Voters still have no say...

Is what the Fort Worth Star-Telegram could have called their article, "Voters had no say as DFW cities took on debt". 

Read what your "leaders" say about YOU.  Does it sound like they called you stupid?  Or they just know you're not paying attention?  What's it going to take before you do?  They aren't going to stop on their own.

While we commend the "news" paper on writing a "news" story, we noticed one tiny, billion dollar item was missing from the list.  The Trinity River Vision, which is completely taxpayer funded, was not listed as another one of these projects where voters have no say. 

If you are a citizen and taxpayer of the metroplex, it is YOUR duty to send this to every citizen and taxpayer in the metroplex you know.  Your kids are counting on YOU.  Then, you should read their article , "Congressional mailing privilege favors incumbents at taxpayer expense".  Duh.  They use your money to tell YOU to vote for them, to keep them in office, so they can keep spending your money.  WHO didn't know that? WHY do YOU continue to do it?  Tell us, inquiring minds want to know.

If we haven't convinced you yet, maybe some of what they said will...

In fact, none of them got to vote at all.

However, taxpayers are on the hook should funding fall short.

$52.7 million -- wasn't presented to voters.

A Haltom City official cautioned that greater disclosure would confuse people and make them more inclined to oppose something because "it's just a bunch of big numbers."

And they aren't foolproof.

One critic testified before the Legislature that such financing can result in "vampire indebtedness" -- debt that never dies.

"I think we're smart enough to know when we're in their wallets," Combs said.

And the moral to the story?  Do something.

Keller voters forced an election in 2006 and crushed the proposal while also voting out three council members who had supported it.

Please. Do something!

In Tarrant, 18 cities, including Fort Worth, borrowed at least 40 percent of their tax-supported debt from 2005 to 2011 without voter approval, according to an analysis of Texas Bond Review Board data.

Fort Worth City Treasurer James Mauldin said certificates are used in many cases to avoid the time it would take to bring a bond to voters. Such measures also save on election costs, officials said. "Usually, it's we need it before we can put another [bond] program out on the streets," he said.

"It seems some local governments are making every effort to [not put] things before voters," Venable said. But with so much focus on the national debt, she said, "few people realize that local debt is growing exponentially as well."

But official statements about the debt, on file with the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, show that in recent years the borrowing funded projects such as new libraries that some see as amenities or computers and software that may be outdated before the debt is scheduled to be paid off.

North Richland Hills' 2010 official statement for a $23.7 million certificate fails to mention that uses for the money included the recreation center that opened Saturday. Yet the city says that's where they got $18.8 million for the complex.

A spokeswoman said that the information was omitted in error, that it wasn't a legal problem, and that voters were informed through a council resolution and legal notices.

Or cities may say that revenue from special tax districts or sales taxes will pay off new debt, but they don't make clear that if that revenue falls short, taxpayers may bear the burden. That's because to obtain more favorable terms, cities usually back the certificates with property taxes.

Keller serves as a cautionary tale. The city borrowed $33 million using certificates to finance a town hall and other projects, with revenue from a special tax district to pay for it. But revenue couldn't keep up, and the city, despite refinancing the debt, had to use other funds to make payments.

Taxpayers could turn to the Texas Bond Review Board for information on borrowing, but it may be unreliable. In spot-checks, the Star-Telegram found errors in the board's information. For instance, Richland Hills' per capita debt was skewed by a reported population of 338 -- the figure should have been 23 times that: 7,801 residents. The board reported the assessed property values of Weatherford at $329 million, a number off by more than $1.4 billion. Arlington's tax-supported debt was listed incorrectly as $432 million. The city says it owes $659 million.

In Fort Worth, where debt and interest top $1 billion, Mayor Betsy Price said she believes that elected officials' job is to provide full disclosure. Price said the city communicates through town hall meetings, through social media sites such as Facebook and at council meetings.

"But it's also the citizens' responsibility to read the details," she said. "Voters need to study and get engaged on those issues and ask their elected officials tough questions."

Cities aren't required to tell voters that they can block the certificates. Voters can force an election if 5 percent of them sign a petition and submit it before the certificates are approved.

One of the few instances of that took place in Keller, where voters had rejected a bond issue for a library in 1999. Nevertheless, the City Council approved plans in 2005 to borrow about $8.5 million for a library without an election.

Collect Call from District 4 - Fort Worth

After the post concerning Danny Scarth (credit belongs to the Fort Worth Weekly, we just share the word) we received an email from one of his constituents.

Seems the voters don't like being sold down the river.  Or to the gas drillers, whatever the case may be. 

They ask good questions too - WHY didn't anyone know before the election?  Welcome to the team, Mallard Cove Resident.

Another neighborhood needs help.  They probably thought it couldn't happen to them either.  WHO's next?  YOU?

Dear Editor,

I am so happy to read your website which uncovers what Danny Scarth has done and I am so regretted about not reading it before the election. He is now our District 4 councilman and he is very likely to vote yes on building a large scale gas compressor station right next to our Mallard Cove neighborhood at Randol Mill Road in Fort Worth. I feel so unfortunate that our district representative does not represent us.

Barnett Shale will hold a open house meeting on Sept 27 (Tue) from 6 to 7:30pm at Comfort Suites Hotel (643 Northeast Loop 820, Fort Worth, TX 76118).

Zoning Commission Hearing will be held on Oct 12 (Wed) at 10am at FW Council Chambers at City Hall.

City Council Meeting will be held on Nov 1 (Tue) at 7pm at City Hall.

I hope your team will cover this matter and stop greedy council men from destroying the Fort Worth.

Mallard Cove Resident

Again?!

Fort Worth, City Council, taxes, Danny Scarth...

The same council member who's son was wrapped up in a conflict of interest/ethics last year. 

Read about the latest in the Fort Worth Weekly.  Don't miss the comments from the readers.  Seems Lone Star isn't the only one thinking the FBI should come visit Cowtown.

So boys, what's it going to take?

But afterward, Scarth wasn’t so eloquent — and not nearly as long-winded — when Weekly muckraker Jeff Prince asked him about the $2,632 in overdue property taxes that the elected official owes. The sum represents about $2,017 in unpaid taxes from 2010, plus $614 in late charges.

The conversation went like this:

Prince: Why do you owe unpaid taxes?

Scarth: Just do.

Prince: Do you plan on paying them?

Scarth: Yes.

Prince: Do you have a plan in mind?

Scarth: Sure do. Thank you.

Scarth then rolled away in his wheelchair before Prince could ask his last question: Should an elected city official be behind on his taxes?

So the reporter instead posed the question to Peter Fletcher, an Eastside resident who lives in Scarth’s district. Fletcher thinks it’s “a shame” that someone who’s helping balance the city budget can’t or won’t pay taxes (this isn’t the first time Scarth has let his tax bill go overdue).

“He seems to have done this sort of thing a good deal over the years,” Fletcher said. “This raises the question, how he can be expected to be involved in ‘leading the city’ in regard to the city budget and other fiscal matters? In just three months he has added 30.47 percent to the amount he owes. No wonder little gets done for District 4 if he can’t get his taxes paid.”

Councils say the darndest things...

Critics have said for years, if it looks likes a tax, it's a tax.  Regardless if you call it a fee.

Now, some council members have caught up to saying the same thing. 

Some council members are asking how we got here.  We have been asking them the same thing for years, remember they have been driving the bus.

Critics have long said our infrastructure needs are being ignored.  Is the Fort Worth council finally waking up as it continues to crumble around them?

Critics have also said we shouldn't build things we couldn't pay for.  Sounds simple, right?  Council members have now pushed the Cultural District parking garage hike off till next year. 

Read about all of it in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.  YOU can't afford not to.

Council members said officials clearly need to find a way to fund all of the city's growing infrastructure needs, but they can't consider any new fees until the city delivers on road projects that are years behind schedule.

Councilwoman Kathleen Hicks said the transportation fee, which would have added $5.90 to a single-family residence's monthly water bill, would be another form of taxation. "We're not calling it a tax, but it is," Hicks said.

Almost all the council members agreed on setting aside the fee, but Sal Espino said the council must have "a frank discussion on how we got here." He said the city cannot continue to ignore its projected 10-year transportation funding gap of $1 billion.

"We are in an infrastructure crisis in our city," Espino said.

Mayor Betsy Price said the fee can be shelved for now and reconsidered again if the city gets its expenses under control and finishes the delayed road projects that have been promised for years.

"It is time to stop the excuses and build the road," Councilman Jungus Jordan said.

Saltwater Disposal Hell

Oops, Well.  The word is well.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports on the city council meeting about extending the moratorium for Saltwater disposal wells in Fort Worth for gas drilling. 

Since 2002, urban gas drilling has seeped into almost every corner of Fort Worth, Tarrant County and surrounding counties to the north, south and west. But we still don't have a good way to deal with the 3.5 million gallons or so of wastewater from hydraulic fracturing at each of those wells or the "produced water" that comes up out of the hole afterward.

The standard way is to inject it back into another hole dug into a formation even deeper than the mile-deep, gas-rich Barnett Shale. But some people call that pollution -- gas well wastewater has a salt content about three times that of seawater. Some scientists have even blamed deep injection wells for minor earthquakes in North Texas.

Our favorite part of the report?  A comment from a citizen living near a drill site.  

I married a Texan, moved here a few years ago. I have a BS degree in zoology and a certificate in Environmental Engineering Technology. I come from Alberta, known for natural gas drilling as well as oil patch drilling. What I have seen here is a joke, an environmental disaster.

They put a well in right at the edge of our property, 5 1/2 acres south of Fort Worth. I have been watching the construction, drilling and operation. Of course we get money from the company, very little actually. It is not even worth the smell, noise and damage they have done to our land. After everyone from Mansfield ISD to Tarrant County take their cuts, we get pocket change. Now we have bottom feeding lawyers and ambulance chasers sending us collection notices on taxes from every Tom, Dick and Harry out there that wants a cut.

I watched the construction and they took about every big shortcut they could. There is NO Environmental oversight what so ever. During the injection, they built a large Tailing Pond at the edge of our property. They did not use a liner, not bentonite nor plastic, in it's construction. The water was dumped in there to soak into the soil and evaporate. Afterwards it has been filled in, to hide the evidence I would guess. We have lost over 25 old growth oak trees in the space of 1 1/2 years. They have poisoned our ground water.

The fracing does occur too deep to affect the trees, that part is true. But when you do not line a tailing pond you will taint the ground water available to the plant life.

It would cost thousands to prove it, so why worry for the companies.

They are not paying the $$ to the little guys when they disrupt your life, destroy your peace and quiet and kill your trees. Where is the money going? I would look in government. Crooked bunch do nothing reprobates. Oh wait here comes another tax notice.

Keller Citizens Catching On

Due to KISD wanting to raise taxes, citizens have taken to the web.  Check out their site, lots of good info.  Watch their Youtube video and VOTE SATURDAY!!!

Haltom City showdown

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram article on the Haltom City EDC fiasco this week is much more telling than the last.  Finally.  Maybe the residents over there can get some help, they've needed it since at least 2004, when a current councilmember initiated the recall.  Yes, he was on the EDC too.

Rumor has it, due to this information, there was a write in candidate for Mayor.  Since the only candidate to file spent years on the EDC as well.

Attend the meeting tonight at 6:30 at the old library.  It should be enlightening.

Haltom City's Economic Development Corp. is listed as owing $2.3 million in delinquent property taxes -- a figure more than four times the amount that the staff reported at a council meeting last month.

But Councilman David Averitt wants the seven-member development corporation board, which includes Mayor Bill Lanford, to resign immediately. He has also made requests to the Texas comptroller's office and the Tarrant County district attorney to investigate the development corporation.

Lanford likened Haltom City political tensions to a war that won't end. He traces it to the city's recall election of 2004.

The corporation owns 40 properties with a book value of $6.2 million. The properties were acquired as far back as 2004.

Downtown Fort Worth Inc. Speaks out

Read their Letter to the Editor in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.  While we don't always agree with them, we enjoyed their letter to Mitch.

Being responsible

Downtown Fort Worth Inc. was characterized in Mitch Schnurmann's Sunday column as throwing "roadblocks" in front of the streetcar initiative. (See: "City should trust its vision on streetcars.")

If the definition of "roadblock" is asking questions, bothering to actually look at the numbers behind the conclusions, pointing out shortcomings and sharing with advocates and policymakers that not everyone is ready to jump on board and roll down the tracks just yet, then that characterization was correct. DFWI representatives and members shared concerns with advocates clearly and openly. We supported moving to study phase three.

But we also were representing downtown property owners who had the streetcar plan in hand for all of two weeks and only last week received the recently minted update. The facts were still wet on the printed page.

If asking questions and speaking out are defined as raising roadblocks, then we need another definition for the word "responsible."

-- Andy Taft, president,
Downtown Fort Worth Inc.

Write on

Good letters to the Editor in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Who's stifling whom?

To sum up Arlington City Councilman Mel LeBlanc's Friday opinion piece, he considers the Texas Open Meetings Act vague and confusing and thus open to misinterpretation. (See: "Texas open meetings law is overly vague and confusing") LeBlanc states that the real issue behind his opposition to TOMA is its use by some to attain personal objectives. He says some elected officials have used TOMA to stifle the behavior, thoughts and speech of other elected officials and that he has personal knowledge of such bullies. In order to clarify without a doubt the real issue, what elected officials have used the Texas Open Meetings Act to stifle LeBlanc, and what behavior, thoughts and/or speech did they stifle? Who stifled whom, and why?

-- Lina McClintock, Arlington

Key to transparency

According to Fort Worth Councilman Joel Burns' column last week, (See: "Streetcar discussion highlights need for improved public process") we are led to believe he wants to enhance the transparency of the often-too-private process of decision-making in Fort Worth. He should be lauded for his intent. However, I believe he left out one crucial step in the process of increasing transparency at City Hall: throwing out the council members responsible for making the place so secretive in the first place.

-- James Russell, Fort Worth

Be there tonight

Got something to say about the streetcar?  Seems everyone does.

Read the Letter to the Editor in today's Fort Worth Star-Telegram. 

Then come tonight and be heard.

Remember as you're reading the letter that not all letters get published in the paper.  Ask WHY?

Ignoring the little guy

Mitch McConnell says the main Republican goal for the next two years is to make sure President Barack Obama isn't re-elected. Isn't that what they've been doing for the last two years?

Now they want to allow tax cuts for the top 2 percent of wage earners while voting against extending unemployment benefits. What is being done about unemployment, Wall Street reform etc.? It is clear the ordinary citizen is a low priority for Republicans and pacifying the rich is a high one. Of course, rich people are the ones who get them elected.

Meanwhile, the Fort Worth City Council is considering spending $88 million on a 3-mile streetcar system. Why isn't that money being spent on roads, infrastructure, paying off debt etc.? Once again, it appears the benefits go to the rich and the ordinary citizens are left in the cold.

-- Maria A. Gibson, Fort Worth

2 Billion and counting

WHO pays?
YOU.

Read the Letters to the Editor in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

The cost of streetcars


"Streetcars crucial to Trinity River Vision" (Nov. 15) -- but for what reason?

Some would insist they are needed for economic development rather than transportation. So why don't the developers pay for them?

The streetcar issue will be discussed in a public hearing at the Convention Center on Thursday. On Dec. 7, the City Council may vote on a starter route costing $93 million.

The piercing question is: How much will this TRV add-on ultimately cost the public?

TRV's proposed cost was $360 million in 2004 and has ballooned to near $1 billion. The purpose of the TRV project is economic development, not flood control.

When the proposed additional streetcar routes are added, that cost will also approach $1 billion. The funding on both projects is a gamble.

Dec. 7 may be "a day that will live in infamy" for the attack on the public treasury as well as the attack on Pearl Harbor.

-- Clyde Picht, Fort Worth

Tarrant Regional Water District Corruptees Give Themselves a Raise

Did you get a raise this year?  Did your water bill increase?  Are your city taxes increasing?

Then WHY would OUR money go to giving those making $286,000 a raise?  And WHY would we loan $226 million of OUR money to the Trinity River Vision?  Interest free, no less. 

ASK YOUR City Council, Mayor, and Congresswoman. ASK the media.

Read about the latest developments at the Tarrant Regional Water District in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.  Be sure and read Adrian Murray's comments.  Excellent points.

The general fund budget is used to operate and maintain the district, which spans 11 counties from Jack to Freestone. It rose nearly $4.3 million from fiscal 2010, largely due to a $4.6 million increase in capital expenses for trailheads and parks.

Among the projects are $2.5 million for a LaGrave Field environmental study. In June, the water district paid $17.5 million for 42 acres around the field for the Trinity River Vision project, but much of the property must be cleaned up before it can be used.

In a separate action Tuesday, the board approved a $287,093 contract with Camp Dresser and McKee to start designing a remediation program for the site.

What's more important to you? Trailheads, parks and river floats or clean, affordable water and no flooding? What is the Water Districts purpose?

The water district is also projecting $30 million in oil and gas royalties in the upcoming fiscal year, down $5 million from the amount budgeted in 2010.

$30 million for gas drilling...royalties or water purchase? Ask WHO monitors their usage.

The budget does not include any funding for the Trinity River Vision project, which is a political subdivision of the water district. Tarrant Regional's $64 million contribution will be met with funds from the 2010 budget, Swinnea said.

However, the water district agreed in May to a no-interest loan to the Trinity River Vision Authority of up to $226 million until the tax increment financing district starts generating revenue. Swinnea said it is too early to say how much will be loaned in the upcoming fiscal year but doesn't expect it to exceed $40 million.

The Tarrant Regional Water District needs to refocus their VISION...to water and flooding, where it should be in the first place.

Property Values Continue to fall in Tarrant & Wise Counties

...unless of course, you own a stadium.

What happens when all the property is a fraction of what it was once worth?

Read more about it on FWCANDO.

Previously we told you how there was to be NO drilling under the Dallas Cowboys Stadium, did someone bend their own rules? 

We received this email today -

Did you guys know they are drilling under the stadium? A friend in the oil and gas industry told me about this. Apparently Dallas never had a shot at the Stadium and it had nothing to do with football. Jerry bought up a ton of land on the Barnett Shale (where the new stadium is), then got the city of Arlington to subsidize $600MM to build the stadium. The one catch was Jerry has to split the oil and gass money 50/50 with the city. He sold out the city of Dallas.



Why do you never hear about this stuff until its done. Here I am a die hard Cowboy fan upset that the team, isn't in Dallas and thought it was Laura Miller's fault. Its not- Jerry wanted to drill for oil or gas or whatever.

This video of a previous WFAA report raises more questions.
WHY would a city council vote against its PEOPLE and its Planning and Zoning Commission?  When you notify "property owners" (NOT renters) are they referring to surface or mineral? 

Mel Leblanc says it's the "will of the people".  Isn't  he the same politician who made up things Senator Wendy Davis said and made a tasteless joke of the drilling situation last month?  Do YOU believe him?

So WHERE are they drilling in Arlington?  And do wells go where they state they will?  Not in Ohio.

Royalty Value

Would your royalty checks make up the difference if your $250,000 house was now valued at $75,000?  You better hope so.
Check it out on Daily Kos.  It ain't the first one, it won't be the last.

And Kudos to NCTCA for the fantastic program last Thursday!  The Speaker line up was great!  YOU should attend the next one, you can't afford not to.

Fort Worth is listening?

Finally? 

Well, then we'll tell you what the FW Weekly and THE PEOPLE say.

“We are funding projects like Trinity River Vision, tourism-related programs, sporting events, and tax breaks, but we can’t find the money for core residential services,” Thomas said. She charged that cutbacks made last year in the city’s program for mowing on vacant private property and city-owned lands are already having an effect on property values, and further cutbacks will increase the problem.

Some local leaders are again questioning the city’s decisions on how to use its sizable gas drilling revenues. About $120 million in bonus money and royalties has come in thus far, but only about $30 million of that has been budgeted for spending, all on capital improvement projects.

Federal government policies restrict how some of the income can be used, particularly that from drilling under parks and at airports. However, it was the city council’s own decision to put about half the drilling income into trust funds, where the capital cannot be touched for 20 years. If that’s a “rainy-day fund,” as the council has said, many local activists believe the rainy days are here, and the money should be used to alleviate the current budget woes.

While the city is banking the drilling income, one activist said, neighborhoods are paying the price for the damage done to health, quality of life, and property values by the wells and other drilling activity.

“What is happening is that the city is getting all this money and not spending it on basic city services, and we in the neighborhoods are taking a hit,” he said. “We don’t have money for city street improvements and pools and a decent library system. People in the neighborhoods are just trying to keep their heads above water.”

YOU are invited!

Saturday, September 18th.  Be there.

Did we mention it's FREE?  Donations accepted.

STOP THIEF!

More interesting stuff on The Whited Sepulchre.

Don't miss it!

When your City Council says they are going use your money to build a hotel, or favor one small business over another, you need to scream “Stop stealing my stuff!”


When your State government declares eminent domain over your land so they can build roads, and then sell the land to a foreign company so it can put tolls on the roads you paid for, howl like a lunatic “Stop stealing my stuff!”

When your Federal government sends billions of dollars in foreign aid to other countries when our country is broke, or spends trillions on wars that benefit oil companies, or wants to put government in control of the entire health care industry, or when they take all the money out of the economy before a recession and give it to banks, or engage in preferential treatment of the car companies they just took over, then you should scream from roof tops “Stop stealing my stuff!”

Mayors ask Granger for money

However, there is none.  Maybe we should take the Trinity River Vision money and spend it on things cities and citizens really need.

Read about it in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.  Read the comments too.

North Texas has benefited from earmarks, such as those set aside for the $909 million flood-control and economic-development project known as the Trinity River Vision. An earmark places a certain amount of money in a funding bill and tells a federal agency specifically how to spend it.


Granger said the federal government may be too big to work well, something she hopes can change if Republicans regain a majority in Congress.

"We are so big and so out of control," she said. "I think it will take major changes. ... It's going to be one tough job and one that won't be popular."

What do THE PEOPLE say?

More Letters to the Editor in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.  Don't miss them!


The people's money

Thursday's editorial about a streetcar system in Fort Worth again brings up the question of federal money that we must grab before it's offered to someone else. (See: "Streetcar plan is all cart and no horse")

Many people appear to be upset about the national debt and pork, yet here we are, ready to take other taxpayers' money. I doubt people in other parts of this state, or any other state, give a darn whether Fort Worth has streetcars or, for that matter, a Trinity River project.

-- Jody Thompson, Fort Worth

We have heard about the $73 million gap between income and expenses for the city of Fort Worth's next budget. About 65 percent of the city's general budget goes to support the police and fire departments, including retirement benefits. That leaves only 35 percent for all the rest of the employees and city services.

Recently, there was discussion that the gap could be closed without raising taxes. But the price is going to be paid by the ordinary residents of Fort Worth who use the swimming pools and libraries and enjoy the arts.

A monthly "transportation fee" of $5.87 could be added to water bills. My neighbor has five cars but will pay the same fee as I do because the assessment is made per household, not the number of vehicles per house.

The streets need fixing; the transportation fee needs to be equitable. Homeowners who do not own a car would be exempted. If the city can discern who does not have a car, then it can figure out which households have more than one car and assess the fee proportionally.

Bottom line? Water bills are going up, and it's not for water! Higher taxes to follow.

-- Audrey Remley

Keep your eye on the money

After all, it's yours.  The Fort Worth Crime Control Prevention District is still in the spotlight.  That happens when you try to keep things in the dark.  So do voter revolts.

Read about it in the FW Weekly. 

“It was a money grab — it’s that simple,” said a former board member who did not want to speak on the record.

Clyde Picht views the crime district’s $50 million as a slush fund for city officials.

The board meets Aug. 24 for the second time since Mayor Mike Moncrief led a coup in February to dissolve the volunteer board that had overseen the program since its 1995 inception. The mayor and council members then made themselves directors.

Many local leaders and council-watchers were shocked by the council’s move, only a few months after voters, in November, re-authorized the half-penny sales tax for another five years. Since then, several said, they have learned that Moncrief had planned the move for months and intentionally waited until after the election to avoid a taxpayer revolt.