Durango went to Gateway Park for Halloween.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Welcome to Cowtown
Just when we think the FW Weekly can't top themselves and the Fort Worth City Council can't embarrass themselves any more, they do.
Don't miss the FW Weekly Blotch, and the comments from the actual residents of the city. You know, those that the mayor and council are accountable to.
The thin-skinned hypocrisy and borderline absurdity exhibited by Mayor Mike Moncrief at yesterday’s Fort Worth City Council meeting was extraordinary even for this ethically challenged city leader.
Don't miss the FW Weekly Blotch, and the comments from the actual residents of the city. You know, those that the mayor and council are accountable to.
The thin-skinned hypocrisy and borderline absurdity exhibited by Mayor Mike Moncrief at yesterday’s Fort Worth City Council meeting was extraordinary even for this ethically challenged city leader.
“This council shouldn’t have to sit up here and defend ourselves or try to have to defend ourselves,” Moncrief said.
For years, Moncrief has made a living – a very good living – on the profits of the oil and gas industry. He decided to leave the U.S. Senate and seek election as Fort Worth’s mayor at the outset of the Barnett Shale drilling boom and, with the help of other council members, has ensured the industry enjoys weak ordinances and lax oversight.
In a just world, every council member would have a noisy, dusty, ugly drill site sitting a few hundred feet from their homes. They would lose big chunks of their yards through eminent domain and have pipelines buried there. They should listen to the pounding of a drilling rig all night long for weeks on end and face a steady stream of huge 80,000 pound water trucks barreling through their neighborhoods. They should breathe invisible toxins and wonder what kind of physical problems they or their children will face in the future. They should see their homes’ property values plummet and know what it’s like to be upside down on a mortgage payment.Weekly Praise
If you haven't read the FW Weekly yet, do so. Now.
You can't afford not to.
When the Fort Worth City Council last month granted a variance to Chesapeake Energy allowing it to drill gas wells that will be closer to homes and parkland than city ordinance generally allows, it didn't seem like that big of a change. After all, since 2008 the council has granted almost every exception to the setback rules requested by the drilling industry. But for critics of Fort Worth's approach to gas drilling regulation, the variance - for a multiple-well site just west of downtown and near the condos and townhomes of the So7 development - marked a new and troubling weakening of protections for citizens.
Alice Cranz, whose home is less than 300 feet from where Chesapeake now has permission to drill, said she can't believe "that the city council ignores their own rules. They've never met a well they didn't want and don't care whose property it ruins."
Hogan pointed out that the wells planned for the site represent a lot of money for the city and Fort Worth school district. "You've got to remember that two of the largest mineral owners for that site are the Fort Worth ISD and the City of Fort Worth," he said. "So in this case the city was looking out for its own pockets and said the heck with the homeowners."
You can't afford not to.
When the Fort Worth City Council last month granted a variance to Chesapeake Energy allowing it to drill gas wells that will be closer to homes and parkland than city ordinance generally allows, it didn't seem like that big of a change. After all, since 2008 the council has granted almost every exception to the setback rules requested by the drilling industry. But for critics of Fort Worth's approach to gas drilling regulation, the variance - for a multiple-well site just west of downtown and near the condos and townhomes of the So7 development - marked a new and troubling weakening of protections for citizens.
Alice Cranz, whose home is less than 300 feet from where Chesapeake now has permission to drill, said she can't believe "that the city council ignores their own rules. They've never met a well they didn't want and don't care whose property it ruins."
Hogan pointed out that the wells planned for the site represent a lot of money for the city and Fort Worth school district. "You've got to remember that two of the largest mineral owners for that site are the Fort Worth ISD and the City of Fort Worth," he said. "So in this case the city was looking out for its own pockets and said the heck with the homeowners."
Play Ball
Seems we aren't the only one thinking some of our elected officials are out of touch with our residents and their city. Remember what the Tarrant Regional Water Districts priorities are suppose to be, maybe they need a reminder.
Letter to the Editor in today's Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Field of priorities — not
I guess Jim Lane, Tarrant Regional Water District board member and former Fort Worth councilman, must be a little behind on current events. Some City of Fort Worth employees lost their jobs, and those who remain, except for police and firefighters, have taken a pay cut to make up for a budget shortfall. Surely no reasonable person who knows this would suggest that Fort Worth should buy a baseball field.
— John Langevin, Fort Worth
Letter to the Editor in today's Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Field of priorities — not
I guess Jim Lane, Tarrant Regional Water District board member and former Fort Worth councilman, must be a little behind on current events. Some City of Fort Worth employees lost their jobs, and those who remain, except for police and firefighters, have taken a pay cut to make up for a budget shortfall. Surely no reasonable person who knows this would suggest that Fort Worth should buy a baseball field.
— John Langevin, Fort Worth
NOW IS THE TIME FOR COMMUNITY COURAGE AND DEDICATION
The Fort Worth Crime Control and Prevention District (CCPD) is funded by 1/2 of a cent of your sales tax dollars, and for this coming year will be $50,625,926.00! That number represents a huge public investment, and we have been making that commitment in the police department for the past 14 years. Just ball park numbers here, but that would represent somewhere in the neighborhood of $600 MILLION funding for our police over that 14 year run of the CCPD, and clearly demonstrates that we have gone above and beyond in our support of and for our police department.As you consider your stance on the renewal of the Crime Control and Prevention District (CCPD), please consider that all of the programs that are currently being discussed and offered as a benefit to YOU such as the gang unit, Code Blue, COPS, graffiti, canine unit and neighborhood police officers and districts could be funded with HALF (1/4 cent) of the money (SEE BELOW) currently going into the CCPD. Wouldn't it be nice to have the other half of those available dollars for repairs to our neighborhood streets, keeping all libraries open and all community centers functioning at 100% percent capacity...and still have money left over?
Well it can happen, but because the CCPD Board did not give us the option on the ballot, the only way that it CAN happen is to defeat the CCPD on the ballot on November 3rd and then bring it back as a more efficient and productive CCPD in May of 2010.....funded with 1/4 cent of our available sales tax dollars.....and then rededicate 1/4 cent for neighborhood streets, libraries, and community centers complete with youth programs.
Consider it a "wake up call" election for the CCPD by voting against the CCPD this November...to be reborn anew in May of 2010 without one single police officer loosing their job, no closure of Neighborhood Policing Districts, COPS/Code Blueand the Gang Unit will continue to function as before.
Also consider that the current term of the CCPD doesn't expire until May of 2010, and even then the district has reserve funds to function for quite some time after even if the district were not renewed in May. In order to get real crime reductions (greater than the reported 35%) we need creative thinking and much greater accountability and independence within the CCPD.....AND please, it would be most helpful to "we the people" to loose the words would, could, should, might and maybe.....all of these words lead us only to unproductive speculation at a time when we need real facts and figures, and those "facts and figures" need to come from a source NOT benefiting from the dollars being spent.
Stay tuned. More will follow when our campaign on the CCPD continues in earnest with public meetings and discussion.
VOTE AGAINST THE CCPD IN NOVEMBER
VOTE FOR A RENEWED DISTICT IN MAY OF 2010!
What a positive way to support neighborhoods!
Early voting is NOW through October 30th.
Election Day
Tuesday
November 3, 2009
VOTE FOR A RENEWED DISTICT IN MAY OF 2010!
What a positive way to support neighborhoods!
Early voting is NOW through October 30th.
Election Day
Tuesday
November 3, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
THEY said
Hell No.
Bowing to intense public pressure, (GUESS WHO) says it will not drill for natural gas within the upstate New York watershed, an environmentally sensitive region that supplies unfiltered water to nine million people.
The people of New York are making noise because gas drillers are jeopardizing their water too. Don't miss the entire article on Splashdown!
Bowing to intense public pressure, (GUESS WHO) says it will not drill for natural gas within the upstate New York watershed, an environmentally sensitive region that supplies unfiltered water to nine million people.
The people of New York are making noise because gas drillers are jeopardizing their water too. Don't miss the entire article on Splashdown!
cc: Residents of Fort Worth
Dear Ms. Hicks-
Re: M&C G-16745:
As your appointee to the now defunct Urban Forestry Board I enthusiastically support a fine with no negotiated settlement for Chesapeake Energy for illegally clear-cutting 231 trees.
For the Fort Worth City Council to even consider this deal justifies my concerns for elimination of the board. The gas drilling ordinance already allows generous exemptions for this industry that have resulted in the tragic loss of thousands of acres of valuable Fort Worth green space.
This action has, at minimum, the appearance of deceit on the part of city staffers who advised and assured UFB members that the trees and green space of Fort Worth would remain well protected by the Tree Ordinance after the UFB duties were transferred to another board.
Further, this action indicates a vital need to reestablish the UFB with strengthened rules. As I stated in my previous letter to you of May 24, 2009, the negative impact of gas production on air quality alone requires the city to go above and beyond what other cities do to protect green space.
Several air quality studies bear out my long-held contention that Fort Worth air quality has been and is being eroded by gas drilling. We need to send a message that no person or corporation is beyond the law.
The spirit of our Tree Ordinance is defiled when we allow arrogant and powerful industries to undermine what we know to be true and just.
Sincerely-
Don Young
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