More Trinity River BS

Just when you think it can't get any dumber, it does.  Only in Fort Worth...you can't make this crap up.  It's the Fort Worth Way. 

Maybe the Trinity River Vision Authority and the Tarrant Regional Water District should attend a North Central Texas Council of Governments meeting on water quality in the Trinity River.  Oh wait, they did.  WHAT does that tell you?  Don't forget Jim Lane is a member of the Water Board.  As a mayoral candidate how does he let this entity mislead the public?

The Trinity River in Tarrant County is said to be one of the most contaminated portions of the river, it's also full of trash, alligators, snakes, PCB's and waste water. 

Please don't buy the BS.  It makes you dumber than them.
Read about the latest, sickest Trinity River Vision propaganda on Durango.  Where else.

Is that a threat?

We've been getting some good stuff as of late.  We can't wait to share it all.  Comments, Letters and emails, oh my.

It's all coming.  Every bit of it.  YOU won't want to miss it.

Stay tuned, kids, it's about to get good.

The Price is Wrong

It's time to change Lane's...

Fort Worth Mayor's race in full swing.  Some letters in the paper point out some things that raise some questions about Lane and Price.  Do us all a favor, vote for Cathy Hirt.  Nobody is buying her. 

Don't be bought.

Betsy Price, a great lady and excellent tax collector, claims to be a fiscal conservative. But she's not. As a member of the TRV citizen committee, Betsy supports the $1 billion Trinity River Vision project and believes the use of tax abatements, TIFs and eminent domain to benefit the politically connected is a legitimate government function.

I admired this former business owner for introducing professional management practices, innovations and advanced technology that modernized the Tax Department and actually saved taxpayers millions of dollars. Betsy knows her first obligation is to taxpayers.

So is Betsy obligated to the taxpayer or Kay Granger and Cheseapeake?  Which is it? 

And WHO will Lane be obligated to?

The police and firefighter organizations are basically sponsoring Jim Lane's candidacy. Their eye-popping $154,000 funding represents more than two-thirds of his campaign contributions. This goes far beyond an endorsement. The police and firefighters, most of whom don't live in Fort Worth, are running a candidate for mayor.

In 2011 and 2012, the mayor and council will be trying to bring pension costs under control for all city employees, including police and firefighters. With that kind of connection, how can we count on Lane to work for the taxpayers of Fort Worth when negotiating with the people that paid his way into office?

Watauga Flooded with Candidates

That's a good thing.

Eight people running for City Council in Watauga.  That means something is up.  Pay attention.  YOU can't afford not to. 

Texas Lone Star supports Gary Johnson and his running mates.  You can learn more about them at Watauga Citizens First.  They are Watauga citizens and business owners that want to fix the real problems of the city, including the flooding of several neighborhoods that has taken place for years and never been addressed.  Hear that, Fort Worth?

Another Trinity River Vision Nightmare

No we aren't talking about the Fort Worth billion dollar boondoggle, we're talking downstream in Dallas.  However, the story is eerily similar.  Exchange the word, rafting for Wakeboarding. And Trinity Commons Foundation for Trinity River Vision Authority, or Streams and Valleys.
Just one more "disaster waiting to happen."  Read the Dallas Observer for the latest fiasco.  Will someone tell the politicians to please quit jacking with OUR river?  And quit wasting OUR money.
Kudos to Jim Schutze!

The "Standing Wave" is a $4 million-plus kayaking feature that the city recently installed in the Trinity River, and it's a failure. It's ugly. It's dangerous. It's an insult to the river.

Instead it's another sickening example of how the multibillion dollar Trinity River project is being handled—top-down, with no community involvement or consultation, driven entirely by people whose idea of a river experience is rafting down the Colorado with a guide, a chef and a guitarist.

If the kids didn't have life jackets on, they might drown. If they did have life jackets on, they would still get pushed underwater in one of the most toxic rivers in the state.

 All they know is that the Trinity Commons Foundation—the private socialite club promoting the overall Trinity River Project—has been flouncing around strewing rose petals and singing the praises of the Standing Wave, which they say is the first evidence of progress on the overall 20-year-old multibillion dollar Trinity River project.

We have been blessed with a beautiful river. We need to stop trying to tell the river what to do, be quiet, and listen to the river's real voice.

Bad "News"

Some letters to the editor today in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram from THE PEOPLE point out the "news" got it wrong on their recommendations for the Fort Worth elections.  Again, please tell us WHY a supposedly unbiased news outlet would support anyone for office?  Shouldn't they report facts on the candidates and let THE PEOPLE decide?  What do they have to gain by shilling for incumbents?  ASK.

One letter concerns Sal Espino, funny, seems we mentioned some of this as well.  Did the "news" not know claims were false?  How is that?  ASK.

Another reader has some good points concerning Scarth as well.  Let's not forget about his son.

Remember, if you're not happy with what you've been getting, voting for the same old isn't going to help that.  The "news" writes all year long about the scandals and shortcomings of the city and its leaders, then come May says, reelect them...ASK - What the hell?

Fort Worth council

I'm an 82-year-old Fort Worth native and have spent most of my life living and working in east Fort Worth. I am very concerned and disappointed in the Star-Telegram's recommendation of Danny Scarth for District 4 on the City Council.

Scarth has not done anything for his own neighborhood, and he has done even less for others in the district. He's instead brought us the only toxic waste dump in the city and has never seen a high-impact gas well he didn't support, which has caused real estate values to plummet.

Let's vote for jobs and new businesses in east Fort Worth, not flooding in Riverside and Gateway parks. Let us also begin to move forward with positive improvements in District 4 by electing Lupe Arriola as our next council member.

-- Dean Hatch, Fort Worth

I have to disagree with the Star-Telegram's recommendation of Sal Espino for Fort Worth City Council District 2. In my opinion, Espino has done nothing to endear himself to the community. I find it disturbing that he is trying to take credit for the 2004 bond improvements and development along the Alliance corridor, both of which were in the making prior to his election.

Since he is proud of the improvements in Rockwood Park from the drilling money, why couldn't he have been vocal or used some of the drilling money to keep the Marine Park swimming pool open?

Perhaps he needs to look up the meaning of constituent service. If you call his office at City Hall, you will hear a long message on his voice mail detailing all the reasons why you will not get a return phone call anytime soon, if ever.

-- Lucy Aguilera, Fort Worth

New in town...

The letter to the editor in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram today speaks volumes about the Haltom City Mayor race.

The letter writer is new in town (2005) and in Haltom City, that is very new in town.  Many residents have been there the 50+ years, since the town was born.  And arriving in 2005 means you missed the recall fun and all the fallout that followed. The letter writer wants you to support the man who has been a part of the infamous Economic Development Corporation.  With all the jobs this candidate has, how will he make time to be Mayor?  And do YOU want someone who has a "vision far beyond council chambers"?  You know what happens with "visions"...

Do our friends in Haltom City a favor and Write-In Bob Watkins for Mayor.

Oh say can YOU see?

Excellent letter in the FW Weekly this week.  If you haven't seen Up A Creek yet, YOU should.  You can't afford not to. 

You can see it on TRIP's website.  Isn't half an hour of your time worth a billion dollars?  Skip a so called "news" program one night, trust us, you'll learn more from this.  Watch it, for YOUR kids, if nothing else.

TRV: A Vision Problem?

To the editor: Dan McGraw’s article “TRV’s Up a Creek” (April 6, 2011) was perfectly timed, with elections coming up. The Trinity River Vision’s supporters on the water board would rather spend money attracting tourists with that project than meeting the flood-control needs of other communities.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, knowing the flood potential from Big Fossil Creek, allowed land to be developed on the pretext that they didn’t have $6 million to fix the problem. And yet, as the article points out, they “found” $500 million for the TRV.

Don Woodard calls the TRV “pseudo flood control” and compares some politicians who advocate the project to bank robbers like Bonnie and Clyde. His comments are apropos. Woodard was joined in his opposition by Libertarian Party Chairman John Spivey and by Clyde Picht and Louis McBee, who refers to the TRV as “Lake Kay Granger.”

Layla Caraway’s video Up a Creek is going to be a success story. She should run for city council. As for Granger, maybe she needs an eye doctor. There are none so blind as those who refuse to see.

Delores Raikes
Fort Worth

They get it...

Do YOU?

The FW Weekly does another bang up job at putting it together.  Kudos to Dan McGraw!  And to all the people quoted in the article, wanting to learn more and DO something!

Don't miss the article.  It's got some good information on TRIP (Trinity River Improvement Partnership) and the local Tea Party, 912.  The Weekly gets it right by talking to many different folks with many different opinions.  Too bad our other "news" outlets only say what their told.

Enough already...GO VOTE!

"We keep hearing from city leaders how [Fort Worth] hasn't been affected as much as other cities by the national economic downturn" she said. "But then we can't afford basic city services like building better roads and keeping pools open. I guess I just want to find out how we got in this mess. I guess I'm here because I want to learn more."

He started coming to meetings earlier this year because "I would read the paper and watch the news at home, and I found myself having a fit," he said. "I wanted to see what I could do, to learn more about all the issues and not just sit at home and complain.
 
"The TRV is a big waste of money when we don't even have money to fix our roads. Granger puts her son in charge of it at a very high salary. This is mis-spending at its worst."
 
In Fort Worth ... no one has questioned authority in the past," he said. "We just did not get involved. The more I keep my eyes open and the more I see, the more I need to get involved.
 
TRIP and the 912ers have become close allies as they fight what they both consider crazy spending on a project that they believe is not needed and favors private development interests through the use of eminent domain. TRIP backs a plan that would spend about $60 million to improve river access near downtown, but members want the private marketplace alone to determine what kind of development happens along the river.
 
 "I am a member of both groups because no one represents the taxpayers anymore, and that has to change," she said.
 
"The TRV project is a perfect example of that," she said. "They want to spend more than $900 million of federal and state and local tax money, and voters haven't had any say in the matter. And believe me, the federal money is drying up because of the ban on earmark spending, and you know the burden is going to shift to local money.

Fort Worth Example

When people across the United States use YOUR city as an example of what NOT to do, you got problems.

Check out the Fort Worth Way gas drilling example @ the Fort Worth Weekly.

And then get your butt off the couch and go vote.