It seems like just a day or two ago we learned that the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision was finally rid of J.D. Granger, after years of befuddling Fort Worth locals as to what it was that J.D. Granger did for the Boondoggle Vision that warranted paying him well over $200,000 a year.
The announcement that J.D. Granger was no longer employed by the TRWD (Tarrant Regional Water District) told us J.D. Granger was going to be starting a new consulting business.
And today we learn that J.D. Granger has secured his first consulting job.
A contract with the TRWD!
The shenanigans never cease.
Let's take a look at this morning's Fort Worth Star-Telegram Former Panther Island project head inks $72,000 contract with Tarrant water district article to see if there is any sort of sane explanation for awarding J.D. Granger this contract.
The first two paragraphs in this article...
JD Granger is not done with the Tarrant Regional Water District.
The former head of the Panther Island, who announced he was stepping down from that post last Friday, is rejoining the district that is coordinating the flood-control aspects of the project as a consultant. The six-month contract is worth $72,000.
Granger is not done with the Tarrant Regional Water District? I thought it was the TRWD that came to its senses and was done with Granger, due to the fact that his function of motivating his mother to secure federal funding was no longer viable. He was the former head of Panther Island? Was this a formal position with a job title? Being the head of an imaginary island? J.D. is going to be a consultant on the flood-control aspects? Flood control where there has been no flooding for well over half a century due to flood-control mechanisms already existing.
The next paragraph is a doozy....
“He brings a knowledge of all the project elements, all the project history, and how we can use this information to get the project completed,” said the district’s general manager, Dan Buhman.
He brings knowledge of all the project elements? Really? What are those elements about which J.D. Granger is so knowledgeable? And this vast knowledge will get the project completed? This is a 6 month contract. Does this mean the project will be completed in six months? After Boondoggling along for most of this century?
And then there are the next two paragraphs...
And then there is this doozy providing an example of what is meant by betterments...
“The example I always use is a ditch. If we could make it a better looking ditch, we would pay a little extra,” Buhman explained.
Yes, that does seem to be a illustrative example of a betterment. It makes sense to pay a little more for a better looking cement lined ditch, if the ditch is ever dug to go under those three simple little bridges which took seven years to build over dry land, to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island, of which J.D. Granger was the former head.
And then we come to this paragraph...
Granger has the necessary institutional knowledge to advise the district on which of those improvements the Corps would be responsible for, and which would be paid for locally, Buhman said. The water district is a government entity funded by taxpayer dollars.
Really, so without Granger's institutional knowledge advising the district there is just no other way to know what improvements the Corps would be responsible for? Why not just ask the Corps? Wouldn't that be cheaper than paying J.D. Granger for his imaginary vast knowledge? Wasn't it Granger's vast design knowledge that came up with those V-piers for the three bridges? Piers which were not the type piers the Corps recommended. The design of which were one of the many incompetence's which caused it to take so long to build the little bridges over dry land.
In the following six paragraphs we learn there are some voices of reason and common sense regarding the ongoing J.D. Granger debacle...
So, a member of the Water District Accountability Project, Doreen Geiger, thought Granger should be no longer involved in any capacity, and that a large sum of money was already being paid to entities with knowledge of the project.
And then the Water Board's Buhman claims that Granger knows why certain elements of the Boondoggle are the way they are, and thus can advise the district on how to move forward.
With the Water District Accountability Project person acknowledging that they are getting Granger's vast knowledge at a cheaper rate, and then the WDAP person continues to turn that lemon into lemonade by suggesting it is cheaper to be rid of J.D. Granger by giving him money for six months, after which he will be gone, than it would have been had he stayed at his previous TRWD position, which would have kept paying him for years for doing whatever it is he has done all these years of being paid what seems to be an exorbitant sum to someone with zero qualifications, training, or experience at directing any sort of public works project.
And then we have another Fort Worth local expressing his concerns....
__________________________
Granger is not done with the Tarrant Regional Water District? I thought it was the TRWD that came to its senses and was done with Granger, due to the fact that his function of motivating his mother to secure federal funding was no longer viable. He was the former head of Panther Island? Was this a formal position with a job title? Being the head of an imaginary island? J.D. is going to be a consultant on the flood-control aspects? Flood control where there has been no flooding for well over half a century due to flood-control mechanisms already existing.
The next paragraph is a doozy....
“He brings a knowledge of all the project elements, all the project history, and how we can use this information to get the project completed,” said the district’s general manager, Dan Buhman.
____________________
He brings knowledge of all the project elements? Really? What are those elements about which J.D. Granger is so knowledgeable? And this vast knowledge will get the project completed? This is a 6 month contract. Does this mean the project will be completed in six months? After Boondoggling along for most of this century?
And then there are the next two paragraphs...
The district will pay Granger $12,000 per month, which is roughly $8,000 less than his salary when he was employed by the district. Granger did not immediately return a call from the Star-Telegram seeking comment.
He will advise the water district on so-called “betterments,” which Buhman explained are design features or flood control elements beyond what the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is willing to pay for. Under the Panther Island plan, the Corps will dig a 1.5-mile channel along Trinity River near downtown, creating two islands that will be open for redevelopment with multifamily housing, restaurants and entertainment.
Oh, so this is saving the Water District, and the taxpayers, money, getting the benefit of J.D. Granger's vast knowledge for $8,000 less a month than was previously being paid for his vast knowledge of civil engineering projects.
He will advise the water district on so-called betterments? So, J.D. will be using his vast design knowledge to come up with design features the Army Corps of Engineers is not willing to pay for? I wonder if J.D.'s betterments will be of the quality level of some of his former betterments, such as the quickly failing Cowtown Wakepark, which Granger touted as bringing the coveted sport of wakeboarding to Fort Worth. And what ever became of that betterment announced a couple years ago, that being that river cruise betterment modeled after the river cruise on the Brazos River in Waco?
____________________
Oh, so this is saving the Water District, and the taxpayers, money, getting the benefit of J.D. Granger's vast knowledge for $8,000 less a month than was previously being paid for his vast knowledge of civil engineering projects.
He will advise the water district on so-called betterments? So, J.D. will be using his vast design knowledge to come up with design features the Army Corps of Engineers is not willing to pay for? I wonder if J.D.'s betterments will be of the quality level of some of his former betterments, such as the quickly failing Cowtown Wakepark, which Granger touted as bringing the coveted sport of wakeboarding to Fort Worth. And what ever became of that betterment announced a couple years ago, that being that river cruise betterment modeled after the river cruise on the Brazos River in Waco?
And then there is this doozy providing an example of what is meant by betterments...
“The example I always use is a ditch. If we could make it a better looking ditch, we would pay a little extra,” Buhman explained.
_______________________
Yes, that does seem to be a illustrative example of a betterment. It makes sense to pay a little more for a better looking cement lined ditch, if the ditch is ever dug to go under those three simple little bridges which took seven years to build over dry land, to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island, of which J.D. Granger was the former head.
And then we come to this paragraph...
Granger has the necessary institutional knowledge to advise the district on which of those improvements the Corps would be responsible for, and which would be paid for locally, Buhman said. The water district is a government entity funded by taxpayer dollars.
_____________________
Really, so without Granger's institutional knowledge advising the district there is just no other way to know what improvements the Corps would be responsible for? Why not just ask the Corps? Wouldn't that be cheaper than paying J.D. Granger for his imaginary vast knowledge? Wasn't it Granger's vast design knowledge that came up with those V-piers for the three bridges? Piers which were not the type piers the Corps recommended. The design of which were one of the many incompetence's which caused it to take so long to build the little bridges over dry land.
In the following six paragraphs we learn there are some voices of reason and common sense regarding the ongoing J.D. Granger debacle...
Doreen Geiger, a member the Water District Accountability Project pushing for more transparency at the district, initially chaffed at the idea of keeping Granger on in any capacity.
She pointed to the district’s $7,500-per-month contract with Mark Mazzanti, a 35-year veteran of the Army Corps of Engineers, and the district’s $833,151 contract with project scheduling company Innovative Management Solutions Inc., to argue there’s no need to keep Granger on.
Buhman said that Mazzanti’s role is to advise on Corps bureaucracy, and Innovative Management Solutions helps with the technical scheduling of different elements of the project.
Granger knows why certain project elements are the way they are and can help advise the district on how to move forward, Buhman said.
Geiger acknowledged the financial benefits of contracting with Granger at a rate lower than what he was making while working for the water district.
“If we don’t do that, he’ll be there for years. It’s cheaper to give him some money for a short term and then he’s gone,” Geiger said.
____________________
So, a member of the Water District Accountability Project, Doreen Geiger, thought Granger should be no longer involved in any capacity, and that a large sum of money was already being paid to entities with knowledge of the project.
And then the Water Board's Buhman claims that Granger knows why certain elements of the Boondoggle are the way they are, and thus can advise the district on how to move forward.
With the Water District Accountability Project person acknowledging that they are getting Granger's vast knowledge at a cheaper rate, and then the WDAP person continues to turn that lemon into lemonade by suggesting it is cheaper to be rid of J.D. Granger by giving him money for six months, after which he will be gone, than it would have been had he stayed at his previous TRWD position, which would have kept paying him for years for doing whatever it is he has done all these years of being paid what seems to be an exorbitant sum to someone with zero qualifications, training, or experience at directing any sort of public works project.
And then we have another Fort Worth local expressing his concerns....
Lon Burnam, a former state representative and member of the same watchdog group as Geiger, raised concerns about Granger’s contract being negotiated outside of the public eye or public board meetings.
Granger’s contract does not need approval from the water district board. The board weighs in on contracts at or above $75,000, according to a source within the district.
Burnam said he recognizes the value of Granger’s institutional knowledge but questioned the optics of having this contract negotiated behind closed doors.
“This wheeling and dealing behind the scenes is what’s gone on for decades at the water district, which leads to no trust level for the district,” he said.
So, J.D. Granger was grifted this contract by making the amount being paid under the threshold which requires TRWD board approval? Yeah, that does not seem shady at all.
It would be real interesting to see detailed what Granger's institutional knowledge consists of. In the press, and other venues, over the years, Granger has come across as a bit of a buffoon.
Methinks we have not heard to last of this chapter of the ongoing J.D. Granger saga...
_____________________
So, J.D. Granger was grifted this contract by making the amount being paid under the threshold which requires TRWD board approval? Yeah, that does not seem shady at all.
It would be real interesting to see detailed what Granger's institutional knowledge consists of. In the press, and other venues, over the years, Granger has come across as a bit of a buffoon.
Methinks we have not heard to last of this chapter of the ongoing J.D. Granger saga...
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