Fort Worth's Parks & Mayor Mike Moncrief's Reign of Craptacularness

Like I said in the previous blogging, here in Fort Worth we are being inundated by a propaganda misinformation campaign by the Ruling Junta seeking to convince those few who vote to keep Mike Moncrief as mayor.

Those singing the praises of Mike Moncrief go on and on about all he has done to make Fort Worth the most celebrated city in America, how he has solved the many problems thrown at Fort Worth, how he has helped make Fort Worth the dynamic wonder that it is.

I beg to differ.

Let's just take one example of something that has happened during Mike Moncrief's reign and how it effects those little people who his supporters claim he cares so much about.

Fort Worth has one of the biggest areas of parkland in the nation. It is called the Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge. This park has buffalo, prairie dogs, miles of trails, a nature center, boardwalks over a bayou. And very few visitors.

In April of 2006, with very little debate, Fort Worth's city council, with one or two councilmen objecting, voted to begin charging an entrance fee for access to the Nature Preserve.

I have never read any followup as to how this has worked out. Has the fee even been able to raise enough money to pay for the toll booth and pay to man it?

The entry fee is $4 for adults, $3 for seniors, kids 3 and older $2, under 3 free. And residents who meet federal low income guidelines get in free.

This is what I said about the fee and the city council debate on my Eyes on Texas website...

The argument was made that other cities charge for admission to similar parks. However, no argument was made to counter that dubious assertion. Many cities consider their parks to be amenities that add to the overall quality of their communities and to which it is important that the least affluent of their people feel 'free' to visit. Does Central Park in New York City charge an admission? Does Point Defiance Park in Tacoma? Does Stanley Park in Vancouver? Does Golden Gate Park in San Francisco? Does Cameron Park in Waco? Does any city with real aspirations to being a livable community charge an access fee of this sort to a park of this sort? And require the poorest among us to prove they are without means in order to enter?

It's that low income part of this that really bugs me. This is why a great city has parks like this. So those who can't afford to fly to California to go to Yosemite or drive up to Wyoming to go to Yellowstone, can still enjoy the great outdoors.

I mention Point Defiance Park in Tacoma, above. I had an interesting incident at Point Defiance last summer. Point Defiance is one of the biggest urban parks in America. It is huge. There is a zoo and an aquarium in Point Defiance, miles of trails through old growth forest, beaches, picnic areas and other attractions, like Fort Nisqually. You do not pay an admission fee to enter Point Defiance. There is a fee to enter the zoo and the aquarium.

Last summer I was heading back to my car after jogging the trails at Point Defiance. A couple was walking towards me, looking perplexed. The man of the couple said "excuse me, can I ask you a question? Where do you pay to get in this park?" I was perplexed. But I recognized the accent. I asked if you guys are from Texas? Yes, was the reply. To which I explained that in Washington, unlike Texas, there is no entry fee to state parks, nor is there an entry fee to city parks, like Point Defiance. A few years ago, during a budget shortfall period, Washington tried charging an entry fee to the state parks. The public rebelled, like the public in a participatory democracy is prone to do when they don't like something. The fees were removed.

I have other issues regarding Fort Worth's parks during Moncrief's corrupt reign.

Heritage Park in downtown Fort Worth has been turned into an embarrassing, for any city with pretensions of livability, eyesore.

Fort Worth does little to help the Tandy Hills Natural Area, an area the city should embrace and appreciate as being something in Fort Worth that is truly unique. The city should send in crews to clean up the litter, remove the dumped roofing material, remove non-prairie vegetation and cover up no longer needed manhole covers and pipes from a bygone era.

On Boca Raton Boulevard in east Fort Worth, in an area of dense population due to their being a lot of apartment complexes, one of those complexes was condemned and removed, leaving a huge open space in an area with no parks. Has Mayor Moncreif and the Ruling Junta, caring about all the citizens of Fort Worth in that magnificent manner we hear so much about, proposed turning this new open space into a park? No.

Sansom Park near Lake Worth has been allowed to deteriorate during Mike Moncrief's reign, with the rockwork pavilion now closed off by crime scene type tape, just like Heritage Park is closed off.

There are likely many other examples of park deterioration and neglect and wrong-headedness that I am not aware of or currently not remembering.

Fort Worth really deserves better than it is currently getting from the Ruling Junta. The only way to change that is for the people of Fort Worth to have a revolution and throw the bums out. But that won't happen. It's not the Fort Worth way.