Elsie Hotpepper Has Me Looking At Mary's Plight & Fort Worth's Blight

 

A couple nights ago a late in the day text message came in from Elsie Hotpepper telling me "You should blog about Mary's Plight".

The next morning I texted Elsie asking "How can I blog about Mary's Plight if I don't know what Mary's Plight is?"

To which the Hotpepper replied "Look at Mary's Facebook".

And so I did as the Hotpepper suggested, which is always the wise course to take whenever the Hotpepper suggests anything.

Well, turns out I already knew about Mary's Plight. But I was not aware of the current status of Mary's Plight.

Years ago Mary Kelleher's Plight first came to my notice when Fort Worth Weekly did a cover story about Mary's Plight. Which at that point in time the plight was flooding of her property caused by a mismanaged shale fracking site. The inability of Mary to get the city of Fort Worth to do anything about the fracking causing flooding eventually morphed into Mary winning election to the board of the Tarrant Regional Water District.

Once she was on board that board Mary soon found herself stonewalled as she attempted to get something done about the flooding. Soon it became apparent this was a hopeless cause, with the fact becoming clear that there was an institutional lack of concern about the damage being done by bad urban planning which resulted in serious flooding issues, often of the deadly sort.

But all that was years ago. Let's move to 2021 and the current status of Mary's Plight.

Well, Mary's Plight remains a flooding issue. And the city of Fort Worth's inept inattention to what is known as urban planning in modern towns in America. But, sensible things like intelligent urban planning is just not the Fort Worth Way of doing things. Prime example being the ultra embarrassing Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, which has been Fort Worth's Blight for most of this century.

Let's let Mary's own words describe her current plight. These words are from the Facebook post I was directed to by Elsie Hotpepper...

This is a photo of our farm after LGI Home Builders clear cut about 100 acres on the hill above us (outlined in black).  It goes underwater like this every time we get a hard rain.  We were underwater for more than a year!  Our neighbors’ properties suffered flooded acreage, workshops, barns, washed out driveways, and cracked floors and retaining walls.  We have filed a lawsuit against LGI and need financial help in paying for our legal fees.  LGI should be held responsible for their actions. Any amount will help us!  Thanks in advance!

The photo referred to is that which you see at the top.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to raise money to help Mary and her neighbors with the legal fees resulting from their lawsuit against the perpetrators of the damage to their property.

On that GoFundMe page you will find additional verbiage describing Mary and her neighbor's plight...

Have you ever had a bad neighbor?  A really bad neighbor?  We have one, LGI Homes.  We've tried to do what good neighbors should and expressed our concerns and issues directly.  We've incorporated the media, the city, and our government representatives in our efforts.  We have exhausted our options and run out of time.  At this juncture homebuilder LGI can continue their homebuilding practices without conscience for the neighborhoods and families that they impact.  We are going to hold them accountable. We are neighbors banding together in a  lawsuit against LGI Homes.

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Over the years I have been asked a time or two why it is I have, a time or two, verbalized disdain regarding various issues I have eye witnessed in Fort Worth which I have found difficult to understand, appalling, embarrassing, downright stupid, or a combination of various elements of disdain.

But, it is an issue like Mary's Plight which is the Fort Worth type thing which appalls me the most. A well run modern American city would not allow a clear cut on a hill above an area already known to be flood prone. 

If a well run modern American city somehow made the mistake of allowing a damaging clear cut to take place, which then resulted in damage to citizen's property, that well run modern American city would be who initiates a lawsuit against the perpetrators of the damage, in behalf of the damaged citizens.

If Mary and her neighbors lived in a well run modern American city they would not have to hire a lawyer to help them recover from the damage, that well run modern American city would take up the cause in the damaged neighbor's behalf.

And thus, this is just one more example of why I have long said Fort Worth is a blighted backwards backwater pretending to be something it is not, in so many ways...