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Notes we were sent from some that attended last night's forum:

The room was split down the middle, those that favored the incumbents on one side and those that believe the city has lots of room for improvement, on the other.

As usual both Louis McBee and Clyde Picht were there and brought up very valid points.

The incumbents thanked the PD and FD for endorsing them, this was a surprise to some of the candidates as they thought they would be heard and then the group would decide on WHO they were endorsing. Maybe surprise is the wrong word, at this point in this election nothing would surprise them.

Kathleen Hicks arrived late, she then introduced her aunts that were present and told us her mom was a judge.

Some claim Danny Scarth seemed to fall asleep a couple of times. Let's hope if he stays in office he can stay awake for council meetings.

Jordan Jungas tried to quote something from Romans 12. We aren't sure what he said. Something about his grandkids were the most important thing, while that is a given, maybe he should have talked about how important the citizens are.

District 3 is crowded with lots of good folks running for Silcox's seat. They were all down to earth and well educated on the issues. Fox was not present.

The mayor spoke of inclusion and transparency and how Fort Worth is the 9th safest city. We aren't sure where this statistic comes from, but we are guessing gas drilling, air quality, flooding, etc. is not included in the "safest" ranking.

The district we heard the least about has been 7. The imcumbent was not present, however the candidate was very impressive. Charlie Murphy talked of how he learned about drilling in Fort Worth. At first, it all sounded great, free money. Then he began to learn more and became concerned, he thought, "This can't be happening in Fort Worth". So he attened a council meeting and guess what? Drilling was on the agenda. He said those folks lost. Not one person on the council stood up to protect that neighborhood. We looked him up and found questions he answered in an earlier interview here.

Read up on the candidates for your district and for mayor!

VOTE ON SATURDAY!!!

Fired up

Durango Texas is on a roll, about the sad state of the newspapers, city parks and library's.

We've gotten many notes today concerning the Fort Worth Star-Telegram newspaper losing the election letters. Timing is everything.

And we were very sad to see the Fort Worth Weekly newspaper didn't have election coverage. They are usually the voice of the citizens.

WHAT?

did the media say about the Candidate Forum last night?

Nothing.
Some say they will have coverage Saturday. That will help. It will be over. (for now)

Many of the 24 candidates were present. They had lots to say. Too bad the people of Fort Worth didn't get to hear it.

This was the first one the mayor had time to attend, out of about a dozen. Then it was announced he wouldn't be staying. People actually laughed.

WHO's Listening?

People on Carter have something to say. Can someone pass along for them?

WHO thought gas lines in residential areas were a good idea?

San Antonio on fire.

Irving man burned, house exploded.

Shreveport cattle dead. What's next?

Or as the people on Carter say, WHO's next?

Who approves where the pipelines go???

Too bad

The media doesn't know there is an election taking place. Some say they will have ongoing coverage on election day. Shouldn't they be discussing the candidates and issues prior to that?

And another...

Who are the letter to the editor writers for the mayor?

Jim Dunaway was one.

We found this post titled "Corrupt Conflicts of Interest Taking over Fort Worth" on the Durango Texas Blog in which Jim Dunaway appears.

Corrupt Conflicts Of Interest Taking Over Fort Worth

UPDATED: 1/6/09--New info about the infamous map

UPDATED: 1/5/09--New input from a reliable source I will refer to as Deep Throat

That's a map on the left. Some call it an infamous map. Why, you ask? Well, that map was found at what is known as the Thomas well site. The Thomas well site is the Chesapeake Energy drill site that has stirred so much controversy due to it being next to Tandy Hills Park. And being part of the Tandy Hills.

So, why is this map infamous, you continue to ask? Well, the map belonged to and was made by Dunaway Associates. That's a consulting firm.

Big deal, you're thinking. Well, Jim Dunaway was one of the developers on the first Gas Drilling Task Force. The Task Force makes decisions regarding drilling. The company Jim Dunaway's father founded and ran for years is directly involved in the destruction of land next to Tandy Hills Natural Area. Dunaway work trucks have been photographed at the Thomas/Tandy Hills drilling site.

The infamous Thomas well site map gets most of its infamy due to the fact that, despite Chesapeake Energy applying for and getting approval for a single gas well permit at this particular site, the map clearly shows more than one gas well.

Task Force member, Gary Hogan, reports that Dunaway did not participate much in the first Task Force. Dunaway was replaced, early on, by Walsh Ranch representative, Rob Green. He being another pro-driller. Dunaway has extensive connections at city hall. Regardless of the amount of time Dunaway spent on the Task Force, this still was a fox in the chicken coop situation, with Dunaway later profitting from drilling operations he was, earlier, part of overseeing.

To help set government policy for some business activity from which you profit is generally thought of as a conflict of interest. This is usually frowned upon, sometimes to such a degree that those participating in such dubious deeds end up doing jail time and paying large fines.

Jim Dunaway is also a contributor to Mike Moncrief's election campaigns.

A reliable, anonymous source, I will call Deep Throat, had this to say about Jim Dunaway, "I'll quickly note, not for attribution, but for your info, that whenever I see Jim Dunaway associated with something I already know it's wrong and probably evil. He is a lowlife SOB that has not an inkling or care about the world we live in. Other than that, he is probably a fine person."

For some unfathomable reason, Mike Moncrief continues to avoid being charged with serious conflicts of interests, while Moncrief and his wife have substantial holdings in most of the gas drillers operating in Fort Worth. In other words, Moncrief profits from the operations he is part of regulating.

And in yet one more example of a conflict of interest, this morning I learned that Lead Gas Drilling Inspector, David Lunsford, now works for a pipeline company. Lunsford has been quoted as saying he rarely received complaints. Lunsford was known to dismiss gas drilling concerns out of hand. One can not help but wonder how much effort Lunsford put into protecting the public, when he had a cushy pipeline job waiting for him.

And then we have Don Behrens. Hired by the City of Fort Worth to consult and offer advice to the city and the Gas Drilling Task Force on sound mitigation. He is now selling products to Barnett Shale drillers. At one point Behrens had a monopoly on sound mitigation blankets. Behrens had a direct influence on the sound mitigation rules specified in the city's sound mitigation ordinance. Behrens misrepresented his Los Angeles drilling experience to the FW City Council and the Task Force.

Why are these type conflict of interests allowed in Fort Worth? I don't know. It's like there is no oversight.

I can't imagine the same type thing happening in Seattle. If the mayor had a vested interest in Starbucks he knows he would have to recuse himself from having any part in approving or disapproving some request from Starbucks. That's only common sense. Except in Fort Worth, where an entirely different set of rules apply to how things get done.

Another round of Who is?

We looked at some support letters written for the current mayor and asked, WHO is...

Oscar Trevino -
Current Mayor of North Richland Hills and well, read other info below.

In the daily paper in February he was mentioned prominently. Since the link to the story was "not found" and the length of the story was considerable, we'll just share the highlights we found online elsewhere. Although this brings up so many more questions of WHO???

After committing more than a quarter of a million dollars in lobbying fees for a major transportation bill, North Texas officials are asking suburban cities to step up with more money to push the legislation "over the goal line."

Fort Worth, Arlington and the Tarrant Regional Transportation Coalition have agreed to pay HillCo $275,000 for its transportation lobbying efforts. The coalition and Fort Worth approved separate contracts of $100,000 each, while Arlington authorized $75,000.

"We need the participation of our region's suburban cities to muster the resources we need to achieve success," said the letter from Mayors Ken Shetter of Burleson and Oscar Trevino of North Richland Hills. Shetter is coalition chairman and Trevino, a former chairman, is on the executive committee.

In the letter, the mayors proclaimed a "good start" on behalf of the funding bill but said "it is going to take a monumental effort to get us over the goal line. ... While smaller cities can't match the large commitments Fort Worth and Arlington have made, we can and should do our part."

HillCo, formed in 1998 by consultant Bill Miller and former state Rep. Neal "Buddy" Jones, has well-established ties in North Texas. In addition to its work on the transportation issue, the firm also promotes the legislative agendas of a dozen towns and cities, including Fort Worth, Arlington, Dallas, North Richland Hills, Burleson, Southlake, Irving and Denton.

The state government is prohibited from using public money for lobbying services, but the prohibition does not extend to cities, said Tim Sorrells, a spokesman for the Texas Ethics Commission. City officials say professional on-the-ground lobbyists are vital to help cities with their legislative needs, although some taxpayer advocates criticize the expenditure of tax money to private lobbying firms.

Shetter said coalition officials considered other firms but agreed that HillCo, with its track record for success, had the best chance of reversing North Texas' fortunes from the previous legislative session. "You want sort of the biggest, baddest partner you can get," the Burleson mayor said.

Fort Worth is finalizing its $100,000 transportation contract to HillCo after it was approved by the City Council on Tuesday, said Reid Rector, the city's director of governmental relations.

The fee for transportation lobbying, he said, is separate from Fort Worth's $93,000 contract with HillCo to represent the city's other legislative issues in Austin, Rector said.

Shetter and Trevino said the ultimate cost of the lobbying effort on the transportation bill has not been determined. "We're talking about millions of dollars of economic development," Shetter said.

Although elected officials also participate in the effort and make contact with lawmakers, Miller said, HillCo is "quarterbacking the play" and directing strategy." "We have to persuade people to support it, to find ways to make it attractive to them," he said. "Or to persuade them that their opposition is unwarranted. It's a classic lobby deal."

Why do YOU think

that Mayfest was canceled for the first time ever? That the Fort Worth ISD is closed until May 11th? Two days after the election.

Oh that's right, Swine flu. Does Dallas not know about this? Someone must warn them.

So if less people get out, there would be more mail in ballots? Lots of talk about mail in ballots on West and Clear.

We're not the only ones...

When we read the daily paper this morning, we noticed something odd in the letter section. Each week day there are letters from citizens for Clyde Picht for Fort Worth mayor.

Seems we weren't the only ones noticing the difference in the Sunday paper.

We then read Durango's take on it. He makes us laugh.

And just now we got a copy of an email from another that makes us see - we are not alone.

This was sent to the top brass and letter department at the daily paper. It looks like after that, it went to lots of folks. Thanks for sharing!

For the past several weeks I have seen MANY letters supporting Clyde Picht in the paper, few for Moncrief. On the days there were any for Moncrief there were the same number for Clyde. Days there were none for Moncrief tells me you are receiving more letters from average folks for Clyde. With this "fairness" and the stories both about the mayoral race and the City pulling the plug on the candidate interviews, I started to think the paper is changing! They are actually going to do fair, non biased reporting now, not be the shill for the city they have become over the years. Ah, but I forgot about the Editorial Board. Their disappointing "KEEP ALL THE INCUMBENTS" propaganda was the same as it is every year...reminds me of last year when they wanted to keep Brimer. (Though the ST now praises Wendy Davis, how quickly we forget). And then I saw the Letters to the Editor in the Sunday edition, with two glowing letters for Moncrief and none for Clyde. What a blatant slight. As well as a huge indicator Paul is gone, and with him whatever trust I had remaining in the local paper. It has become so one-sided and sensational that I skip most of it anyway, reading the letters to see what is really going on in the citizens world. The one those of us, not on city council, or working at the paper, live in.