Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Money, narcissism and out of control egos...and not a drop to drink

Since the Supreme Court voted unanimously against the Tarrant Regional Water District, and an "outsider" was elected to the board, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram has started acting like they care about YOUR opinion on the subject.  They even asked for YOUR opinion on if WE (one would have to assume they mean TRWD, since the WE, the public weren't given the option to sue) are the bad guys when it comes to water?

Well, if they read anything written about the case, they'd know the answer was yes.  However, we have to give them props for even acting like they wanted your opinion.  It's better than their normal cheer-leading for the stupid TRWD/TRV money wasting stunts.

Some of the responses were spot on, and very well said.

You can read them all here.

Below are a few of our favorites.

Insatiable appetite
I don’t understand. What is it about Fort Worth’s insatiable appetite for growth that entitles it to condemn the land of people hundreds of miles away and take their water?

The Trinity River flows through town, and the limits of its watershed should logically have set the limits for Fort Worth’s population.

There’s no reason why additional thousands of people have to move here, living off the resources of East Texas, other than to satisfy the egos of local politicians.
— Dennis Novak, Fort Worth

We’re big enough
How much is enough? How big does the Chamber of Commerce want Fort Worth to be?

Is the thirst for growth insatiable? Is not 750,000 enough?

When it grows to 1 million, will they want 2 million?

Why do we keep giving tax abatements and other incentives to induce corporations to move here?

Do they want this city to become another London? Another New York? Another Tokyo?

Whatever happened to our love of a friendly western woodland where Nature has her way? Or to the blessed Land of Room Enough where the air is full of sunlight and the flag has a big Lone Star?

Is it not obvious that there is not enough water now? How much more will be needed with another million thirsty straws draining it?

How many more big lakes and miles of eminent-domain pipelines? How many more orange-barrel freeways to be widened?
— Don Woodard, Fort Worth

Poisoned the well
I suggest that the TRWD has proven itself incompetent at best in handling the Oklahoma issue.

The Supreme Court didn’t say that we weren’t entitled to the water, but only that we weren’t allowed to invade Oklahoma to obtain it.

By choosing to go to court rather than negotiate in good faith with our partner in the compact, we wasted millions of taxpayer dollars to no positive effect, and instead poisoned the well of good will that stood to benefit us.

Certainly the TRWD, the body charged with providing adequate long-term water resources to our region, has taken upon itself the mantle of “bad guy” in its actions to date in handling this matter, the Trinity River Vision, and other initiatives.

So it is logical that we will be perceived as the “bad guy” going forward, unless the TRWD changes its approach to doing business, its leadership, or both.
— Mark Greene, Fort Worth

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