Wednesday, August 5, 2015

No Fort Worth Discussion About America's Biggest Boondoggle Causing Water Rate Increases

Revulsion directed at America's Biggest Boondoggle seems to be spreading as more and more North Texans are learning The Boondoggle is even more boondoggly than they suspected, boondoggling in ways that effect them.

Eagle eyed Elsie Hotpepper pointed me to to a boondoggle relevant post on Facebook this morning, posted by Chris Putnam, Colleyville City Council Place 3, which I assume means Chris Putnam is the councilperson representing Place 3, assuming Place means the same thing as District.

This is what Chris Putnam had to say....

Again - no discussion even in Fort Worth about the real root cause of raw water rate increases - the oil & gas revenue diversion to the Trinity River Vision project. TRWD's revenue fund (where they source and deliver water) is completely flush but their general fund is losing tens of millions annually because of payouts to Fort Worth's giant "economic development" boondoggle the TRV.

The result, much higher water rates for all of us. Colleyville will see a 10% increase due to just the TRWD raw water increase this year alone. How do you feel about subsidizing Fort Worth's economic development with your water bill?

Okay, am I understanding correctly? The TRWD has been raising area water rates, then playing some sort of shifting shell game to divert the funds raised to the Trinity River Uptown Central City Panther Island Vision Boondoggle?

The TRUCCPUV, you know, that public works project the public has never voted for, which has been boondoggling along for well near a decade and a half, with little to show for the money flushed down the river.

Well, there are those three simple little bridges The Boondoggle is building in slow motion over dry land with a four year project timeline.

With America's Biggest Boondoggle not funded in the way normal public works projects are funded, it would seem a rather serious shenanigan to be raising the water rates on water users outside the area of the "economic development", with those  water users, just like those water users who do live inside the area of the "economic development", never having voted for this project.

By now J.D. Granger has been paid well over a million dollars to manage this project he has been mis-managing. If this project were implemented in the way legitimate public works projects are implemented it would have long ago been completed, with Fort Worth and the surrounding area enjoying the benefits and J.D. Granger begging his mama to find him another job.

As it stands now, J.D. Granger is going to be riding this bizarre gravy train til retirement time.

As Colleyville councilperson Chris Putnam points out, there is no discussion about the cause of the water rate increases. Just like there is no discussion, for the most part, about Fort Worth being the location of America's Biggest Boondoggle.

When an area has long been an oligarchy, most of the people come to believe they have no real say in what happens in their town.

I don't think most of Fort Worth, and the surrounding area's potential voters, have an answer to being ask how they feel about subsidizing Fort Worth's economic development with their water bill.

There is just way too much apathy in this part  of America. Apathy leads to boondoggles. Fort Worth is a petri dish test case for that truism, the Boondoggle Capital of the World....

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