Or not...
The TCEQ is proposing new rules and regulations for the Barnett Shale.
The EPA is talking new rules too. Attend the meeting in Arlington!
The EPA has scheduled two public meetings, one in Texas and one in Colorado, to gather public comment before it writes its new rules. The Texas meeting will be two sessions: noon-4 p.m. and 6-10 p.m. Monday at Arlington City Hall, 101 W. Abram St.
Read about the changes in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram here.
WHY the changes? Cause THE PEOPLE keep making noise. Keep up the good work, we hear ya!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Fort Worth Agenda
Where will YOU be August 3rd? At the Fort Worth City Council meeting. Something on the agenda for everyone.
Want to hold a meeting or event in your neighborhood? Well, Fort Worth doesn't want you to so they are setting up their own roadblocks. WHO was on the committee? You would think neighborhood associations? Nope, just one of those. Oh and those Fort Worth events? Yeah, they don't have to comply to the new plan.
Read about it in the FW Weekly here (Special-ly Peeved). Kudos to Libby Willis for continuing to bring these issues to light.
Willis also complained about how the ordinance was crafted: Only one of 10 members of the council-appointed committee that drew it up represented neighborhood associations; the rest were downtown business and chamber of commerce types.
The ordinance sets up lots of hurdles for those kinds of events: sizable security deposits to be paid, appearances before two city-appointed committees for approval, heightened security, and a requirement for petitions signed by anyone who lives nearby. Of course, events that cause truly major hassles, like the Main Street Arts Festival, the stock show, and anything at the Texas Motor Speedway, would be exempt.
Also, on the agenda - the contract for the Air Quality Study and the vote on taking land by eminent domain for the Trinity River Vision. Of course, it is not worded that way, it is called the Riverside Park Expansion. Sounds friendlier and less costly/politically connected, doesn't it?
That's the Fort Worth Way!
Want to hold a meeting or event in your neighborhood? Well, Fort Worth doesn't want you to so they are setting up their own roadblocks. WHO was on the committee? You would think neighborhood associations? Nope, just one of those. Oh and those Fort Worth events? Yeah, they don't have to comply to the new plan.
Read about it in the FW Weekly here (Special-ly Peeved). Kudos to Libby Willis for continuing to bring these issues to light.
Willis also complained about how the ordinance was crafted: Only one of 10 members of the council-appointed committee that drew it up represented neighborhood associations; the rest were downtown business and chamber of commerce types.
The ordinance sets up lots of hurdles for those kinds of events: sizable security deposits to be paid, appearances before two city-appointed committees for approval, heightened security, and a requirement for petitions signed by anyone who lives nearby. Of course, events that cause truly major hassles, like the Main Street Arts Festival, the stock show, and anything at the Texas Motor Speedway, would be exempt.
Also, on the agenda - the contract for the Air Quality Study and the vote on taking land by eminent domain for the Trinity River Vision. Of course, it is not worded that way, it is called the Riverside Park Expansion. Sounds friendlier and less costly/politically connected, doesn't it?
That's the Fort Worth Way!
Saving Fort Worth
Kudos to Jim Ashford and Louis McBee for sounding the alarm - again. Read about the Ethics (or lack thereof) at Fort Worth City Hall in the FW Weekly. Kudos to the Weekly for telling you what others don't!
Keep making noise boys! We hear ya!
The committee was created 20 years ago to review complaints, issue opinions, and advise city officials on ethical and moral quandaries. But in the past decade the panel has met only a handful of times, despite a city ordinance that calls for quarterly sessions. Two members dropped out of the committee years ago. Nobody replaced them.
For years residents have criticized Mayor Mike Moncrief and the Fort Worth City Council for allowing gas company employees to dominate task forces, committees, and conversations on drilling oversight. City officials have shrugged off the complaints.
Scarth votes on issues involving Chesapeake even though he has leased his property’s mineral rights to the company. Several other council members earn money from gas leases, and Moncrief earns hundreds of thousands of dollars a year from the energy industry, including Barnett Shale drillers.
The ethics ordinance prohibits officials from taking part in issues involving companies in which they hold a substantial interest. However, defining “substantial interest” can be subjective. To determine whether the mayor or council members should recuse themselves from voting on gas issues, City Attorney David Yett applies an income test to see if their gas revenues exceed 10 percent of their gross incomes.
“When your only business is oil and gas like the mayor, everything you do that benefits that industry is going to benefit you,” he said.
Residents aren’t exactly comforted by promises. Moncrief refused to breathe new life into the ethics panel after he was elected as mayor in 2003, despite pressure from former council members Clyde Picht and Chuck Silcox. Three years later, Moncrief finally sent a one-page memo to neighborhood groups seeking nominations for the committee. Moncrief ended the letter by thanking everyone for helping in “this important process.”
Four years later, no appointments have been made.
Keep making noise boys! We hear ya!
The committee was created 20 years ago to review complaints, issue opinions, and advise city officials on ethical and moral quandaries. But in the past decade the panel has met only a handful of times, despite a city ordinance that calls for quarterly sessions. Two members dropped out of the committee years ago. Nobody replaced them.
For years residents have criticized Mayor Mike Moncrief and the Fort Worth City Council for allowing gas company employees to dominate task forces, committees, and conversations on drilling oversight. City officials have shrugged off the complaints.
Scarth votes on issues involving Chesapeake even though he has leased his property’s mineral rights to the company. Several other council members earn money from gas leases, and Moncrief earns hundreds of thousands of dollars a year from the energy industry, including Barnett Shale drillers.
The ethics ordinance prohibits officials from taking part in issues involving companies in which they hold a substantial interest. However, defining “substantial interest” can be subjective. To determine whether the mayor or council members should recuse themselves from voting on gas issues, City Attorney David Yett applies an income test to see if their gas revenues exceed 10 percent of their gross incomes.
“When your only business is oil and gas like the mayor, everything you do that benefits that industry is going to benefit you,” he said.
Residents aren’t exactly comforted by promises. Moncrief refused to breathe new life into the ethics panel after he was elected as mayor in 2003, despite pressure from former council members Clyde Picht and Chuck Silcox. Three years later, Moncrief finally sent a one-page memo to neighborhood groups seeking nominations for the committee. Moncrief ended the letter by thanking everyone for helping in “this important process.”
Four years later, no appointments have been made.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
More than meets the eye...
Reasons stated - to save money and to bring in new blood...and then there was this:
But some officers also blame small-town politics. Some of the officers said they were investigating two Council members for minor crimes. They feel that the force was wiped out in retaliation.
Ratcliff denies that assertion. "There was an attempt made to intimidate the Council," he said. "I think they'll be smart not to say anything else about that, and I'll be smart enough, too."
Come to find out, Mr.Ratcliff's wife is Mayor Pro Tem. Wonder WHO they were investigating?
It ain't just small town, actually it sounds like the a big city we know of.
Speaking of...
Another great Letter to the Editor in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Fort Worth deserves better
Rep. Joe Barton wanted us to apologize to British Petroleum for causing perhaps the biggest man-made environmental catastrophe in the history of the world.
Our other representative, Kay Granger, votes against almost everything good for ordinary middle-class Americans, like health and financial reform or extending unemployment benefits. I think she is only in favor of keeping her job, which is pretty secure, because it would probably take a couple of million dollars to successfully run against her.
I am truly ashamed of these representatives. I know we in the Fort Worth area deserve better.
-- Herman I Morris, Fort Worth
Fort Worth deserves better
Rep. Joe Barton wanted us to apologize to British Petroleum for causing perhaps the biggest man-made environmental catastrophe in the history of the world.
Our other representative, Kay Granger, votes against almost everything good for ordinary middle-class Americans, like health and financial reform or extending unemployment benefits. I think she is only in favor of keeping her job, which is pretty secure, because it would probably take a couple of million dollars to successfully run against her.
I am truly ashamed of these representatives. I know we in the Fort Worth area deserve better.
-- Herman I Morris, Fort Worth
Friday, July 23, 2010
Appropriate Appropriations?
On John Cornyn's website it shows the Tarrant Regional Water District is asking for $10,000,000 in appropriations for 2011 for the Trinity River Vision (Boondoggle).
A couple of questions - Isn't Kay Granger on the Appropriations committee that approves the requests?
If the Trinity River Vision project was a true flood control project, wouldn't it be listed under Interior, where all the other flooding projects are listed?
And what was it said the "aging" levees could be repaired for? 9 million? Sounds like a hell of a deal.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
A Picture is worth a thousand words...and Billions of dollars
TCEQ didn't admit to their Fort Worth air quality testing being flawed until a fraud complaint was filed.
Now BP has been called out for digitally altering photos. Wonder how many photos they altered before someone noticed this one?
Read about it on MSNBC here.
Now BP has been called out for digitally altering photos. Wonder how many photos they altered before someone noticed this one?
Read about it on MSNBC here.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
