TCC and TRV

Read the latest about the Tarrant County College in the Fort Worth Business Press.  YOU and YOUR kids can't afford not to.

The campus on the bluffs was built more to meet the desires of the Trinity River Vision project than for educational purposes, say critics, including TCC trustees Robyn Winnett and O.K. Carter, as well as Picht.

It is the cost of the project – an estimated $1,200-$1,500 a square foot – that raises the most eyebrows. College officials said the actual cost per square foot is not yet available.

But $1,500 per square foot would far exceed the prices of many other community college and university buildings in the state. According to the 2011 College Construction Report, the median cost for academic buildings is about $339 per square foot.

Taxpayers are the losers, Picht said, as TCC’s board considers raising tuition over the next five years to pay for three new facilities.

“They would also raise the tax rate. They are blaming that on the Legislature,” he said. “If they had tried to stay within the concept of low-cost education, we wouldn’t be having this discussion.”

Connected in Cowtown

WHO is writing letters for Betsy Price?  One name that keeps popping up over and over with the Fort Worth School Board.

This letter writer is a very close friend to another Tarrant Regional Water District member.  The letter writer also wrote a letter to the drillers recently and recalled it after it was made public (see above link).  And was mentioned again today in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.  Interesting note.  And the circle keeps getting smaller.  That's what happens when things start going down the drain.

Vasquez said that when it comes time to appoint trustees to the boards of the city's tax increment financing zones, called TIFs, the nod usually goes to the trustee who lives in the same district as the TIF. But in October 2009, trustees appointed Needham to a TIF board for the Trinity River Vision project, which is in Vasquez's district. At the time, Vasquez expressed disappointment that he was not selected.

"We do things historically when they're convenient," Vasquez said.

Fort Worth Trustee Way

What an embarrassment. The Fort Worth school trustees agreed to take findings (take, not fund) from a study the League of Neighborhoods had done on gas drilling around Fort Worth schools. 

Then they were then arrogant and disrespectful to those presenting the study, accusing them of  a "power grab".  What power?  Shouldn't their be concern be our kids?  Not WHO is in the paper. 

Kudos to the League for doing their job for them.  Perhaps we need some League reps as trustees instead.  And Kudos to Trustee Ann Sutherland for stating the obvious.

Read the latest in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.  Don't miss the comments from THE PEOPLE.

Trustee Ann Sutherland took exception to Needham's comments and apologized to the group. Sutherland said she appreciated the group's work and added that some trustees "have a habit when things don't go the way they want of being personal and blaming the people involved."

But Moss said that because the board did not get the report in advance it didn't have time to determine where the information came from and how credible it is. Moss said she was waiting for the city's study on gas drilling.

"It's not feasible to look through this report and actually know what you're talking about and really believe the information that you're presenting," Moss said.

League President Libby Willis said the group's data came from private testing, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and an industry-funded study. She said that data was not available for all school sites and that gas companies did not provide some information the league requested.

Willis said the league does not oppose gas drilling but wants it done safely. "While we understand that gas drilling can be a significant economic benefit to many, including this district, drilling brings with it an increased safety risk to all of us who live in Fort Worth, including our schoolchildren," Willis said.