And was appalled by what I read. That and the bad writing I was reading. Typos, spelling errors.
And erroneous information.
It has been a couple days. Maybe the Star-Telegram found itself an editor who cleaned up this article's mistakes. Then again, as recently as yesterday, I read this article's bad grammar referenced in comments to a Facebook post by the Star-Telegram's food critic and resident apologist for the Fort Worth Way.
Read the article yourself by clicking the What will $250 million bond for Panther Island project mean for property taxes? link and see if the mistakes have been fixed.
I will share some of the appalling erroneous information, and out and out misleading propaganda, which existed when I read and copied the article. First example....
Plus, the improvements are needed to improve the flow of flood water through the heart of Fort Worth. When the existing levee system was build in the 1960s, Fort Worth only had about 350,000 residents, but today there are nearly 900,000 residents and suburban development upstream has dramatically increased the flow of storm water during severe storms, said Jim Oliver, water district general manager.
Those levees were built in the 1950s, not the 1960s. (Note I typed "built" not "build"). Jim Oliver, paid around $300K a year to mis-manage the TRWD, doesn't know when those levees were built?
And then there is the following gem, also from the TRWD mis-manager, Jim Oliver...
If the bond election were to fail, the first option would be to simply delay the Panther Island project by a few years, which could lead to higher construction costs, Oliver said. But ultimately, if Panther Island were not built, the water district might eventually have to consider building higher levees and buying more private property for water storage, something that not only could lead to higher property taxes but would be a missed opportunity to build a beautiful new neighborhood with a river walk, he said.
So much absurd nonsense in the above paragraph. If the imaginary island is not surrounded with water the water district might have to raise the levees?
Raise the levees?
Those levees have prevented flooding in the downtown Fort Worth zone for well over a half century. Has anyone ever seen a flooding Trinity River ever get anywhere near topping those levees? And Oliver is threatening even more private property may be taken? Adding to all the property stolen via abusing eminent domain in the area where America's Biggest Boondoggle has been boondoggling along for years with little to show for all the money already wasted and property damage already done.
Well, to be fair, we did get to see a little wakeboard park for a short while before it failed. And there are those Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats at an imaginary pavilion at an imaginary world class music venue, with outhouses, and the world's first drive-in movie theater of the 21st century, sporting an ice rink for a few weeks during the winter. And other wonders which have nothing to do with flood control.
Or drainage.
Speaking of which. Here are another couple gems in this article...
A proposition on the ballot seeks permission to issue $250 million in bonds to cover the remaining unfunded portion of the $1.17 billion project, including among other things the acquisition of land, the re-channeling of 1.5 miles of the Trinity River and the construction of flood gates and water storage areas.
On the ballot, the measure is listed as Tarrant Regional Water District Proposition A, and is described as a measure for “flood control and drainage facilities.” Panther Island isn’t mentioned by name.
Okay, this article first points out what the quarter billion bucks is actually for in one paragraph, and then the next paragraph mentions how the measure is described on the ballot. Without any sort of mention made of the fact that this would seem to be fraudulent, to mis-describe a ballot measure so egregiously.
What a shocker. Panther Island is not mentioned on the ballot. Maybe the measure was run by some sort of lawyer who made some sort of point about it not being a good idea to mention an imaginary island which does not exist and never will be an island in any real sense of that island word if the Trinity River Vision ever does become something anyone can see.
When will this madness end? Maybe with a big NO vote on May 5...
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