Fort Worth To Serve As Oligarchy Model For Iraqi Provincial Councils

Fort Worth's official website has some interesting news in its City News section.

The headline of the story is "Fort Worth to serve as model for Iraqi provincial councils."

Under that headline is the following....

The transition from autocratic rule to democratic government isn’t easy, but it helps to have an example of how to do open government right.

Since 2003, the U.S. Agency for International Aid has been working to provide these examples to Iraqi officials as part of the Local Governance Program and, recently, they looked to Fort Worth for help.

Iraqi national Satie Najm has worked with officials at City Hall through the month of August to create an informational video about the structure of local government and the role citizens play in open government.

Mayor Betsy Price and Mayor Pro Tem Zim Zimmerman, along with members of city staff, were interviewed this week for the video, which will be presented to Iraqi provincial council governors in Iraq Sept. 12.

I am sort of speechless. Of all the towns in all of America Fort Worth is picked as a model for Iraq's transition to democratic government?

Is the real reason Fort Worth was picked for such a thing due to being the biggest city in America run as an Oligarchy, like a giant company town? Thus fitting the Iraqi way of operating more than a more democratic, liberal, liberated town, like, for example, Austin or Portland or Denver or Seattle or New York City?

Was Fort Worth picked so that Iraqi officials can learn how to impose big public works projects on their citizens without having to resort to something as messy as a vote?

Fort Worth to provide Iraq an example of the role citizens play in open government?

Did not Fort Worth only recently get rid of a mayor who acted like an autocratic dictator? Limiting citizen input at city council meetings. Refusing to talk to Fort Worth's real newspaper of record, that being Fort Worth Weekly.

This is all very perplexing.