Clyde Picht On Fort Worth's Metropolitan Inferiority Complex Sham

A couple days ago I got one of those ubiquitous Facebook notification notices. In this instance I was basically being told someone had come up with a new name for a Texas newspaper I sometimes make reference to, with that new name being Fort Worth Star-Telesham.

Instead of Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

I've long been aware I am not the only person who has read that particular newspaper to make note of the fact it is a bit of a sham of a real newspaper instead of a real newspaper of record of the sort one reads in most towns.

I have not read this Star-Telesham Can Fort Worth avoid becoming a Dallas suburb? City hopes tax breaks help article.

The comments and the original Facebooker who posted about this, that being Clyde Picht, told me pretty much all I needed to know about what this Star-Telesham article was about.

The first few sentences of what Mr. P. had to say. (I'll share the entire post further below)...

Clyde Picht February 4 at 4:38 PM · 
I've lived in Fort Worth forty three and a half years. In all those years it seems like Fort Worth has had a metropolitan inferiority complex. Now the "city hopes tax breaks help" land a major corporate headquarters. Maybe that will get us on a par with Dallas. Like giving tax breaks is a new idea? Hell, that's one reason I ran for (and won) a city council seat. In 1997 the council was ready to give Intel an abatement that would add up to over $100,000,000 if they completed all three phases of construction. Did they go to Dallas instead? No, they went to Puerto Rico. 

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I thought that that Intel development went to Chandler, Arizona. Maybe both Arizona and Puerto Rico successfully got part of that Intel action. When I saw the Intel operation in Chandler, with my own eyes, it was no mystery why a corporation would choose to locate itself at that location, instead of Fort Worth.

Or why Fort Worth never seems to be in the running for much of anything. It does not take some sort of Doctor of Urban Development to see the problems with Fort Worth which would scare off a corporation looking to locate in a modern location.

What impression does Fort Worth think it makes when something like Heritage Park, a purported homage to Fort Worth's storied history, is a boarded up eyesore which has blighted the north end of Fort Worth's downtown for over a decade?

What impression does Fort Worth think it makes with its lack of a modern mass transit system?

What impression does Fort Worth think it makes with the obvious lack of competent urban planning resulting in HUGE tracts of housing on former open spaces, without adequate infrastructure in the form of everything from drainage, adequate roads, parks and that aforementioned modern mass transit system?

What impression does Fort Worth think it makes with city parks without modern facilities, but plenty of outhouses, with miles of city streets with no sidewalks, with no public swimming pools of the sort one sees multiple of in a town Intel did build in, such as Chandler, Arizona?

What impression does Fort Worth think it makes with something like the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision, currently stuck in slow motion trying to build three simple little bridges over dry land to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island? A congested eyesore with no current end in sight, with the ever changing project timeline now extended to near the end of the next decade.

Clyde Picht, wise observer of reality that he be, makes note of Fort Worth's metropolitan inferiority complex. I was not long into observing Fort Worth, up close, as reflected in the Star-Telegram, that it seemed to me the town seemed to have a massive inferiority complex, particularly with what seemed to me to be a bizarre fixation on Dallas that came across like a jealous sibling envious of its famous, more interesting, more dynamic, better looking, taller, big brother.

Years ago I made a webpage about an aspect of nonsense which I had thought ridiculous in the Star-Telegram, which I called Fort Worth's Green With Envy syndrome. A sort of subset of that massive civic inferiority complex.

Anyway, as promised, the rest of what Clyde Picht had to say about Fort Worth's attempts to lure suitors with tax breaks, including making reference to Fort Worth's over done penchant for TIFs. A civic behavior I don't really understand, which Deep Moat III has helped me understand a little bit better.

Clyde Picht's Facebook post in its entirety...


I've lived in Fort Worth forty three and a half years. In all those years it seems like Fort Worth has had a metropolitan inferiority complex. Now the "city hopes tax breaks help" land a major corporate headquarters. Maybe that will get us on a par with Dallas. Like giving tax breaks is a new idea? Hell, that's one reason I ran for (and won) a city council seat. In 1997 the council was ready to give Intel an abatement that would add up to over $100,000,000 if they completed all three phases of construction. Did they go to Dallas instead? No, they went to Puerto Rico. The city wants corporations to give high wages but they want to pay low wages.

When the city council majority voted to support a herd of fifty longhorn cattle in the stockyards to increase the tax base by millions I posted a web article suggesting that if 50 longhorns could provide so much economic impact to the stockyards, a herd of 2000 cattle could make the city flush. Nobody believed it, of course, and I doubt the cattle in the stockyards really pay their way.

So here we are today. TIF #9 is giving the Trinity River Vision, Central City Project, Panther Island debacle over $350,000,000, to support a project which has ballooned to over a billion dollars to increase the tax base by a billion when it gets completed and built out thirty, forty, fifty or one hundred years from now. Not being an economist all I can say is Gee Whiz!

Where do we get these geniuses at city hall that think bribing companies with tax breaks is better than providing a clean city with up-to-date infrastructure, good transportation, and a qualified work force? We already have a major transportation hub and low cost housing and qualified work force, so let's work on what we don't have and can the tax breaks.

Hotpepper Deep Moat Search For J.D. Granger Junket Shenanigans

Last week someone asked Elsie Hotpepper to ask me if I could remember any specific details, such as precise dates, about junkets led by J.D. Granger on ostensible TRVA fact finding missions.

Such junket details would have been blogged many years ago, back when someone inside the TRVA, calling him or herself Deep Moat, was sending me details about various things eye witnessed, or known about, which disgusted Deep Moat.

Including being disgusted by married man, J.D. Granger's office affair with Shanna Cate. I was told about this inappropriate office shenanigan years ago, as in many years ago, and yet recently the guy who is J.D.'s boss, Jim Oliver, claims he only learned of this compromising relationship two years ago, admitting this when details of the affair recently came to light,in NBC TV reports raising questions about nepotism being rife in the TRWD and TRVA, causing disgruntlement in the TRWD/TRVA employee ranks.

So, this question about junket details had me searching my own blog because the search tool works better than my apparently failing memory. This search soon came to a blog post I had long forgotten, published back on Monday, July 29, 2013, titled The Continuing Quest To Find Who Is At The Center Of Fort Worth's Culture Of Corruption.

In light of the growing realization that something is dire wrong with the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision, and with many people now calling for the firing or resignation of J.D. Granger, and a forensic audit of this ongoing embarrassment which has become America's Biggest Boondoggle, I found what I read in that blog post from over five years ago to be currently even more relevant.

Below are a few lines from The Continuing Quest To Find Who Is At The Center Of Fort Worth's Culture Of Corruption...

Re-reading what Clyde Picht wrote about J.D. Granger being picked as the guy to run the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle is why at this point in time, in the graphic above, I have J.D. Granger at the Center of Fort Worth's Culture of Corruption.

Re-reading what Clyde Picht wrote got me thinking about TRWD board member Mary Kelleher's quest to get TRWD documents available for Mary's, and the public's perusal.

Thinking about TRWD documents got me wondering what sort of documentation exists of the communications between J.D. Granger and Jim Oliver regarding hiring J.D. to run the TRVB project.

J.D Granger was working as an assistant District Attorney. So, what happened? Did J.D. get a call one day, during a break from prosecuting, from Jim Oliver? An email? A personal meeting?

When Jim Oliver suggested to J.D. Granger that he was the man he wanted to run the TRV Boondoggle, what did J.D. say?

Did J.D. say to Jim Oliver I have absolutely no qualifications for such a job? Did J.D. ask Jim Oliver why are you thinking I could, or should, take this job?

What was Jim Oliver's explanation, to J.D., as to why Jim Oliver thought J.D. was the man for this particular job?

_________________

Go to The Continuing Quest To Find Who Is At The Center Of Fort Worth's Culture Of Corruption to read what Clyde Picht had to say, years ago, about the hiring of J.D. Granger for a job for which it is now horribly obvious he was not qualified...

Reviewing America's Biggest Boondoggle's Panther Island J.D. Granger Scandal

It has begun to be a bit challenging keeping up with all the various reports from various venues reporting on the Fort Worth debacle which has become America's Biggest Boondoggle, also known as the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision.

A vision which has been blindly limping along for most of this century.

I must say it is sort of pleasing to  see that which so many of us referred to as such, almost from its inception, now referred to as a Boondoggle in almost all reporting on the subject.

Except for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. I think maybe the Fort Worth Way's propaganda organ may have made reference to some outrageous, knuckeheaded critics criticizing this Boondoggle as a Boondoggle. But, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram has yet to join the majority of those who have watched this debacle correctly identify it as a Boondoggle.

The latest Star-Telegram article about America's Biggest Boondoggle appeared yesterday, at least that is when I saw it. That is the article's headline you see screen capped above. By this morning this article had disappeared from the front page of the Star-Telegram, online.

And once again, an article about a serious local issue appears and generates zero comments. Why? I do not understand. Is it because so few people read the Star-Telegram? Is it because most of those who do read this newspaper are border line illiterate and thus unable to formulate words into coherent sentences?

This lack of comments perplexes me because almost daily I see articles appear in the Seattle Times and there will be 100s of thoughtful, articulate, often argumentative, comments.

I see other Fort Worth publications where comments are made to an article about America's Biggest Boondoggle. Such as a recent editorial type article by Richard Connor in the Fort Worth Business Press titled It's time to bridge the River Vision information gap. This generated multiple comments, including one from my favorite Fort Worth right wing geezer, which I shall copy...

Clyde Picht Nov 2, 2018 5:02pm
Thank you Mr Conner. There's not much to add. Why didn't we accept the CoE proposal to buttress the levees for a mere $10 million? Because we wanted to take advantage of the possibilities of economic development which would increase the tax base. So we chose to re-channel the river and potentially flood Arlington and Dallas. That's why we're spending so much on flood control mostly in the Gateway Park area. The initial $360M cost estimate supposedly contained an inflation factor to keep costs under control. The amount for environmental cleanup was rather underestimated. In 2005 the $435M cost estimate once again included an inflation factor and still underestimated the cost of environmental cleanup. Every increase in cost is supposed to be the last - but it isn't. Now we are at $1.16B and all bets are that even that isn't the end. Why is this happening? Ninety-five percent of the blame lies with Jim Oliver, Director of the Tarrant Regional Water District. Oliver apparently wanted to grease the wheels for obtaining federal funds and hired a lawyer from a tier four law school to head up the project. That lawyer, even though not having any credentials or experience in project management, was qualified by virtue of his family ties. If only that's all it took. But it isn't and now we have a financial train wreck for the taxpayers of Fort Worth. The Mayor finally realizes it but will anything really change?

Yesterday, on Facebook, Mary Kelleher shared a link about a NBCDFW TV news report about America's Biggest Boondoggle, which also used the Boondoggle word. That Facebook post also generated comments of the sort one does not see on the apparently little read Star-Telegram. Here are a couple of those comments, the first from one of the Boondoggle's most outspoken victims, and another from one of my best Facebook friends...

Bob Lukeman: 10 years ago I went to D.C. with Paul Driskell to try to expose the corruption of the TRV. Paul was an old friend and had worked under Speaker Wright for years and he knew his way around the Hill and the town. Our most memorable meeting on that trip was with Steve Ellis of Taxpayers For Common Sense. I was glad to see him interviewed for this story. His organization has a ton on their plate, but I find it unbelievable that after a decade beating the drum, that now, this project is getting the scrutiny we always knew it needed. Also unbelievable in their story was the belief by Jim Lane and Jim Oliver, that Kay Granger was still going to get the funding. J.D. getting grilled in the hall by Scott Friedman, looked a whole lot like a 60 Minutes episode. Many of us tried to get those network news shows to look into the TRV. Now the media is using the Boondoggle moniker. In the words of Gomer Pyle... Gaaaalee!

Waynemans Page: All this boils down to is - Greed, Ignorance, Incompetence & Lies. Initially starting with the biggest lie about flood control from Granger to the government, of which, the situation of flooding had been controlled for several years since the historical flood. A true waste of tax payer money. Only an idiot couldn't see this was nothing more than a cover up for development & greed driven by. J.D.'s Incompetence & the other board members wanting to cash in. It's disgusting how people's property was forcefully taken by eminent domain. The trail of destruction is huge, including 3 rusty rebar forms that would had been for bridges to the make believe island. Bridges to knowhere as it stands now, just sitting for years waiting to be built. That "art" resembling a glorified trashcan at the center of the round about on Henderson Street & other such long list of waste. There's so much to this that we all can hope will be investigated, exposed & accounted for. I hope the citizens of Ft. Worth actually get involved & demand action. Especially action for the real flooding that's going on there on the east side of town.

______________________

So, what is in that latest Star-Telegram article, the one screen capped at the top titled Review of $1.16 billion Panther Island project is happening. But when? 

Well, this article is chock full of typical Star-Telegram propaganda which raises more questions than it answers, as in whoever wrote this article and interviewed the culprits, such as J.D. Granger, asked no obvious followup questions of the probing deeper in search of the truth sort.

An example---

J.D. Granger, the project’s executive director, said he welcomed an independent analysis, which would likely look at progress, management and finances.


On Wednesday J.D. Granger voiced support for the review. Independent reviews have been done in the past for cost estimates, the Trinity River bypass channels and bridges, he said. “I’m optimistic it could help save money and help out with communication,” he said. “Let’s do it. Just open the books and let them come in.”

When Mary Kelleher was on the TRWD Board she tried during her entire tenure to get a look at the books, to no avail, constantly blocked. And now we are to believe J.D. Granger welcomes a review.

Really?

Any sort of legitimate audit of the TRWD/TRVA books is going to see how much money has been spent on various items, like junkets, parties, various entertainment expenditures, such as turning a subway maintenance building into a Beer Shed.

My inside the TRVA source, who calls him or herself "Deep Moat", recently told me that J.D. and his fiance, Shanna Cate, have taken repeated trips to Germany to do research on the German version of Octoberfest, supposedly to help better America's Biggest Boondoggle's annual Octoberfest which takes place at the imaginary pavilion at the imaginary island. Deep Moat verbalized being appalled at how much time J.D. and his fiance spend on planning various entertainment events associated with the failed Trinity River Vision, such as those Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats, the 4th of July, and other like events.

Those Boondoggle events which would seem to have zero to do with what the original Trinity River Vision purported to supposedly see, are part of that which has come under suspicion and criticism, hence some defensive sounding answers to questions about this aspect of the Boondoggle, as mis-reported in the Stat-Telegram...

Though the Trinity River Vision Authority exists as a part of the Tarrant Regional Water District to coordinate the Panther Island project, the authority also holds events at Panther Island Pavilion to promote the project’s tax district.

Those events are designed to be self-funded through ticket sales and partnerships, but according to a report last updated in September, they have a net loss of about $5,000 this year.

To make the distinction between flood control and entertainment more clear, J.D. Granger said the authority is exploring creating a separate nonprofit, similar to Near Southside Inc., to manage and promote Panther Island events, like Oktoberfest Fort Worth.

________________

A loss of only $5,000 a year for all those events? Is the Coyote Drive-In and its Panther Island Ice Rink considered in the costs? What was that dollar figure finagled by TRWD Board member, Jim Lane, to help a financially strapped friend, with part of that finagling resulting in the world's first new drive-in movie theater of the 21st century? How many dollars did the TRVA waste on one of its earliest failures, the Cowtown Wakepark? How much has been spent on J.D. Granger's copious liquor supply in his offices on the ground floor of the Star-Telegram building?

An actual forensic audit into all aspects of what has become America's Biggest Boondoggle will be interesting. Will J.D. Granger resign ahead of the results being revealed? Or will he wait to be fired?

Challenging Qualifications Of Granger Gang Boondogglers

Recently we blogged about Congresswoman Kay Granger's eldest son, J.D., being the worst project manager in history.

Regarding that blogging former Fort Worth City Councilman, Clyde Picht made the following comment about Kay's son...

Landslide has left a new comment on your post "J.D. Granger: Worst Project Manager In The History Of Ever...":

Shortly after the tier 4 law school graduate and assistant district attorney, JD Granger, was hired to mastermind the TRV Central City Project, Rich Conner wrote an editorial in the FW Business Press. Conner challenged the qualifications of Granger and wondering what TRWD's Jim Oliver apparently knew that no one else knew. Well yes, we all knew that JD was connected via mum to the federal treasury. Now we know more about Mr Creativity. He helped create a now defunct water board park, drive-in movie (status unknown), ice rink, and a Tim Love restaurant on the Trinity where JD probably gets a free feed bag.

After I decided to turn Clyde Picht's comment into another blogging I Googled for a Clyde Picht image for illustrative purposes.

Well.

Multiple image instances of Clyde Picht showing up on this very blog you are reading right now showed up, including the two images you see here, above and below.

America's Biggest Boondoggle has been boondoggling along for so long one forgets how many times and in how many ways the Boondoggle has been the subject of derision and discussion.

And still J.D. Granger keeps his job, after year after year after year of incompetent boondoggling, getting a big annual raise, along with multiple perks, currently with his annual salary almost $200,000.

Appalling.

I'm not sure, but I think the Clyde Picht when it squeals like a pig it's pork blurb you see above was the illustrative image in Fort Worth's Clyde Picht On America's Biggest Boondoggle.

Is there any chance Fort Worth's voters will do the right thing and boot Kay Granger from Congress? I suspect not. Fort Worth really does not have much experience with doing the right thing...

Picht On America's Biggest Boondoggle's Bridge Ghost Town

Yesterday I took a Stormy Look At Zero Panther Island Bridge Motion Progress.

During the course of that stormy look I looked back at a blog post from way back on November 11, 2014 titled A Big Boom Begins Boondoggle Bridge Construction Three Months Late.

That 2014 blog post about the Big Boom was inspired by a bizarre article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram which had instance after instance of ridiculous propaganda, rendered even more ridiculous, reading it again, years later.

That bizarre article, in all its ironic glory, is quoted in its entirety in  the A Big Boom Begins Boondoggle Bridge Construction Three Months Late blogging.

In the Star-Telegram article there is an extremely embarrassing J.D. Granger quote, which was embarrassing way back in 2014, and way more so in 2017, what with those bridges J.D. is touting having turned into a ghost town of abandoned V-Piers.

The J.D. Granger quote...

“The two big things you’ll see over the next year are the three bridges coming out of the ground showing vertical construction — in addition to that, a lot of people have been speculative buying of property waiting for the first sign,” J.D. Granger said.

Bridges coming out of the ground, showing vertical construction? How is that speculative property buying going with those bridges not showing any vertical construction for a year?

Why have J.D. Granger and his coven of cronies not been fired? With an experienced executive project director hired?

Would Kay Granger really block the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision funding if her son was fired from this job for which it is now quite obvious he was not qualified?

Is that the fear?

J.D. must be kept on the public  dole, no matter how inept, to keep his mama happy?

I think both J.D. Granger and his mama should be fired.

Regarding yesterday's stormy look at zero Panther Island progress, one of Fort Worth's seasoned citizens made the following comment...

C Picht has left a new comment on your post "Stormy Look At Zero Panther Island Bridge Motion Progress":

Well, it's like this. The bridges designed by Bing Thom were pretty nice except when they did a hydrological study of the Trinity at the bridge site the volume of water was too great and would cause flooding downstream. So the channel was proposed to be widened to lower the water volume but that would require a longer bridge span. So the bridges were redesigned (inadequately) to accommodate the wider river. But not to worry - the 2009 cost estimate still holds at $208M and won't go up under any circumstances. J D Granger's salary, on the other hand, will go up disproportionately to the success of the project and proportionately to the cost. That's all you need to know. 

Mr. Picht is an amusing, insightful seasoned citizen....

The 7th Street Gang Is Not Happy With The Fort Worth Business Press For Telling The Truth About Monty Bennett

Way back in late March I blogged The Raw Galling Hypopcritical Hubris Of TRWD Propaganda Is Appalling in which I verbalized the disgust I felt at the TRWD propaganda demonizing Monty Bennett as an evil Dallas businessman trying to take over Fort Worth's water.

What prompted that blogging on that particular day was the fact that I was a bit surprised that the Fort Worth Business Press had printed a fair and unbiased article about Monty Bennett and his issues with the TRWD titled Monty Bennett: Businessman, water district activist.

I was surprised at this article because previously the Fort Worth Business Press had seemed to be onboard with the 7th Street Gang's Good Ol' Boys and Girls and their propaganda campaign to spew falsehoods about Monty Bennett.

Well, apparently the Fort Worth Business Press took some flack from the 7th Street Gang for not following the party line.

This led Fort Worth Business Press publisher, Richard Connor, to write an editorial titled Love him or hate him, Monty Bennett is a newsmaker in which Connor let's us know that the 7th Street Gang did not like that he had gone off the reservation and printed facts, rather than their patented propaganda.

You can read the entire editorial, but I will just share the paragraph which contains the bit about the Good Ol' Boy and Girls being upset that Connor and the FW Business Press were not following the Fort Worth Way script....

What has surprised us at the Fort Worth Business Press is the consternation expressed by local businessmen that we would profile the water district’s leading critic and nemesis, Monty Bennett, a Dallas hotelier. Bennett has been fighting the water board for several years, trying to prevent it from running a water pipeline through his 1,300 acre ranch in Henderson County. While he cloaks his disdain – dare we say hatred? – for the water board in criticism of its lack of transparency, alleged violations of open meetings laws and nepotism, his real source of anger is parochial.

By the end of that paragraph Mr. Connor seems to be back towing the 7th Street Gang party line.

One of my favorite Fort Worth seasoned citizens, Clyde Picht, commented on the FWBP editorial with a comment filled with the sort of facts that make Fort Worth's Good Ol' Boy and Girl Network so uncomfortable.

Below is Clyde Picht's comment in its entirety....

Monty Bennett obviously has an ax to grind over the threat of eminent domain being used to take part of his property for a pipeline that according to the TRWD's own study will bring water to Fort Worth only in an emergency and if Dallas doesn't need the water.

But if TRWD is so quick to use eminent domain to get land, why didn't they use it to get Carl Bell's 37.679 acres near La Grave field? A 50 acre parcel, rife with environmental pollution, was appraised at $12,000,000. It's probably worth less than that but in a moment of charity the TRWD paid Bell $16,000,000 for the 37+ acres.

Bell had shut down the CATS ball team and was reportedly near or in bankruptcy. One might wonder why TRWD is so generous with their money. The reason is that it's not their money (which is really taxpayers' money) that's being spent. The $4,000,000 largesse comes right out of the pockets of Fort Worth taxpayers.

In comments published in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, June 12, 2005, Jim Oliver, the TRWD Director stated that "backers (of Trinity Uptown) might seek more local money" and planner James Toal stated "The taxpayers will not be left holding the bag." That was when Trinity River Vision was projected to cost $435M. (Also see a S-T editorial, "Tax money flows to the river" July 19, 2009)

And then there is the comment from the man who probably had enough votes to join Mary Kelleher on the TRWD Board, but, you know, stuff happens, like trouble counting votes. Below is the comment from John Basham in its entirety....

Richard, Simply put; You are experiencing "The Fort Worth Way", as the former Mayor would say. You must understand that the 7th Street Downtown Croney Crew are used to the 'News' printed by the Startled Gram. Or as I like to call it; "PRAVDA Fort Worth". How DARE the FWBP print an article containing NOTHING but truth. It doesn't matter that the story was both fair to both sides as well as truthful. You MUST Carry the Water (I couldn't resist either) for the 7SB Cronies or else they shoot the messenger. Chin up, there was a time when 'JOURNALISTS' gauged the accuracy and fairness of their stories by how much it inflamed each side. But alas Ft Worth does NOT have a daily Newspaper any longer, instead they have a public relations arm for 'The Fort Worth Way'.... Hold the line. Kudos to Marice Richter and yourself for a job well done.

________________________________________________

I wish Monty Bennett really was trying to take over Fort Worth. Think of the damage he could do if he bought the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. I know Mr. Bennett is a successful businessman, so it is unlikely he'd want to buy a money losing sinking operation like the Star-Telegram.

Then again, maybe Monty Bennett would like the challenge of turning the Star-Telegram into a real newspaper. He could maybe become a Texas version of Citizen Kane....

Fort Worth's Clyde Picht On America's Biggest Boondoggle

Earlier today I blogged a blogging titled The Incredible Alternative Universe Of J.D. Granger & America's Biggest Boondoggle, part of which contained some common sense from Fort Worth's Clyde Picht.

I will copy and paste the Clyde Picht part of the blogging...

And then a paragraph of common sense from Clyde Picht...

Former City Councilman Clyde Picht, who has long questioned aspects of the project and is running for the water district board, said J.D. Granger's appointment is "asking for criticism" and that his knowledge of water district issues is "certainly more limited than most people."

The quote above from Clyde Picht was from nine years ago.

Read what the wise Clyde Picht had to say about the same subject nine years later on his blog, in a blogging titled The Squeal of all Squeals, part of which I will copy below....

Where in this country can you find a pork barrel project that causes squeals all the way to the pig farms in Iowa?

Where can you find a project that was originally estimated to cost $360 million and has ballooned to over $900 million (2009 dollars) and is sure to nearly double that amount?

Where can you find a director for a billion dollar plus water and engineering project that was enlisted from the ranks of the DA's office without so much as a personnel search?

Where can you find a billion dollar plus project that was not funded by bonds and without voter approval?

Where can you find a billion dollar plus project that was started by spending hundreds of millions even though required government money has never been allocated for the federal share?

Where can you find a billion dollar plus project that has no voter input or oversight and that participating governmental entities claim to have no oversight or control?

Well right here in river city - Trinity River city that is. Panther Island, Trinity Uptown, or Central City development - call it what whatever the Trinity River Vision Authority thinks will give it new life and authenticity.

___________________________________

I don't care if some characterize Clyde Picht as a right wing Republican cracker type.

Unlike most right wing Republican cracker types, Clyde Picht often makes a lot of sense and often says stuff that I think should be listened to.

I have met Clyde Picht several times, once whilst manning a booth at the Prairie Fest, once at a protest meeting ordering food and drinks at the Woodshed Smokehouse, and other times, where Clyde Picht seemed so smart, likable, articulate and reasonable, to me, that I assumed he was a progressive, liberal Democrat type, til I was informed otherwise.....

Betsy Price Thinks The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Is Extremely Popular Along With Other Nonsense

That is Clyde Picht you are looking at on the left. Clyde Picht is a former Fort Worth City Councilman. Clyde Picht showed up in a YouTube video I watched this morning, via the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, in an article titled Fort Worth council OKs $6.63 million for Trinity Uptown bridges.

In the video Clyde Picht  opinionizes about the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.

The Star-Telegram article about the Trinity Uptown bridges is classic Star-Telegram propaganda, spewing the party line and doing no actual reporting of the journalistic sort.

For example.....

“It is a game-changer for Fort Worth,” Mayor Betsy Price said. “It changes the face of Fort Worth. It brings a whole new level of development downtown. It extends out to the north side and pulls those two areas together. It is extremely popular with most of the citizens.”

What is the "it" to which Mayor Betsy Price refers? The three bridges? Or the entire Trinity River Vision Boondoggle? That same "it" is extremely popular with most of the citizens?

How does Fort Worth's mayor know the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle is extremely popular with most of the citizens? Does she know this because of the overwhelming approval given by the voters in a public vote for this public works project?

Oh, that's right, there has been no public vote for this public works project.

And then there is this gem....

The bridges are a beginning phase of the Trinity Uptown project, which includes creating a 1.5-mile-long channel of the Trinity River to form a 33-acre lake, an 800-acre island and waterfront development on the city’s north side.

The bridges are a beginning phase? The Trinity River Vision has been boondoggling since the start of this century and we are only now at a beginning phase? The 1.5 mile flood diversion channel forms a 33-acre lake? Didn't that 33-acre lake long ago shrink to being about a 12-acre pond?

And then there are the following two baffling sentences...

The vision depends on Congress to provide about half the $910 million needed to complete the project. Still, Price said, building the bridges first makes sense because it’s cheaper to build on dry land than on water.

The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle relies on federal money being provided to cover half the project's cost? That is some farsighted vision, basing a project on money that likely will not be provided. How would you sell Congress on voting to fund this boondoggle? A boondoggle touted partly as a flood control plan, which is not needed, because federal dollars and the Army Corps of Engineers built levees well over a half century ago which have prevented the Trinity River from flooding in the downtown Fort Worth zone for decades.

And Betsy Price parrots the party line with the it's cheaper to build bridges before you add water idea.

Elsewhere in the article Fort Worth's senior capital programs manager, Mark Rauscher, says the bridge projects are expected to go to bid in May, with construction starting in July, with bridge completion taking about three years.

Three years?

So, we are looking at 2017 as the earliest these three bridges will be crossing the non-existent flood diversion channel that is waiting for federal money before it can be dug?

And people wonder why I think the Trinity River Vision is a Boondoggle.

Below is the YouTube video I referenced above...

Walking With The Village Creek Indian Ghosts Thinking About Replacing Kay Granger With Wendy Davis, Mary Kelleher Or Elsie Hotpepper

At noon today I took a short break from my maniacal website upgrading to go for a walk in the jungle with the Indian ghosts who haunt the Village Creek Natural Historical Area in Arlington.

Seems like I was at this same location yesterday. Because I was. With the difference between yesterday and today being today I was in bi-pedal mode of the walking type.

Before I left my abode to go on a walk I heard from a fairly reliable source that today's Tarrant Regional Water District board meeting was having the board faced, once again, with a full house. And that full house was full of questions for the board members.

Questions that likely had board member Marty Leonard, she being the Fort Worth Dowager Heiress well known for clutching her pearls, clutching her pearls.

I wonder if any questions were asked about Jim Oliver's bad boy behavior, or about J.D. Granger.

Last week, or was it the week before, I read a very amusing paragraph that mentioned both Jim Oliver and J.D.Granger in an article written by Clyde Picht in the Fort Worth Business Press....

Needing a director for the TRVA with high qualifications – someone versed in construction, engineering and hydrology, to name a few essential skills – the water district’s general manager, Jim Oliver, went for the best. This being potentially a billion dollar project, Oliver zeroed in on the Tarrant County District Attorney’s office and found a tier 4 law school graduate working as an assistant DA. Selecting J.D. Granger to head TRVA was rather fortuitous because his mother, Kay Granger, happened to be a member of Congress and federal money was required for the key requirement of building a bypass channel and dams and hydraulic locks and all the really expensive stuff.

Succinctly stated like Clyde Picht stated it, one can not help but wonder how it is that the hiring of J.D. Granger, to do a job for which he had zero qualifications, is not some sort of crime of the punishable by fine and jail time sort?

And isn't it time for increasingly blue Fort Worth and environs, home of Wendy Davis, to replace Kay Granger with someone less, well, Kay Granger-ish?

I can think of three good Kay Granger replacements. Those being Wendy Davis, Mary Kelleher or Elsie Hotpepper.

Memorable Words From TRWD's Marty Leonard & Jim Oliver About Unqualified Losers

No, that is not Daniel Craig, aka James Bond, standing on the overlook in downtown Fort Worth's boarded up eyesore of a monument to Fort Worth's history, known as Heritage Park.

That is not James Bond, it is James Oliver, and unlike 007, more often than not he is called Jim, rather than James.

Jim Oliver is not a secret agent, of the legitimate kind, what he is is the General Manager of the Tarrant Regional Water District.

Before I get to some unfortunately memorable words uttered by Jim Oliver I want to mention some unfortunately memorable words uttered by a TRWD Board Member, the Self-Entitled Dowager Heiress, Marty Leonard.

I read in the Star-Telegraph an interesting conversation Clyde Picht had with Marty Leonard...

Just had a brief conversation with Marty, the pot calling the kettle black, Leonard.

Ms. Leonard is a member of the board of the TRWD. Marty sent a letter to voters decrying the qualifications and character of challengers, Basham, Nold, and Kelleher and she complained of their "negative" campaigning.

I reminded Marty the she was no more qualified than B, N & K when she first ran. Her claim to worthiness was that she read and saved a lot of articles on water. Whoopee!

Well, now we know why the Dowager Heiress, Marty Leonard, felt so entitled to be on the TRWD Board. She read and saved a lot of articles about water. I bet those unqualified upstarts, Basham, Nold and Kelleher, have not read and saved nearly as many articles about water as has Marty Leonard.

B-N-K should concede immediately.

Now back to Jim Oliver.

I was appalled, appalled I tell you, to read the following, today, from TRWD candidate, John Basham...

On May 6, 2013 I confronted TRWD General Manager Jim Oliver (by email) with my concerns that district employees were illegally using district equipment & facilities to campaign for my opponents. Mr. Oliver responded by calling me an "uneducated loser who has never earned a living for his [my] family and never will." He also went on to try to demean me by pointing out my bankruptcy and foreclosure (which occurred after being injured in the Army National Guard - When I could not walk and the Army didn't pay me for four years. I have this email exchange with Mr. Oliver and will post have it posted on the flushTRWD.com website no later than tomorrow along with some other interesting emails (Star-Telegram stuff). If the District Manager of the TRWD is this blatantly arrogant at dismissing these allegations and then trying to degrade me through libel with no fear of retribution, who is running the TRWD? - John Austin Basham

Mr. Oliver called someone running for the TRWD board an uneducated loser? Among other uncalled for things?

Methinks if the B-N-K Triumvirate Gang of Three gets elected to the TRWD Board on Saturday, one of their first acts should be to remove Jim Oliver from his job with the TRWD.

I do not know what it is that  Jim Oliver does for the TRWD, but, even so, I would like to offer my services for his position. I understand the TRWD has a long history of hiring people with absolutely no qualifications to positions for which they are totally unqualified.

J.D. Granger comes to mind.

I am willing to take over Jim Oliver's job at half his salary. As long as I get unlimited use of the luxurious helicopter...

Fort Worth Weekly's 2011 Best Free Spirit, Watchdog & Old Guy Was Not Me

Fort Worth Weekly Best Of 2011 Edition

While Elsie Hotpepper and I were foraging for Horse Apples today I got a call telling me I needed to get this week's Fort Worth Weekly, with it being the annual "Best Of" issue, as in "Best Of 2011."

I usually find this type thing a bloated ad magnet. That and I rarely know the person, place or thing the Reader's or Critic's choices choose.

So, I got this year's Best Of 2011 and thumbed through it, and just like I thought would be the case, most of the choices were unknown to me.

However, there were a few I recognized, particularly on a couple pages in the "People & Politics" section.

For instance, I have met the Critic's Choice for Free Spirit, Layla Caraway. Personally, I think Ms. Caraway is more of a Watchdog than a Free Spirit. I think Elsie Hotpepper should have gotten the Best Free Spirit of 2011 accolade.

Kevin Buchanan was the Reader's Choice for Watchdog. I may be remembering wrong, but wasn't Kevin Buchanan a big proponent of Fort Worth's failed Streetcar to Nowhere Plan? That doesn't seem very Watchdoggy to me. The Critic's Choice for Watchdog was North Central Texas Communities Alliance.

My view of NCTCA is the group has very good intentions. I don't know how successful the group's Watchdogging is. However, there is this other group I would have picked as the Best Watchdog of 2011 had I been the critic making a choice. I would have picked the Trinity River Improvement Partnership (TRIP).

TRIP was sort of recognized in the "Culture" section in the Locally Made Film category, where the Reader's Choice was the award winning TRIP documentary, Up a Creek. The Critic's Choice was a locally made film I've not heard of called Pioneer. Apparently Pioneer has also won awards.

Another of the few names I recognized was Clyde Picht. The Critic's Choice for "Old Guy." I manned a booth for awhile with Clyde Picht at this year's Prairie Fest. I liked him. But, I did not think of him as an Old Guy.

In the "People & Politics" section and the "Culture" section Durango Jones and the Durango Texas blog were picked as the Reader's & Critic's Choice by no one in any category. What a shocking omission.

Granny Grassroots' Harping Harp

Also left out of being the Best of Anything in 2011 was another person I met at this year's Prairie Fest, who co-manned a booth with me for much longer than Clyde Picht, that being the entity known as the Granny Grassroots.

Granny Grassroots, while not the Best of Anything in 2011, according to Fort Worth Weekly's Readers and Critics, did place a large ad in the FW Weekly Best of 2011 edition.

Methinks Granny Grassroots would also have been a good choice as Best Free Spirit of 2011.

Watch Granny Grassroots' video below and you'll see what I mean by free spirit. Who but a free spirit would haul her harp to the Trinity River to sing a song to the litter as it floats by?

A Special Letter From My Good Friend Kay Granger Clearing Up The Trinity River Vision Lack Of Clarity

Ever since I became friends with J.D. Granger I've also become friends with J.D.'s mom, Kay.

Kay Granger is Fort Worth's Congresswoman, representing the Fort Worth Ruling Oligarchy in the House of Representatives.

Yesterday I got a letter from my good friend, Kay, clarifying some questions I had regarding funding issues regarding the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.

Below is Kay's letter. And below that I continue with my pithy comments. If I can think of any....

May 20, 2011

Dear Friend,

Since coming to Congress I have worked on a prominent urban waterfront project called Trinity River Vision.  Recently, I have been asked questions about a funding issue regarding this project.  Please pass this on should you hear of anyone who needs clarification.

“The TRV Project has increased my water bill.”

Six years ago, the City of Fort Worth added a “Storm Water Fee” to the City water bill.  Not a single cent of that fee goes to the TRV project.  The fee is to make improvements to the drainage system throughout the entire city.

“How much money does the City of Fort Worth pay for the TRV Project?”

The City of Fort Worth committed $26.6 million to the Trinity River Vision project.  This amount has not changed since the start of this project – and is not expected to increase.  Of the City of Fort Worth’s $26.6 million contribution, $16 million has already been acquired through two bond elections.  The remaining amount committed by the City of Fort Worth has been budgeted within the city’s revenue fund, and does not compete with any street repairs or other initiatives.

“Is the TRV project funding Trolley Cars?”

Like the majority of Fort Worth’s inner city, the Trinity River Vision Uptown Plan has been designed with future mass transit in mind.  However, not a single dollar of the project cost is allocated to funding a trolley or street car line.

Trinity River Vision will bring 16,000 jobs to our community and add $1.1 billion to our tax base when it is completed.  It is important that you have all the facts.  As always, please continue to ask questions and I will make sure you have all the information.

Sincerely,

Kay Granger

_______________________________________________

Well.

I found several things interesting in the letter from my friend, Kay.

Kay says, "Like the majority of Fort Worth’s inner city, the Trinity River Vision Uptown Plan has been designed with future mass transit in mind."

The majority of Fort Worth's inner city has been designed for something? Who knew? What a revelation. Who is it who designed Fort Worth's inner city with future mass transit in mind? And where can we see these things that have been designed?

Regarding funding for the TRV Boondoggle, Kay says, "Of the City of Fort Worth’s $26.6 million contribution, $16 million has already been acquired through two bond elections."

What?

There have been bond elections relating to the TRV Boondoggle? The people of Fort Worth got to vote on this pet project of the Fort Worth Ruling Oligarchy? How did I miss two votes? I thought I paid fairly close attention to what goes on in these parts. How did I miss 2 bond elections which related to the TRV Boondoggle?

So, went to the go to person for such questions, Clyde Picht.

Mr. Picht told me, "There was $4.5 million in the 2004 bond program and $22.2 million in the 2008 bond program. In 2008, $12 million was for 7th St bridge and $10.2 million was for TRV bridges. Total cost of TRV expected to be $86 million with remainder from Federal grants. The 2004 TRV proposition is the one that proponents said indicated public support for the whole TRV project."

So. These were not actually votes on the TRV Boondoggle. And, a vote in 2004, on a bond program worth only $4.5 million, is the vote that TRVB proponents cite as indicating the Fort Worth public's support for the almost $1 billion Trinity River Vision Boondoggle?

Apparently I missed the connection between these two bond votes and the TRVB. I suspect I was not the only one who missed the connection, even if I am more dense than most.

My good friend Kay says since coming to Congress she has worked on a prominent urban waterfront project called Trinity River Vision.

Kay came to Congress in 1997. The Trinity River Vision did not exist in 1997. When it was born it was called something like Trinity Uptown. The vision came along sometime in the following century.

Is it Kay who started the Trinity Uptown/Trinity River Vision Boondoggle project? Started the project as soon as she got to Congress in 1997? And then, a couple years later, the project she had been working on, gets introduced to the Fort Worth public?

Was this Kay's master plan from the start? A designed to grow ever-bigger, massive, federally funded public works project to build a little lake, take down some perfectly good levees, build an un-needed flood diversion channel plus a wakeboard lake so the people of Fort Worth can finally take up wakeboarding.

And, most importantly, to give her unqualified son, J.D., a job managing Kay's public works project.

At one point in time, the vision included some canals and real cool designer bridges, which are now pedestrian bridges (by pedestrian I mean ordinary, not foot traffic only)?

Among the many things about the TRVB that has perplexed me is this. How is it that as the TRVB project grows more expensive it loses more and more of what was originally sold to the public as the Trinity River Vision?

Like those canals? And those cool designer bridges. Somehow, we went from something possibly unique, to the world's premiere wakeboard lake and 80,000 magic trees in Gateway Park designed to save Arlington from flooding. According to J.D.

It is all perplexing. Including this perplexing letter from my good friend, Kay.

Early Voting For Clyde Picht

I forgot to mention, in the previous blogging about going to Tandy Hills Park today, that on the way to do some high humidity hiking I saw that the public library I drive by to get there was an Early Voting location. So, I told my Gang of Four Hikers that we were going to go do our part to overthrow that Ruling Junta I blogged about this morning.

The polling place was a bit lonely. There were two people manning the station.

Voting has gotten so high tech. Is it like this everywhere now? Or is it a Texas thing? First my driver's license was scanned. This somehow established me as a legit voter and not some convicted felon forever banned from voting. Then a machine printed up some paper. Pieces of paper went to various places, including one piece handed to me that had the number code I had to enter into the voting machine.

The Texas voting machine is like some sort of video game. You enter your code by spinning a dial til the right numbers show up. Hitting enter to choose each number. Then you spin the dial some more til you get to who you want to vote for. Then you hit enter.

Then you do some more spinning and you're asked to confirm that this is how you want to vote on your ballot. You then hit enter again and when the American flag waves in all its red, white and blue glory, you're done.

There were only 2 things to vote on on this ballot. For mayor and for city councilman. I do not recollect ever voting in Washington when there was not an awful lot to vote on, Initiatives, Referendums, Bond Issues, various people.

I'm thinking maybe this thing of having only 2 items to vote on might be part of the reason the voter turnout is so low. It's a little hard to get the masses worked up over something like overthrowing Fort Worth's Ruling Junta by tossing out its current corrupt mayor. One would think it wouldn't be hard to get the masses worked up to do that, but here in Fort Worth, it is.

Well, I've done my part. That's 4 confirmed votes for Clyde Picht.

The Soviet Republic of Fort Worth and the Ruling Junta that Runs It

I think I've mentioned before that that newspaper I no longer subscribe to, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, sometimes made me think it acted more like the long gone Soviet Union's Pravda, broadcasting the party line of the Ruling Junta, rather than acting like a real truth seeking newspaper.

Since an election is coming up there are a lot of letters to the editor regarding Fort Worth's mayoral race. This morning there were 2 letters supporting current mayor Mike Moncrief and 2 supporting Clyde Picht.

What strikes me about the letters supporting Moncrief is how they have a propaganda-like, non-factual, Alice Through the Looking Glass, upside-down, reality-distorting feel to them. I'll copy the 4 letters and maybe do some more pithy commenting below the letters.

We like Mike

While it’s tradition that mayors of Dallas continually fight the public over their local issues, I am proud that Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief has been a consensus builder.

From citywide town-hall meetings to citizen task forces, Moncrief has proved that a good leader is a good listener.

He is a problem solver, and your city’s economy and neighborhood quality of life have benefited from his friendly style of results-oriented leadership.

I have a lot of friends in Fort Worth, and I have seen a lot of changes in their neighborhoods. I like Mike, and he has my full support for his re-election.

-- Sonja Moore, Arlington

For those who don’t know, being mayor is not just being in that position.

It is the caring for, the knowledge of and the ability to adapt to all situations, no matter how unpleasant, stressful or difficult they may be.

Decisions that affect the city and all the factions that make it up are difficult at times, and not everyone agrees with the decisions, but that’s part of being the mayor. Mike Moncrief has learned to drive the train, and it always arrives at the right station.

Of all the disasters that have befallen our city, I hesitate to think of the outcome if it had not been for Moncrief.

Listen to your conscience, not hearsay. Be aware of the accomplishments of Mike Moncrief and vote for Mike, the mayor with “you” in mind.

-- John Grammer, Fort Worth

We want change

The past few elections, voters have sent Mike Moncrief to the mayor’s office. Moncrief recently said he was running “on his record.”

Here’s the record: Fort Worth faces a $10 billion budgetary shortfall.

Instead of focusing on city streets and our horrible trash service, the city gave tax money to special-interest projects like the Mercado and the Trinity River “Vision.”

Moncrief accepted more than $69,000 of “special-interest” money, including from the oil and gas industry.

Moncrief is not a fiscal conservative. No surprise, as he’s a lifelong registered Democrat.

We need fiscal responsibility from a conservative with a proven record.

Clyde Picht spent eight years on the council voting against overspending and special-interest projects. He has the know-how to fix our budget without raising taxes.

On May 9, I will be happy to cast my vote for Clyde Picht.

-- John Austin Basham, Fort Worth

I hear the word change with regularity.

Why not Fort Worth?

Wouldn’t it be refreshing for the voters to supplant those rich and influential few now controlling every move this city makes?

Perhaps then we could cap out that Trinity River fiasco. And we could then hold for the future that light rail to lighten the burden on taxpayers.

Most importantly, Moncrief’s sanctuary city would cease in favor of law and order. Can you imagine the cost of harboring illegal immigrants? How about the illegitimacy of such a policy?

Clyde Picht would put an end to these trends. Not only is he a 22-year veteran with three Purple Hearts, he is a seasoned and ethical candidate prepared to represent the interests of the voters. He has served this city well for eight years on the council.

I cast my vote for Clyde Picht.

-- Nathan C. Vail, Fort Worth

Moncrief has proved he's a good listener? At city council meetings he limits citizen input to 3 minutes. Stalin allowed 10 minutes to a Politiburo member. Moncrief will not talk to Fort Worth's responsible, fact-finding, honestly reporting local issues newspaper, that being FW Weekly.

I can't think of a single thing Moncrief has done that has benefited the city of Fort Worth. These Moncrief supporting letter writers do not mention a single specific fact to support their propaganda.

The city's economy and neighborhood quality of life have benefited from his friendly style of result-oriented leadership? Huh? Please, some specific example of how Moncrief has affected the quality of life and the economy. By cutting back on library hours? By lining his own pockets with Barnett Shale money? Is that what they mean by him benefitting the city's economy?

The aforementioned FW Weekly has an annual Best of Fort Worth issue. Below are a couple examples pertinent to this coming election...

Thing Tarrant County Needs

Critic's choice: A revolutionary with moxie

Lots of folks are whining about how the gas drilling companies are taking over Fort Worth, stepping on its citizens, and controlling city hall. Whine, whine, whine. This city needs somebody to go all Pancho Villa on somebody's ass - in a nonviolent way - and really kick up some resistance against city officials and corporate robber barons who treat residents like floor mats and rely on unfair laws put in place by co-opted legislators.

Politician Most Likely to Sell Grandma to the Highest Bidder

Readers' choice: Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief

Landslide Clyde ImPichting Fort Worth's Mayor Mike Moncrief

A few days ago I suggested that maybe it was a good idea to blindside Fort Worth's Ruling Junta and vote Fort Worth's current corrupt mayor out of office by electing Clyde Picht.

One of the Ruling Junta's anonymous shills commented on the blindsiding idea with this comment...

Picht was totally ineffective as a councilman. He would be even worse as Mayor. Blindsided? You people are blind to reality.

Near as I can tell, any ineffectiveness as a councilman was due to not being able to go against the dictates of the Ruling Junta.

In this morning's Fort Worth Star-Telegram, online version, there was one letter praising the amazing progress under the amazing leadership of Mayor Mike Moncrief, saying that "Fort Worth is continously complimented for the quality of life here."

Continuously complimented? By who? Who is doing this continuous complimenting of the amazing wonder that is Fort Worth? That verbiage seems suspiciously like the Star-Telegram's notorious green with envy type propaganda.

Another letter was in support of Clyde Picht becoming Fort Worth's mayor. That letter was perplexing because over and over again rather than calling the man Clyde Picht it used nClyde. What does nClyde mean?

Below are both letters, first the Ruling Junta shill and then the nClyde supporter....

Keep Moncrief at work

I, for one, am proud of the progress made in Fort Worth under the leadership of Mayor Mike Moncrief. Our city is continuously complimented for the quality of life here, and when you look at the opportunities here compared to other cities in Texas and the rest of the United States, we are very fortunate.

Moncrief is not afraid to speak his mind on sensitive matters, he is fair and equally concerned about all ethnicities and areas of our city. The dedication of Moncrief and his wife, Rosie, are beneficial to our city. It really bothers me when any of our community servants are criticized.

— Pam Minick, Fort Worth

Clean the air

It is time to clean the air at City Hall.

Change is always healthy, and now is the time. Our city has been faced with financial challenges and growth that bring many challenges.

Citizens across the USA are beginning to clean their houses. Political leaders don’t need to serve for decades. Fort Worth deserves some better choices.

I am supporting Clyde Picht for mayor for the following reasons:

nClyde will act as an effective leader.
nClyde will know when to say no and will gather troops for support. Remember that the late Chuck Silcox and Clyde were the only council members who were not afraid to say “no.” They listened to their voters.
nClyde will treat residents politely and in a courteous manner.
nClyde has the time for this job. He is retired and has the experience. He needs no learning curve.
Help clean the house!

— Peggy Terrell, Fort Worth

Landslide Clyde for Fort Worth Mayor