Seems there was some sort of announcement on the "news" concerning Carter Avenue, residents emailing asking what it is. Supposedly, TXDOT signed to run the pipeline down I30, AKA the "alternative route".
What happens to the easements already obtained? What happens to the lawsuits in progress? Is this in writing?
Stay tuned...
Friday, April 30, 2010
Tarrant County Early Voting Continues Low Turnout for Races Including TRWD
ONLY 1,807 PEOPLE HAVE VOTED SO FAR IN THE
TARRANT REGIONAL WATER DISTRICT
ELECTION DURING EARLY VOTING.
THIS DISTRICT HAS OVER 230,000 REGISTERED VOTERS!
...THIS MEANS YOUR VOTE IN THIS ELECTION
CARRIES MUCH MORE WEIGHT THAN NORMAL...
CARRIES MUCH MORE WEIGHT THAN NORMAL...
Murray & Basham Ask Hard Questions
Culture of Corruption at TRWD ?
Fort Worth, Texas - April 29, 2010 - After last weeks revelation in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that board members routinely hold discussions, debate, receive briefings, and make decisions in committee well before their vote in an "open meeting". Adrian Murray and John Basham have question the legal issues regarding these board members ignoring the Texas Open Meetings Laws. Further, Murray and Basham fear these directors have opened the district to serious legal challenge of all decision made while this process has been in place over the last four years.
The Texas Attorney General's guide to open meetings shows this is an even more significant issue with this board as it acts as a "RUBBER STAMP" for all decisions coming before the board over the last fours years. This board has voted unanimously to approve all actions recommended from committees 100% of the time during this period.
Signs Disappear & Owners Intimidated
Over the last few days the Murray and Basham campaign have been getting a number of reports from property owners that they have been called by one of their opponents and bullied into having their campaign signs removed.
Mr. Basham said, "Imagine getting a call from an elected official who has the power of eminent domain, taxing, and your water rates at their control." He went on to say,"I expect that is one tense phone call. When your asked why our signs are on your property. Clearly it's bullying and it's wrong!"
While the complaints from property owners and campaign supporters continue to arrive. The Murray and Basham campaign is reminding everyone, "Signs don't win elections votes do. If our opponents want to spend their days tracking down owners names and numbers where our signs reside to spread around a little intimidation and bullying, so be it." They have also said, "We'll spend our time talking to the voters and spreading the truth about the out of control 'Culture of Corruption' at the Tarrant Regional Water District."
Culture of Corruption? You Bet!
Adrian Murray and John Basham have spent the last few months talking to organizations and voters about the out of control "Culture of Corruption" at the Tarrant Regional Water District.
They have explained how the management, not the board, is setting the agenda and how that same management is living high on-the-hog using your tax dollars as their very own personal piggy bank.
In a mailer set to arrive in homes across the district early this next week. The campaign spells out just a small sampling of the ways this District and this Board continue to operate under this "Culture of Corruption"
About Adrian and John
Find out more about Adrian and John and their plan to put Tarrant Regional Water District back in the business of Water Supply and Flood Control and out of the Overspend "Culture of Corruption" that currently resides in that districts leadership.
Behind closed doors...
Want to know what goes on behind closed doors with YOUR money at the Tarrant Regional Water District? Then take five minutes out of your day and VOTE for Adrian Murray and John Basham!
Millions of dollars and our water supply depend on it.
VOTE TODAY!!!!
Millions of dollars and our water supply depend on it.
VOTE TODAY!!!!
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
It's time to Vote for the Tarrant Water Board
Tarrant water board
Does rich get in the way of lowering property taxes when the water board says it has more money than it needs? Are water district property taxes so high because of the rich history of public service enjoyed by respected water board folks mentioned in the Thursday editorial?
Are unused gas bonuses diverted to entertainment and dining? Or should that money be used to investigate desalination of the Red River if the water district loses its drinking water lawsuit?
Adrian Murray and John Basham are not afraid to ask questions. They read schedules and understand them. Tell them to plan for drinking water and flood control instead of raising fees for water delivered to your town. Voters in Fort Worth, Azle, Edgecliff Village, Westworth Village, Westover Hills and River Oaks, elect Murray and Basham to the Tarrant Regional Water Board. Find out about unexplained uses of too much tax money.
-- Beverly Branham, Fort Worth
My question is, why does the Star-Telegram Editorial Board continue to support only current Tarrant Regional Water District board members?
The Washington earmarks will not materialize, nor should they. Why should all Americans be asked to pay for commercial development in Fort Worth?
Tarrant County property owners should fear the current board's eminent domain proposal for a commercial development.
It is time for the Star-Telegram to dispense with the good ol' boy system. Support the voters for a change.
-- Jihada Gilcrease, Fort Worth
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
North Central Texas Communities Alliance April Meeting in Southlake
NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS COMMUNITIES ALLIANCE
Together we Bargain, Divided we Beg
APRIL PUBLIC MEETING
GAS DRILLING BASICS 101
When: Thursday, April 29, 2010 - 7pm
Where: Southlake Town Hall, Rooms C & D
1400 South Main Street - Southlake
YOU asked for it...... we listened! We'll have a panel of knowledgable, experienced, Community Leaders who have been involved in promoting measures to protect our HEALTH, SAFETY AND PROPERTY RIGHTS!
Whether you're a real novice at this subject of gas drilling or have had your fair share of public meetings about it, get ready to learn the most current information & the TRUTH WITHOUT the industry "slant!"
As the time honored saying goes, you can be a part of the solution or continue to be a part of the problem. Only by working together for the common good can we even begin to protect our communities from unwanted and/or unneeded industrial activities that continue to harm the air we breathe or the water needed to sustain our quality of life.
North Central Texas Communities Alliance
Esther McElfish, Pres.
Gary Hogan, V.P.
Louis McBee, Treas.
The most at risk for even low to moderate levels of Benzene are children and pregnant mothers. If we continue to "drill baby drill" without fully knowing and understanding the risks involved, the drillers will be long gone before our citizens begin to show symptoms of exposure to Benzene and other harmful byproducts of gas drilling.
What are the health risks?
- Cancer
- Leukemia
- Neurological disorders
- Birth defects
- Emphysema
- Citizens for a Responsible Drilling Ordinance
North Central Texas Communities Alliance
2320 Oakland Blvd., Ste 11 | Fort Worth | TX | 76103
2320 Oakland Blvd., Ste 11 | Fort Worth | TX | 76103
Monday, April 26, 2010
Set your TIVO!
Living with the Trinity will air one last time at 3:00 a.m. Monday night/Tuesday morning April 27 on KERA-TV.
DO NOT miss it! Read about it here.
DO NOT miss it! Read about it here.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
HOW
Fort Worth City Council
The air is contaminated at my house already. What next?
Louisiana well blowout forces hundreds from homes.
It was only a matter of time. How do you repair an aquifer?
What happens when it does happens in The Fort Worth area? Where does the water come from. You can't drink it, you can't bath in it and you can't wash your clothes in it.
You have a city that is inhabitable.
That is a pretty high price for your glory.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
"Billion Dollar Ditch"
Photo By Luther Smith
If you missed, KERA's "Living with the Trinity" this week you missed a lot. This was a history lesson which shows history repeating itself, unless YOU DO SOMETHING.
The story starts in the 1960's when those in power (business leaders, elected politicians, etc.) decided we couldn't survive or profit without turning the Trinity in to a canal that ran from Dallas/Fort Worth to the Gulf of Mexico. It discusses the legacy of support for projects like this, how they "inherited support of the canal from their fathers...". The JD Granger of that era was Ben Carpenter. The Kay Granger of that time was Jim Wright. It didn't hurt Texas any that Lyndon Baines Johnson was President at the time, hailing from the Lone Star State.
So Mr. Wright goes to Washington and gets the billion dollars approved for the MUST HAVE project. (Is any of this sounding familiar yet?) In 1955 the Trinity River Vision Authority was created and to no one's surprise Ben Carpenter was named President (now it's starting to ring some bells?).
In 1957, while a flood ravaged the Trinity and its people, with 5500 left homeless, 4000 evacuated and the river still rising, the TRA unveiled their Master Plan for the river.
This sadly reminded us of the 2007 flood that killed four year old Ally Collins, the very next morning, when the Tarrant Regional Water District met, their minutes reflect they approved another portion of the Trinity River Vision. No mention of flooding or death.
Carpenter hand picked a prominent water attorney as the General Manager of the TRA. This reminds us of the Tarrant Regional Water District hiring JC Watts to lobby against Oklahoma to take their water.
And same as now, the Corp of Engineers was involved in it all.
So along comes Ned Fritz, a prominent attorney, who also got involved in environmental affairs. He began asking questions, writing letters and pointing out that the figures just didn't add up. People assumed he was standing in the way of progress, until they heard the facts.
In 1971 the Sierra Club sued to stop construction, claiming the Corp did not disclose the environmental costs. The dams were deserted, and so began the "waiting on the study phase". (Hear that Haltom City?) TRA responded immediately, through the media, claiming "Ecology won't halt dam job". (Again, familiar, reminds us of the recent PR spin when the federal funding moratorium came to light.)
Next on the scene is Alan Steelman, an unknown running against Cabell, who had won his seat four times with 60%. Steelman wasn't given a chance in hell to win, he was the first to give the opposition to the Trinity Project a voice. When he started talking about "Government being too costly, too big, too ineffective and interferring," people started to listen. He made a statement that still applies to Tarrant County, all these years later, "The consumer and environment take a backseat to this growth at any cost syndrome". Sad, isn't it? In all these years, has no one learned anything?
So TRA throws together a bond election to try and pass it anyway. The opposition forms a group, made up of working class Democrats, fiscal Republicans and environmentalists. The TRA blames the group for creating fear among the people. The group points out the fact that it is a tremendous waste of taxpayer money, made to look beneficial. Then the threats and name calling started.
The question asked was WHO will benefit? The wealthiest people in town, that's WHO. Industries, businesses, government, land owners. And, as with the Trinity River Vision - WHO pays? YOU!
In 1973, the bond was rejected by 20,000 votes, in the 17 counties that were allowed to vote. The pushers of the project were shocked and angered. You know what? THE PEOPLE spoke. They got to vote and they did so. And Dallas/Fort Worth thrives today, without a project the "leaders" said was needed to survive. And those without a chance in hell, won. When David fought Goliath, WHO won?
VOTE MONDAY!
Thursday, April 22, 2010
INCOMING...
April 22, 2010
For Immediate Release
Tarrant Regional Water District Board Members Spark Serious Legal Question After Interview
FORT WORTH, TEXAS - April 22, 2010 - In a stunning revelation, two members of the Tarrant Regional Water District's board of directors seem to have admitted the board routinely violates the state's Open Meetings Statute.
The Texas Open Meetings Act clearly states that committee meetings are not exempt from the statute. The Open Meetings 2010 Handbook provided by Attorney General Greg Abbott says,
"(I)f a government body that has established an advisory committee routinely adopts or 'rubber stamps' the advisory committee's recommendations, the committee will be considered to be a governmental body subject to the Act."
Violators of the Act are subject to fine and/or imprisonment.
"I can't say I'm surprised," said Adrian Murray, one of two candidates vying for a board seat in the May 8 municipal election. "Trying to find out what goes on behind closed doors at this ultra-secretive body is more difficult than prying secrets from the old KGB. To learn that the public board meetings are nothing more than dog and pony shows to adopt policies and plans concocted out of public view should outrage the general public. The fact that they openly admit it to the editorial board of the Star Telegram shows an appalling arrogance. Rather than endorsing them for reelection, the paper should be calling for them to be brought up on charges."
John Basham, who is running a joint campaign with Murray for the two seats coming up for election, is equally troubled by the admission. "Just who is on these committees? Do they keep minutes? Is the public notified when these committees meet? There really needs to be an investigation into this matter as it is a clear violation of the public trust."
The Tarrant Regional Water District is a public utility mandated with ensuring sufficient supplies of clean water and flood control in its area of jurisdiction. In recent years, charge Murray and Basham, the District has wandered from its stated mission and is spending hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars in an economic development scheme known as the Trinity River Vision.
www.TarrantVotes.com
Contact Information:
Adrian Murray
817.991.9604
Adrian@TarrantVotes.com
John Basham
817.846.3695
John@TarrantVotes.com
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