and completing the project. Critics maintain this project is not about flood control, but about economic development.

Fort Worth lawmakers working to protect Trinity River Vision funding

Stay Tuned Texas

'Organized attempts to steal entire elections' ...

WHAT do they really do??

Many of the County Commissioners have been county commissioners here since some of you were born.  The numbers read like the Tarrant Regional Water Board members history… that should be your first clue that we need new blood.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram food critic wrote another political column, this one about the commissioners and some of their current messes.  Like the tax office (the chief of TAD blames the people “too many protests filed” – you can’t make this up), infant death rates (sad, this isn’t a third world country), 911 text option (it’s been going to happen for years) and refugees ($6 million dollar issue).

Nowhere on there did we see anything discussed about the investigation at the Tarrant County elections office.  That’s strange since Commissioner Whitley really wanted to discuss it Monday night at a meeting in NE Tarrant county.  We had many follow up questions for him, but he left, abruptly.  If you see him out and about please ask him about the investigation.  Him or the food critic.
Inquiring minds want to know.

Time goes by, but not much gets fixed for Tarrant commisioners

Stop the Fort Worth Way

Here's a brief history of the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens.

If you believe, as I do, that the Gardens should remain free to the public, as they have been since their beginning, contact your member of the Fort Worth City Council now and speak up for the Gardens.

The Botanic Garden was built as part of a federal employment program in the 1930s.  They belong to all of us, not just to those who can afford an entrance fee.

We can afford to continue their upkeep and keep them free to the public.

The Gardens bind us together as citizens of Fort Worth.

Let's keep them free to all the citizens all the time.  It's the right thing to do.

You mean he's not the Boogeyman?!

The former Fort Worth Weekly Editor, Gayle Reaves,  (who holds many other and more prestigious titles and awards) did an excellent piece on the "infamous" Monty Bennett. 

Unlike the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, this story was done AFTER actually speaking to Mr. Bennett.  Journalism. 

What a concept. 

Of course, this story had to be told in Dallas where Fort Worth can't control the narrative. 

Hats off to Monty Bennett, carry on, sir.

“I don’t understand why a corrupt government agency that is trying to put a pipeline of questionable value through my land should be unstoppable,” Bennett says. “Where is that written? I refuse to take it as a given.”

In his research, Bennett found allies in a diverse group of critics of the water district, people with questions about flood control measures, objections to the Trinity River Vision project in Fort Worth, or objections to other land condemnations for the pipeline. The critics all charge the agency with arrogance, a lack of transparency, and cronyism. Their issues have become Bennett’s as well.

Charles Crook has never met Bennett, but he calls him “basically my hero. He’s the one who showed that these guys can be fought.”

A Gentleman Rancher’s Guide to Fighting Tarrant Regional Water District

While Tarrant County burns, Arlington Fiddles...

Does this sound at all familiar to you long time Trinity River Vision, Stockyards or TexRail followers?  Seriously, how many boondoggles can one county have?

Keep the Rangers PAC Balks at Public Debate

# # # # # # # For Immediate Release # # # # # # #

8/31/16 Arlington, TX - Citizens for a Better Arlington is disappointed to learn that the "Keep the Rangers, Vote Yes" campaign has refused a significant opportunity for a debate and is choosing to keep undecided Arlington voters in the dark.

Recently, Citizens for a Better Arlington's “Save our Stadium, Vote No” campaign and the “Keep the Rangers, Vote Yes” campaign were invited to a local forum. “Save our Stadium” accepted and then learned that “Keep the Rangers” refused to participate unless they were able to approve the “Save our Stadium, Vote No” speaker and unless there was a promise of no recording the event. The “Save our Stadium” campaign agreed to participate in the forum anyway, despite the uneven playing field.

A few weeks ago, Citizens for a Better Arlington President, Faith Bussey, asked Mayor Jeff Williams where citizens could find answers to their questions about the stadium proposal or to hear both sides of the issue. Mayor Williams responded that he would give her a list. As of this press release, Citizens for a Better Arlington has not received this information. The “Keep the Rangers, Vote Yes” Facebook page continues to ban and block citizens who question the campaign's narrative. To date, Mayor and City Council, who are almost all board members for the Yes PAC, have not offered a single opportunity for Arlington citizens to hear both sides of the issue. The Vote Yes campaign, including the Mayor and City Council members, meet only with constituents who support the deal, sideline citizens with questions as "naysayers," and refuse legitimate opportunities to be transparent with citizens or offer concrete answers to the taxpayers of Arlington.

In an effort to increase transparency and to offer more voters an opportunity to hear both sides, Arlington Voice owner/editor, Zack Maxwell, suggested a debate moderated by well-known political professor, Dr. Allen Saxe. “Save our Stadium, Vote No” gladly agreed to the debate. However, the “Keep the Rangers, Vote Yes” campaign refused to debate our spokesperson, Warren Norred. “Save our Stadium” agreed to change speakers, but ultimately the “Keep the Rangers” campaign refused the offer to debate. Does the “Keep the Rangers” campaign not believe voters deserve a fair and balanced debate?

Citizens for a Better Arlington issues a challenge for a formal debate to Mayor Williams, the entire City Council, and anyone associated with the “Keep the Rangers, Vote Yes” campaign. Citizens for a Better Arlington will choose the speaker for the “Save our Stadium, Vote No” campaign, and the “Keep the Rangers” campaign will choose their speaker. Recording will not be restricted. Date, time, and location will be announced publicly as well as formally to the Mayor, City Council, and to the Keep the Rangers campaign. Give the citizens of Arlington honest, straightforward answers, from both sides of the issue, and let the voters decide if this stadium is best for our city.

#NoFoulDeals #VoteNo #Transparency #DebateAlready

Tarrant County crumbles...

Not only is there an investigation going on over at the Tarrant County Elections office, now the problem plaqued Tax Assessor's office is proven to be a mess as well.  Everyone knows both are a mess, but someone has apparently flipped on the lights in Tarrant County.  It's about damn time.

You can read it all in that "news" paper here.

The only way officials can find the money to process these refunds is to stop planned tax payments to all entities in the county — cities, school districts and even the county — according to a letter recently sent out by Tarrant County Tax Assessor-Collector Ron Wright.

County officials chalk the problems up to the Tarrant Appraisal District’s software problems, which were criticized by state officials in recent months.

TAD officials have been criticized about a variety of issues, but most recently were grilled in April by a panel of state lawmakers about software problems that left millions of dollars in property off the books last year.

Law apologized for problems related to a software conversion at TAD that went into effect in 2014.

He has been questioned about everything from a a contentious protest deadline to a lawsuit that limited the amount of appraisal data available to the public — and general failures of the appraisal software.

Some officials have said TADs software simply “doesn’t work” and that TAD’s system is “adversarial to the public.”