Fort Worth Election

Clyde says- Hell no.

The upcoming May 7 election includes 11 propositions to change or clean up the city charter.

You heard it from Councilman Jungus Jordan. You heard it from League of Neighborhoods President, Libby Willis. Now you're hearing it from me, Clyde Picht, a former four term council member. When I was on the council we were paid $75 per meeting. To be on the council you don't have to leave town and you don't have to travel far for weekly meetings and you can still live in your own home and hold another job. It is a public service and it's an honor to serve. I differ with some in that I think two more council seat would be beneficial. So here are my recommendations:

VOTE YES to create two more council seats. We have had 8 council districts for decades and the city has grown to twice the size and twice the population that is was a mere twenty years ago. It's not so much because of population but the area has grown to over 325 square miles and extends into 5 counties. Many residents will never experience a councilmember being within miles of their house. It's not about ethnicity or race, it's about basic representation. An added bonus would be to create some suburban opposition to the stream of tax giveaways that favor downtown. While some say the council has too much to do, add two more council members to provide some relief.

VOTE NO to extend council terms. Usually council members are not even challenged unless their job is less than generally acceptable. To extend the terms just means less work for the members. The constituents may suffer if their council member isn't performing and has an extra year to slough off.

VOTE NO to stagger terms. I can't recall an election where all the members were replaced at once. It just creates an additional expense of an out of cycle election.

VOTE HELL NO on a pay raise to $45,000 per year. Council members hire four people: City Manager, the one really responsible for running the city (and paid well to do it); City Attorney to provide legal advice and represent the council and city staff; City Secretary who maintains the council agenda and provides administrative help to the council; and City Auditor who audits different departments and confirms accuracy of accounting processes. In addition the council makes policy. That's the way it has been for decades and sometimes they make good policy and sometimes it's bad. Of course they'll only admit to good policy. Sometimes council members will claim they work 40-60 hours a week. Don't believe it. They are obligated to council meetings and selected committee meetings. They also get plenty of perks. Some include overseas travel worth quite a lot. They also get free lunches, parties, retreats, and other fun things. If the same job was worth $75/meeting 11 years ago how can it possibly be worth $45,000/year now with no more work? We'll create a miniature congress where members stay for 40 years and do nothing.

VOTE NO to filling vacant council seats by appointment. The electorate deserves to pick their own person. It doesn't happen that often and it only matters in the council district where a seat is vacated. If the council can give away millions in development tax schemes they can surely find the money for a special election.

Do your fellow Fort Worth residents a favor and share this with them.

Clyde says....

In a Letter to the Editor in the Star-Telegram--

Buying water board?

Something is wrong with this picture!

Item: The Tarrant Regional Water District with its subordinate Trinity River Vision Authority bought a 37.679-acre parcel near LaGrave Field for $16 million, ostensibly for flood control. The full 50 acres, appraised at $11 million, has significant environmental issues. However, TRWD/TRVA chose to avoid eminent domain and pay a premium price.

Item: After deriding a Dallas resident who owns property in Fort Worth and supports water board challengers, it turns out that board incumbents have received 11 contributions from Dallas residents (including billionaires) for $104,000 and eight contributions from outside Fort Worth for another $72,400.

To add insult to injury, the same PAC spent $108,424.76 in Dallas and Austin for campaign expenses.

Who’s really buying the water board?

— Clyde Picht, Fort Worth

WHO pays?

That would be YOU.

Read Clyde's editorial in the Fort Worth Business Press.

Between them and the Weekly, FW does have a newspaper after all.

What does Clyde say?

You knew he wouldn't stay silent on the lawsuit everyone but TRWD knew they'd lose.

Read his comments and others in the Fort Worth Business Press.

You can take that to the BANK

When a long serving city councilman/community leader, fire fighting, plane flying, purple heart earning man says something, LISTEN.

Just had a brief conversation with Marty, the pot calling the kettle black, Leonard.

Ms. Leonard is a member of the board of the TRWD. Marty sent a letter to voters decrying the qualifications and character of challengers, Basham, Nold, and ...Kelleher and she complained of their "negative" campaigning.

I reminded Marty the she was no more qualified than B, N, & K when she first ran. Her claim to worthiness was that she read and saved a lot of articles on water. Whoopee!

She didn't get upset over the threat of eminent domain against a couple of her wealthy neighbors, to use their land for Trinity Uptown though she criticizes a BNK backer for wanting to keep a TRWD pipeline off his property. It seems to irritate Marty and the rest of the board that the challengers are complying with TRWD and state ethics commission requirements for candidacy. Frankly, I'm tired of their whining and complaining because they can't have a free ride to re-election.

Go vote Saturday for Basham, Nold, and Kelleher. Share this with your voting friends.

Right on, Clyde

Clyde sent us a copy of his letter that he sent to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.  Too bad the big city folks don’t read…

Water is one of the most important issues having a bearing on our future. The Tarrant Regional Water District is on one hand engaged in obtaining water by court action and on the other maximizing gas drilling on TRWD property and using copious amounts of water. The second priority seems to be economic development.

The North Central Texas Council of Governments and member cities should lobby the Legislature to eliminate fiefdoms like TRWD and create a metropolitan water district serving north central Texas that is wholly engaged in providing an adequate water supply for the future.

The Fort Worth City Council is making a mockery of the code of ethics. Members are doing nothing less than writing themselves a free pass to avoid public censure. A major conflict of interest occurs when the city attorney, who is hired, fired and given pay raises by the council, is the one who rules on ethical conduct.

A code of ethics encompasses more than just conflict of interest, it addresses moral standards as well. If it doesn't look right to the public, it isn't right. Without impartial committee selection and adjudication of ethical conduct, the council is violating the public trust.

-- Clyde Picht, Fort Worth

Rain, rain, go away

Everyone knows that never works. 
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram continues to write about the emergency warning sirens.  Thanks to Clyde Picht and Mother Nature, they exist. 

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram also talks about record rainfall today.
Flooding problems were reported in low-crossing areas in Fort Worth, Arlington, Irving Euless and Colleyville, area police reported.

Let's see, a tornado and record rainfall in April.  History repeats?

Usually.

One month before the Fort Worth tornado -

In 2000, Councilman Clyde Picht wrote a letter to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.  At the time he was the only one in town advocating for emergency sirens.  The mayor, city council and Fort Worth Star-Telegram Editorial Board all were against spending money on sirens that protect people.

What was he basing his position on?  History. It tends to repeat itself. 

A month after Clyde wrote the letter, the tornado hit.  Lives were lost, just like he said. 

Currently, this mayor, council and paper disagree with what Clyde says about the Trinity River Vision.  What's the next Editorial Board going to say? 

Clyde's comment after rereading the commentary he wrote in 2000 - 

It’s too bad we had to wait for the disaster we knew was coming before we made a decision to upgrade our warning system.

Sounds familiar.  The following will too, read about Fort Worth, twelve years ago, before the tornado.

Two million for warning sirens?  A bargain at twice the price!
 
            When German bombers attacked London during the Second World War they lacked the precision guidance of today's weapons. On the other hand, the British radar showed only the general direction the bombers traveled so throughout the city air raid sirens wailed to warn the people of impending attack.

                Now, sixty years later, the National Weather Service has spent hundreds of millions of dollars in high tech equipment that can tell with a degree of precision the path a tornado will follow. The detection of severe weather is in the 21st century but the Fort Worth warning sirens are more suitable for the Battle of Britain. Our sirens will blare throughout our 250 square mile city, if they blare at all. Because of their age replacement parts are not readily available. Ten to fifteen percent of the system fails when tested, and on occasion, the whole system has been known to fail. With the rapid growth of our city some areas on the developing fringe are totally without warning sirens.

                Some things are fact. We live at the Southwest end of what weather experts call "Tornado Ally." Tornadoes have caused massive destruction and loss of life to the West, South, and East of Fort Worth. Severe weather caused major destruction in Fort Worth, pelting us with hail the size of baseballs in 1980 and 1995. Weather experts say that we will be struck by a killer tornado similar to the one that raised havoc in Moore, Oklahoma, last year. It's not a matter of whether, but when.

                In a recent commentary (2/21/00), Star-Telegram writer Jack Z. Smith reported that as a consequence of the Moore disaster that city is going to double the number of sirens. In my own conversation with Emergency Management Director, Gayland Kitch, he told me that even though the tornado occurred during rush hour, with plenty of radio and TV coverage, some residents didn't take cover until they heard the warning sirens. Smith reports Kitch said he feels that sirens help save lives and that Fort Worth would be wise to invest in them.

                Some things are fiction. According to Smith, the Mayor and some Council members feel that warnings sirens are not worth the $2-$3 million cost. They think radio, television, Internet, cell phones, E-mail and weather radios will substitute for sirens. It is not uncommon to have power outages during severe weather. With the power outages go your radio, television, Internet, and E-mail. Few computer owners are foolish enough to operate them during thunderstorms without UPS. A battery-powered radio will still work, provided the batteries are good and you have it with you. Cell phones might work if you've got them, but they don't always perform well even in good weather. First-hand reports from Oklahoma demonstrate that cell phones fail when tornadoes are near. Weather radios, like cell phones, are fine if everybody has one. Not everyone can afford or will want to buy a weather radio for $40-$80 (cost according to Smith). Most people probably wouldn't have one nearby during severe weather, in any case. Twenty-two people lost their lives when tornadoes hit Georgia in mid February. They came at night when folks were tucked safely in their beds. Or so they thought. Computers, cell phones, radios - all off. 

                A state of the art warning system has advantages that all the aforementioned devices don't have. The per capita cost is very nominal. A system will last many years and perform with high reliability. It can be used to warn residents in the path of severe weather without alarming those in safer areas. It can be localized to warn of hazardous spills on freeways and rail lines. It has a voice capability to describe circumstances that may require residents to take cover or remain in their homes and can warn children playing outside. With correct placement they are likely to be heard inside the home as well as outside.

                Lives will be lost in the event of a major tornado transiting Tarrant County. Adequate warning will save many lives, which might otherwise be lost. Ironically, the City Council was presented a proposal by the Fire Chief for the 1998 Capital Improvement Program that would have replaced the current warning system. The council turned it down and chose to use some of that money for park improvement. Pity the poor folks in the park who might be whisked away to Oz because they don't own a cell phone or weather radio, and live in a city where they are expected to take more "personal responsibility" for their safety.

                Like the unfortunate homeowner who installs a burglar alarm after the family heirlooms have been stolen, the City of Fort Worth will some day upgrade its woefully deficient disaster warning system after a major storm wreaks death and destruction. It willstill be cheap at twice the monetary price but what's the value of a life?

Come again?

Did the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Editorial Board just criticize the former Fort Worth Star-Telegram Editorial Board?

Did they say the lone voice that spoke out was right?

Today that lone voice is still speaking out putting the citizens safety above the popular vote.

WHAT will the next Editorial Board say about the current one?  WHAT will they say about that same voice continues to speak out?   Maybe YOU should listen.

No one cares, until the next storm comes.  History repeats.

An Oct. 21, 1997, Star-Telegram editorial decrying Fort Worth's sporadic storm-warning system as not worth modernizing because it was "redundant" with other modes of communication made Editorial Board members cringe Wednesday when they read it.


Did the collective "we" really say, "The sirens [that] blare out the warning of an approaching tornado or hailstorm are about as useful today as fenders on a compact car"?


If anecdotal evidence is any indicator, the warning provided by sirens was remarkably useful Tuesday in keeping North Texas residents safe as tornadoes bore down on the region. Facebook posts and online comments credited Arlington's warning system in particular for alerting residents to the nasty weather headed their way.


Images of the damage leave one amazed that no one was killed and only injuries that weren't life-threatening were reported.


The Editorial Board's 1997 skepticism about updating Fort Worth's siren system was shared by then-Mayor Kenneth Barr and other members of the City Council who thought money would be better spent on a traffic light system that expedited firetrucks getting through intersections.


Then-Councilman Clyde Picht was the lone voice calling for additional and more reliable sirens.


Talk about the storm-warning system quieted down -- until the March 28, 2000, tornado upended lives and businesses in downtown Fort Worth before flattening homes in southeast Arlington and southwest Grand Prairie. Five people died and more than $450 million in damage was reported.


By 2003, the Fort Worth council had approved $3 million to upgrade and expand the city's sirens.


Read more here: Broad-based storm-warning systems proved their value during North Texas tornadoes

All the newspapers...

Are finally talking about the Tim Love Woodshed deal, part of the Trinity River Vision.  (Which means more finger pointing and story changing).

The other restaurant owners in town are wishing the "news" would have done so sooner. (Kind of like the tubers of the Trinity Rockin the River events wish the "news" would have tested the water sooner).  What will all the businesses in Fort Worth say when the Trinity River Vision promotes their own over the current, established ones?

Check out the Fort Worth Business Press article.  Is it just us or do some of the answers given by J.D. Granger and Jim Lane sound different than the ones they gave in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram just a little over a week ago? Last week, neither J.D. or Love could remember WHO asked whom.  Read the latest below.  Jim Lane told the S-T that the Tarrant Regional Water District board voted on it...now it's clear, no one voted on it.

Lane compares the Trinity River Vision to Lockheed Martin and Alliance Airport.  Apples and oranges.

The Trinity River Vision is all taxpayer funded (that's YOU) and has nothing to do with defense (aside from "news" articles) or planes. Nice try though.

And someone please tell these boys, this ain't San Antonio. 

After behind-the-scenes negotiations, without public input or competitive bidding, the Tarrant Regional Water District (TRWD) has spent $970,000 of public money to build a restaurant near a popular trail head along the Trinity River. Along the way, the Water District signed a 10-year lease with celebrity chef Tim Love to run it, without a competitive bidding process.

The lease was drafted and approved by Ken Brummett, the water district’s general counsel, but not voted on by the district’s board.

TRVA Executive Director J.D. Granger, who helped search for a tenant for the restaurant, said Love proposed the profit-sharing lease rather than a standard rent agreement because fixed rents often cause problems for open-air, climate-sensitive venues.

The behind-the-scenes negotiations with Love and the terms of the lease, not to mention the lack of competitive bidding, aren’t doing much to change critics’ views that the water district is more interested in creating an economic windfall for downtown developers via the TRV than it is in doing its real job of finding new sources of water for a rapidly growing population, preserving current resources and managing flood control projects, says Clyde Picht, a former city councilman who ran for the water board opposing the Trinity River Vision plan.

___________________________________________

The Fort Worth Business Journal  "Water District takes heat over no-bid lease deal"article  also makes note of the Trinity River Improvement Partnership (TRIP) award winning documentary, Up a Creek. 

A Persistent Cadre of Letter to the Editor Writers

Today’s letters to the Editor in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tell you what THE PEOPLE really think about local government, spending and “news”.

You should read them all.  One below is from one of those “persistent cadre of Trinity River Vision detractors”.  The same one that served his country for many years and has served his community ever since.  Oh yeah, he also helped save YOU from paying for a downtown hotel.  He asks for no thanks in return, just smarter politicians and more transparency for the citizens of Tarrant County.  After all, it’s THEIR money.

Carry on, Clyde.

Riverbank cronyism

The Sunday headline read "Eatery deal is debated."

There's no debate; it's a done deal.

Those silly restaurant businessmen protest too much. Fort Worth recently won the award for "All-America City." It should have been for leading the way in crony capitalism. No bids, no information, no transparency and no accountability, that's really the "Fort Worth Way."

While the average citizen laments lousy roads, drainage problems and gas well and pipeline issues, the downtown lobby is working on a new 10-year plan; Tarrant County College builds high-cost buildings for low-cost education; and the Trinity River Vision squanders tax dollars on wakeboard parks, restaurants and bridges to nowhere.

Water district board member Jim Lane thinks Tim Love will hit a home run with his moderate prices and "specified number of beers on tap."

Perhaps, but for taxpayers, it's strike three. A real home run would be a solid future water proposal.

-- Clyde Picht, Fort Worth

Expensive appeal

I thought this state was broke. After all, we can't afford to educate our kids, pay our teachers or provide healthcare for those who can't afford it.

But we evidently can afford to hire expensive outside attorneys to fight interim redistricting plans drawn by a three-judge federal panel in San Antonio.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott appealed the court-approved lines to the Supreme Court and hired a lawyer from an elite Washington law firm, a former solicitor general in the George W. Bush administration, to help. Surely Abbott doesn't think the panel's maps are partisan. The panel is made up of two judges appointed by Republican presidents (Reagan and George W. Bush) and one appointed by a Democratic president (Clinton).

Please, Mr. Attorney General, don't waste our money.

-- Jo-Ann Zimmerman, Euless

Superintendent search

I have been following the Star-Telegram's editorials and opinion pieces regarding the selection of Walter Dansby as interim superintendent of the Fort Worth school district after the resignation of Melody Johnson and the call for a nationwide search for a new superintendent.

I find the tone of these articles biased and unfair to Dansby.

As a person who has known him for many years and someone who pays school taxes, I am offended by the tone of these articles.

If I did not know the man, these articles would give me the impression that Dansby was somehow in collusion with some school trustees who may or may not have an ulterior motive. I cannot fathom the reason the paper would advocate this theory, but I feel it does Dansby a disservice. I expected better of you.

I don't know if Dansby can turn this school district around, but I believe he certainly deserves a chance to try. He can't possibly do any worse than some of the previous superintendents, doctorates notwithstanding, Johnson included. She was never my choice.

-- Barbara Thomas, Fort Worth

Where can you get the real local news?

Good letter from Clyde Picht in today's Fort Worth Star-Telegram regarding last Wednesday's Trinity River Vision Discussion Forum at the Botanic Garden...

Real local news

On Wednesday night, 125 people attended a panel discussion of the Trinity River Vision and regional water issues at the Botanic Garden lecture hall. The event was sponsored by the Trinity River Improvement Partnership and moderated by the Society of Professional Journalists to acquaint residents with the pros and cons of the TRV and concerns about future water supply.

On Thursday, the Star-Telegram reported on a stuffed Cape buffalo being auctioned off over the weekend. On Friday, the newspaper reported on Amarillo's Lake Meredith going dry, a potbelly pig that was put down, 14 protesters in Burnett Park and the usual photos of socialite activities.

Thank you, Star-Telegram, for maintaining your tradition of reporting sports, fluff and yesterday's news from the Drudge Report.

-- Clyde Picht, Fort Worth

YOU Do Not Want To Miss This

Dear Friends of the Trinity River,

Please join us for an unprecedented event that promises to be an enlightening and educational evening. Bring your questions. And bring your neighborhood associations, groups and clubs - all taxpayers need to hear this.

Sincerely,

Your friends at TRIP

Trinity River Talk

Have questions about TRV?  Want to hear both sides?

Join us.

October 12th @ 6:30 p.m.
Botanic Garden, Fort Worth  - Lecture Hall

Panelists include:

Jim Lane - Tarrant Regional Water District Board member and former Fort Worth City Council member

J.D. Granger - Trinity River Vision Authority Executive Director and former Assistant District Attorney

Mark Rauscher - City of Fort Worth - Trinity River Vision Director

Clyde Picht - Former Fort Worth City Council member

Steve Hollern - CPA and former Tarrant County Republican Party Chairman

John Basham - Consulting Meteorologist

TRIP would like to thank the SPJFW for moderating this important community event for the citizens.

Money Pit

Fort Worth Fire Training Center

Two years ago, Clyde Picht asked WHO was going to pay to move the Fort Worth Police and Fire Training Academy that needs to be moved because of Trinity Uptown and the Trinity River Vision.

Think he knew the answer?

YOU do.

Best of Fort Worth

The Fort Worth Weekly has released their Best of Edition for 2011.  Pick one up, check it out.

In addition to finding all the best spots in town, you can read about groups and people we've told you about - NCTCA, Clyde Picht, Ann Sutherland and Layla Caraway, just to name a few.

WHO was the politician most likely to sell grandma to the highest bidder?  YOU know WHO.

Oh, and Readers Choice for Locally Made Film - Up a Creek.  Congratulations to Bob Lukeman and TRIP and to all those out there making a difference.   Like the Weekly.

Lone Star salutes you all.

Hold the phone...

Did we just agree on something?

Read Mitch's column in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram concerning Fort Worth Tax abatements.

We also agree with Betsy - we'd like to know what's in the water too.  Better yet, WHAT water?

Contrast those deals with the small ball that the city was playing last week. The planning department proposed tax breaks for three projects, including one pledging to bring just 60 jobs to the area -- and to fast-growing Alliance at that.

Frac Tech Services, proposing the biggest expansion, is already in Fort Worth. Do you think a fracking company would leave the fracking capital of the world over a tax break?

Mayor Betsy Price said it was all good, too: "I've talked to friends around the state who want to know what the heck you put in the water in Fort Worth that everybody's coming to Fort Worth."

Several company executives were at the pre-council meeting, yet they weren't called upon. Is it unreasonable to ask whether the tax breaks are necessary to pull off the deal?

Council members don't have to grill anybody or cause embarrassment. But they should at least feign some due diligence.

Maybe they'll be more engaged when the abatements come up for a vote next month. Last week's session was so brief and perfunctory that I longed for the days of Clyde Picht and the late Chuck Silcox. Those former members opposed almost every tax break on the principle that everyone should pay a fair share.

Even Wendy Davis, a champion of economic development, could be counted on to ask about "the gap." She's a state senator now, but when she served on the council, she pored over spreadsheets and demanded to know why a taxpayer contribution was crucial to closing a deal.

"If Oprah Winfrey were moving to Texas, would we offer her an abatement to move to Fort Worth?" Picht said.

Oh say can YOU see?

Excellent letter in the FW Weekly this week.  If you haven't seen Up A Creek yet, YOU should.  You can't afford not to. 

You can see it on TRIP's website.  Isn't half an hour of your time worth a billion dollars?  Skip a so called "news" program one night, trust us, you'll learn more from this.  Watch it, for YOUR kids, if nothing else.

TRV: A Vision Problem?

To the editor: Dan McGraw’s article “TRV’s Up a Creek” (April 6, 2011) was perfectly timed, with elections coming up. The Trinity River Vision’s supporters on the water board would rather spend money attracting tourists with that project than meeting the flood-control needs of other communities.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, knowing the flood potential from Big Fossil Creek, allowed land to be developed on the pretext that they didn’t have $6 million to fix the problem. And yet, as the article points out, they “found” $500 million for the TRV.

Don Woodard calls the TRV “pseudo flood control” and compares some politicians who advocate the project to bank robbers like Bonnie and Clyde. His comments are apropos. Woodard was joined in his opposition by Libertarian Party Chairman John Spivey and by Clyde Picht and Louis McBee, who refers to the TRV as “Lake Kay Granger.”

Layla Caraway’s video Up a Creek is going to be a success story. She should run for city council. As for Granger, maybe she needs an eye doctor. There are none so blind as those who refuse to see.

Delores Raikes
Fort Worth

Fort Worth's "Public" Energy Hearing

What did Clyde Picht have to say about it?

Read it in the FW Weekly. 

The headline on Fort Worth Weekly’s Static column on Nov. 17 advised “Go Get ‘em, Watchdogs,” referring to the public’s chance to weigh in on gas issues in a hearing before the Texas House Committee on Energy Resources. Yes sir, J. Q. public could go down there and have a thing or two to tell the legislature. Except that they didn’t because they couldn’t.

We can no longer offer up our citizens’ unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness on the altar of industry profits, jobs, tax revenues, climate change, or any other supposed benefit.

What do THE PEOPLE say?

Check out the Letters in the FW Weekly.  Good ones on YOUR water supply and bullying in Fort Worth.

Our favorite? Check it out.

The Rest of the (Ethics) Pie


To the editor: Clyde Picht’s letter in response to “Has Fort Worth Lost Its Moral Compass?” (Sept 22, 2010) was so comprehensive in detail that it reminds us of Paul Harvey’s “The Rest of the Story.” Clyde is articulate and knows his politics, especially when it concerns the Moncrief Mafia.

Thank you, Clyde, for giving us the “rest of the pie” (not just a slice), and thanks to Fort Worth Weekly for publishing his letter.

Sharon R. Stroud

Fort Worth

The Fort Worth Way

By Clyde Picht in the FW Weekly.  What's going on in Fort Worth politics and elections?  Clyde knows. 

Mayor Mike Moncrief brags about “the Fort Worth Way” when extolling the virtues of the council or of businesses that aid the city. But judging by recent revelations in the media, before the city council, before the Tarrant County College board, and elsewhere, the Fort Worth Way is sounding more like influence peddling, cronyism, and unethical conduct, withholding information from the public, obfuscation, nepotism, and violation of the public trust.

The Tarrant Regional Water District is still touting Trinity Uptown as if it were the original pie-in-the-sky project. Not only has the price ballooned, but nothing remains in the original form, from channel width to bridges, from environmental cleanup to catchment basins, from canals to completion dates. If costs increase like the salary paid to J. D. Granger (the congresswoman’s son), which rose from $110,000 in 2006 to $140,400 in 2010, you know we’re in trouble.

Jim Lane is a good choice — having been a target of an ethics complaint before, he knows one when he sees one. Being a water board member working closely with the city on Trinity Uptown (or “up yours” as former councilman Chuck Silcox, used to say) Jim really meshes with Moncrief’s modus operandi. This is real synergy among the “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” crowd.

Lane won his water board seat through alleged illegal mail ballots. The state attorney general was investigating mail ballot abuse in certain precincts at the time but declined to prosecute anyone.

Bottom line is that we have public officials, elected and appointed, who may qualify as pond scum — incompetent, lazy, abusive of the public trust, and in some cases, corrupt. Make your own assignments; it’s the Fort Worth Way.