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Read them both in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.  As usual, YOU can't afford not to.

The new Precinct 4 Northwest Subcourthouse, which opened in March and includes the office of longtime Commissioner J.D. Johnson, is a monument to government. At 57,000 square feet and a $16.9 million cost, it's an example of government grandeur built by a Republican administration when governments everywhere are trying to cut back.  

Tarrant County, which has frozen employee salaries in the past and reduced services, isn't done building. The county is in the midst of a massive construction spree, with some of the projects not needing voter approval.

County officials brag that with some projects they are using a pay-as-you-go formula in which money is taken out of annual operating budgets without causing a tax increase. But one former commissioner said that philosophy appears to be borrowed from Tarrant County College officials who embarked on a similar construction spree that didn't require voter approval, either.

Either way, officials emphasize that the county tax rate stays the same. They don't mention that the rate could fall if the county spent less.

Hampton, who served as a commissioner for 12 years until 1996, told me that without direct voter approval on construction projects, "the only way you know this is happening is to see a building go up or go to every working budget session that the Commissioners Court has and watch the court approve the details.

"Somebody like the media or whomever is interested would have to be there, and who could spend that much time? So it behooves our fearless leaders to put that out in some form or fashion and say, 'Look what we're doing.'"

Don't miss the comments from THE PEOPLE.

The public can't know what the Star-Telegram can't afford to cover.
This started ten years ago as a healthy local newspaper became a journalistic skeleton. If the descending spiral of local government coverage continues; building like this will last as long as contractors kickbacks (read legit "fundraisers") keep coming.

Earlier this year at the Northwest Sub-Courthouse, I asked one of the clerks, "If smoking is prohibited, why does the building reek of cigarette smoke?"

The reply and ensuing conversation:

 "Commissioner Johnson smokes a lot in his office."
"How is that?  There are no-smoking signs all over the place."
"Well, it's his building, so I guess he can smoke if he wants to."
"Well, it's not his building, is it?"
"Oh, yes, it is."

That attitude explains a lot. It's J.D. Johnson's domain, and woe betide anyone who fails to recognize that fact.

Ditto

A recent Letter to the Editor in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram speaks for itself...

Political neutrality

I don't agree with the Star-Telegram's practice of recommending political candidates. The idea of media endorsements is a holdover from when newspapers were affiliated with political parties.

In my opinion, this is a chink in what should be an impenetrable armor of objectivity.

Your role in the political process is to fairly present the candidates to potential voters.

Voters should be swayed by the candidates, not by those whose credibility requires neutrality.

As the 2008 presidential primaries were heating up, Time magazine Managing Editor Rick Stengel raised the same issue: "How can a newspaper be objective on the front page when it endorses a candidate on the editorial page? [Readers are] dubious about whether the reporter who covers Hillary Clinton can be objective if his newspaper has endorsed Barack Obama -- and vice versa. And they're right."

I agree.

-- Tim Tune, Fort Worth

Perry For President?

Per a recent survey, Texans say no.  The spinners say maybe that's because people want him to stay where he is.  We say maybe they should have done a more thorough study.  And find us some candidates while you're at it please.

Read about it in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Gov. Rick Perry insists that he has no intention of running for president, and that's apparently just fine with a strong majority of his fellow Texans, according to a newly released poll conducted for the Star-Telegram and other major newspapers.

City Hall Runaround

Yes, another one.  Another one brought to light by the FW Weekly.  Don't miss it!

Several lines we read kept reminding us of the Trinity River Vision.  Any of this sound familiar?

“The city hasn’t met with businesses nearby, and they are pushing this through without any data,” said Early Davis, vice president of the Association of Businesses of the Cultural District. “It seems like everything is being kept secret.”

In the case of the Harley Avenue project, the arena that it would theoretically serve has not yet been approved by voters in a bond election, and that approval is not likely to be sought before 2013. But city staffers told the Fort Worth Plan Commission a few weeks ago that the project needs to be done in 2011, to ease traffic congestion on Harley, improve parking access, and to encourage economic development.

Another Plan Commission member, architect Bob Kelly, questioned the alleged economic development benefit.

The plan for Harley “makes no sense,” said one local real estate developer with interests in Cultural District, who asked that his name not be used. “If the rodeo arena is approved by voters, then there is still plenty of time to build this road while the arena is being constructed. But there are so many transportation projects in this city that need to be funded, and how this got to up high on the list is sort of outrageous.”

Despite those concerns, the commission went along with city staff recommendations and voted unanimously to make the new alignment part of the city’s master thoroughfare plan.

In the meantime, the plan is for the city to lend itself $1.75 million from another pocket to fund the project. That pocket is the city’s aviation fund, which has grown fat with profits from Barnett Shale gas drilling at city airports. By federal law that money must be used only at those airports — but the city is availing itself of a loophole that allows it to lend the money for other projects, as long as the funds are repaid with interest. The loan would be for three years, with interest totaling about $230,000, according to city estimates.