Wise Words About Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Mess

A guest editorial type opinion piece appeared a couple days ago in the online version of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The subject was America's Biggest Boondoggle, also known as the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision.

A Vision which has been trying to be seen for almost two decades, with the primary accomplishment, thus far, being three supposedly iconic signature bridges built over dry land, taking seven years to build, due to being highly complex feats of engineering. 

That is a drone image of one of the bridges you see above. Breathtaking, isn't it. People will be wanting to come from all over the world to drive over those bridges and marvel at the engineering feat and the cement lined ditch.

But, you don't see that cement lined ditch in the above image, do you? Like we said, the bridges were built over dry land, to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island. Currently there is no funding for the digging of the ditch, due to multiple complications and incompetency's. 

You probably will be paywall blocked from reading the After another Panther Island disappointment, city and private sector should step in opinion piece. This guest editorial by Chris Putnam makes multiple excellent points. Chris Putnam tried to replace Congresswoman Kay Granger, but his overly enthusiastic support of Trump doomed that effort.

We shall go through Putnam's piece and share those aforementioned excellent points...

Once more, our community finds itself lamenting another Washington budget cycle in which the Trinity River Panther Island project has not received federal funding. 

Every year, about this time, is Panther Island Groundhog Day. To quote the Star-Telegram Editorial Board: “As Washington spews $1.2 trillion for infrastructure, none for Panther Island. Why?” 

Yeah, why? Good question. And Putnam answers it...

But another question arises, too: How do we get out of this mess?

To answer these questions, it is important to understand how we got here. Panther Island was sold to taxpayers and voters as a “flood control project.” But the reality is that it was always principally a commercial real estate project conceived by Rep. Kay Granger. “Flood control” was the justification for the massive federal expenditure required to construct the proposed Trinity bypass channel. 

A proper flood control feasibility study has never been produced. In fact, the Tarrant Regional Water District, which oversees the project, refused money that the Trump administration offered just last year to perform one. The water district knows full well that, as currently structured, the project will never survive the review.

The lack of a feasibility study has long been the major roadblock to what has become America's Biggest Boondoggle. Putnam further elaborates...

Digging a bypass channel for the Trinity is the principal element of the project’s economic development element — creating a San Antonio-like river walk. This has been the primary issue with the project all along. U.S Army Corps of Engineers projects and budgets cannot be used for economic development projects. 

The water district may have successfully confused local bond voters with this shell game, but it’s well understood in Washington, which is why the project remains unfunded. Compounding this problem is the political reality that no one in Washington wants to attach themselves to the bad optics of nepotism and potential conflicts of interest in approving such a large budget with the requesting congresswoman’s son in charge of the project. 

The mention of "confused local bond voters" in the above paragraph perplexed me. There has never been a bond measure voted by the voters which specifically dealt with voter approval of the Trinity River Vision. The Vision was foisted on the public without the public's voting approval.

Continuing on...

As a community we must be honest about the project’s origins, its challenges and the roadblocks to funding. The flood control element must be clearly and truly separated from the economic development project. This is a clear requirement for Corps flood projects. 

It has been perplexing for years now why those who are foisting this project on the public think they can somehow skip this key error in the actualizing of the project.

J.D. Granger should be completely removed from the project and all perceived conflicts of interest eliminated. Private partners should be brought in, along with fresh leadership that expands the city of Fort Worth’s role in governance. 

A legitimate, transparent public/private partnership approach should be implemented. Developers not controlled, approved or managed by J.D. Granger would contribute matching dollars directly to the bypass channel construction, thus becoming a true partner with the taxpayer and federal government. This is how other infrastructure costs are structured with developers. 

J.D. Granger being given a high paying job, for which it is now totally clear he was not qualified, has long been controversial. Hired to motivate his mother to secure federal funds. Which has not happened. And which likely sours many in Congress who know the details of Fort Worth's Boondoggle.

Continuing on...

Asking J.D. Granger to step away from the project, increasing the city’s governance role and asking the private sector entities who will ultimately profit to share in the channel-construction expense will help restore public trust and demonstrate good faith to Washington.

Political realities in D.C., Kay Granger’s nepotistic conflict of interest and the mismanagement of the project for the last 20 years dictate that she simply cannot steer this project to completion. Fort Worth civic leaders, local government entities, and the community at large must change strategies. 

Mr. Putnam has opined the most sensible take that I have read of the mess Fort Worth has gotten itself into. And Mr. Putnam suggests a sensible way forward out of this mess. A sensible way which makes sense. Making sense is something which has been sadly lacking from day one of what has become America's Biggest Boondoggle...

More Possible TRWD Nepotism With Deep Moates Native Son Claim

What you see here was incoming this afternoon to my phone.

Along with that which you see here the text message accompanying that which you see here was...

"Is this more Tarrant Region Water District nepotism?"

I do not know the answer to that probing question. But, claiming to be a native son does sound like claiming to be a relative, which is key to nepotism.

I do know the answer to another probing question about the same subject, with that question asking me if this Moates guy is one of the Deep Moats, as in Deep Moat, Deep Moat II or Deep Moat III, who have been telling us various tidbits of information about the various nefarious nonsense associated with the TRWD's TRVA ongoing mess which has become known as America's Biggest Boondoggle, or the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Boondoggle.

So, I can tell you with almost 100 % certainty that this Moates guy is not one of the Deep Moats.

As for whether or not Moates is yet one more scandalous example of TRWD nepotism, I do not know.

Is Gary Moates related to Kay Granger? Or Jim Oliver? Maybe an ex-boyfriend of Marty Leonard? A son of Jim Lane? I really don't know.

In the past couple weeks the only one of the Deep Moats we have heard from is Deep Moat III.

We heard from Deep Moat III in Deep Moat III Takes Us To Fort Worth's Panther Island District's Imaginary Unique Features and Deep Moat III Takes Us To Venice In Cowtown Via Fort Worth Weekly.

Regarding the TRWD board and its nepotism problem, I am 100% certain if you vote for Mary Kelleher to once again sit on the TRWD board you can rest assured that Mary Keller is not related to Kay Granger, Jim Oliver, Jim Lane or Marty Leonard, hence no nepotism problem with Mary Kelleher...

Questioning Fort Worth's TRWD Imaginary Flood Control Bond Levee Vote

A thing or two about a thing or two has me thinking a thing or two about this upcoming May vote when voters, well, those few allowed to do so, are being asked to approve a quarter billion bond to funnel funds to what has become America's Biggest Boondoggle, originally officially known as the Trinity River Vision, later morphed to being the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision.

Also known as an ineptly implemented, ill-conceived embarrassment which could not take place in other, well, more developed locations in America.

By developed I mean locations in America populated by informed citizens who have had some contact with how the more modern, more advanced, more progressive locations in America operate in what is sometimes characterized as the Democratic Way, rather than what is known as the Fort Worth Way.

You know, locations in America where a public works project is approved by the voters, after a thorough vetting of the project's plans.

You know, a location in America where something like nepotism is a big NO NO. You know, nepotism. Giving a job to someone with exploitable connections with that connected someone having zero qualifications for the job nepotistically given.

And who then proceeds to botch the job nefariously nepotistically corruptly given. Hence one of the reasons nepotism is frowned upon in democratic locations in America and the world.

You know, sort of why many Americans are currently appalled at Ivanka Trump pretending to be the acting Secretary of State at some international meeting in South America.

The Trumps are a text book example of why nepotism is considered corrupt and unethical.

Back to the main subject. So, we have this Trinity River Vision bond vote for a quarter billion bucks. On the ballot the verbiage indicates these bucks are for flood control and drainage, specifically, right from the ballot...

Tarrant Regional Water District, A Water Control and Improvement District, Proposition A
The issuance of $250,000,000 bonds for flood control and drainage facilities and the levy of taxes to pay for the bonds.

Recently, in a blogging about Fort Worth Weekly Asking If You Can Spare A Billion For America's Biggest Boondoggle mention was made of the ongoing criminal investigation into Election Fraud alleged to have been perpetrated by the parent of America's Biggest Boondoggle, the Tarrant Regional Water District, the same parent behind putting this quarter billion buck bond before the voters.

How can an entity under investigation for criminal election fraud be allowed to put measures to a vote when the entity is under investigation?

Is there not a lawyer with imagination in the Fort Worth Way zone who could file some sort of injunction to stop this obviously fraudulent ballot measure, touting flood control where there has been no flood for well over half a century due to flood prevention levees long in place, long ago paid for?

And another thing.

The issue of who it is who gets to vote in a TWRD election.

If you live in Haltom City, a town with actual flood issues, and other towns and locations in the TRWD service area, you don't get to vote in a TRWD election.

When this who gets to vote issue has been raised previously one of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's well regarded, by some, apologists, repeats, as explanation, that only "Stakeholders" get to vote in a TRWD election.

With the "Stakeholder" area being that area which was covered by the initial originating of the Tarrant Regional Water District.

When I lived in Fort Worth I was a "Stakeholder" even though I was a recent immigrant who happened to move into the magical "Stakeholder" area.

How does it make any sense that all who are affected by the TRWD's shenanigans are not allowed to vote on TRWD issues? Isn't this just one more type of Election Fraud?

This is all perplexing, and like many of us have already said, Vote NO On TRWD Fraudulent Water Control Bond...

America's Biggest Boondoggle Allegedly Finally Completes Something Worthwhile

What you are looking at here is a screen cap from the NBC DFW website, that being the online version of the Dallas Fort Worth NBC affiliate.

The article we are looking at is titled Art Piece Completed for Trinity River Vision Project.

The caption under the person talking with his hands says "Work on Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision Bridges has been going on for years and there are a few more years to go, but on Monday morning, one part of the project was complete."

The part of the project that is complete, after all these years, is an alleged work of art, that being the metal object the above person's right hand is pointing towards.

If you have driven by The Boondoggle's bridge construction zone you have likely seen this work of art and wondered to yourself why, among with maybe a few other choice words.

Work on The Boondoggle's bridges have been going on for years, with a few more years to go? NBC DFW makes The Boondoggle's boondoggle sound even worse than the embarrassment it actually is.

Actually only one of The Boondoggle's three simple little bridges is being worked on, with that work starting with a bang a little over a year ago, with not much to show for the effort til a couple months ago.

This NBC DFW article and news clip contains several gems in addition to what has already been mentioned, such as....

Most Fort Worth public art is installed after a project finishes or at the very tail end. In this case, Wind Roundabout is really the first finished piece of the Trinity River Vision Project, also known as Panther Island. 

I wonder if NBC DFW can provide us with some examples of Fort Worth public art which was installed after a project was finished, or at the tail end? I draw a blank. This work of art is the first "finished piece of the Trinity River Vision Project?" How can any legit news source print, or say that, without realizing something is dire wrong if this art project is the first finished piece of a project that has been boondoggling along for well over a decade?

Does the now defunct Cowtown Wakepark not count as one of The Boondoggle's completed projects?

The reasoning as to why public funds, for this public works project the public has never voted for, have been spent on an "art" installation, at this stage of the project, is just a bit bizarre....

"The decision was that it would be nice to show something that indicates the progress," said Martha Peters, of Fort Worth Public Art. Showing drivers and residents that progress is happening is part of the reason. Another major reason is that with the artist selected and the piece designed, building it in the future could prove to be more costly. With the piece now finished, it's a chance to show off what the future may hold for an area currently undergoing major construction for the bridges. "It's really sort of setting the stage for the kind of architecture and development the Panther Island Project will bring to Fort Worth," Peters said.

Oh, I see,  part of the reason for adding this work of art to this unfinished project is to show drivers that progress is happening with The Boondoggle. Yes, I am sure that is what most of those driving by that work of  "art" have thought to themselves. As in, something like "Oh my, look at that progress! And here we were thinking nothing was happening with this vitally needed flood and economic development project."

This "art" installation is setting the stage for the kind of development the Panther Island Project will bring to Fort Worth? Could this not be interpreted as a cautionary warning?

When I first saw this art work in progress and wondered why such a thing is being installed now amongst all this sloppy construction mess I figured the artist must be a relative of J.D. Granger or Jim Oliver or Bryan Epstein, in dire need of funds. Thinking thusly due to The Boondoggle and the TRWD's penchant for corrupt nepotism.

The installer of the work of art is a German living in Maine named Uwe Langmesser. The work of art was designed by some other German whose name I have forgotten. I guess nepotism could still be in play, even though those installing the artwork do not have an obvious connection to The Boondoggle's perpetrators.

Another thing about this work of art which bothers me came to mind when I listened to Uwe the Installer wax poetic about how the wind creates a kinetic piece of ever changing art as it blows the thousands of aluminum flappers in the wind.

I thought to myself, is it really a good idea to put such a visual distraction at the center of a big roundabout where all drivers should be focusing their attention on making their way around the big circle, and not staring at some metal blowing in the wind?

I'm guessing the inside, true story as to why this ridiculous piece of art has already been installed in an ongoing construction zone would make for an actual news story, rather than the puff piece of propaganda produced by NBC DFW.....

Fort Worth Weekly Neglected To Award The Biggest Turkey In Town: Kay Granger

This week, due to this week being the week before Thanksgiving, Fort Worth Weekly's eagerly anticipated Turkey Awards issue hit newsstands all over Tarrant County.

The 2014 Turkey Awards award a large number of Tarrant County and Texans the coveted Turkey Award, including one of Tarrant County's favorite Turkeys, Bud Kennedy.

You can go to the online version of FW Weekly's 2014 Turkey Awards and read about all the Turkeys, but I want to focus on just one Turkey Award....

The Perks of Pedigrees Turkey Award

Thanksgiving is all about family and making sure your relatives have jobs at places that are a clear conflict of interest to your elected or appointed position. Wait — we’re thinking of Fort Worth’s rampant year-round nepotism, not Thanksgiving. When it comes to getting a high-paying cushy job in this town, seems that the best way to get ahead is to be related to some alleged public servant.

The Trinity River Vision staff reads like a social directory for the offspring of local politicians and high-ranking officials: Most notably U.S. Rep. Kay Granger’s son J.D. is its executive director, and the Tarrant Regional Water District’s head honcho Jim Oliver’s son Matt is the TRV’s public information officer.

Mayor Betsy Price was all over television shilling for the Ed Bass-led effort to get taxpayers to pay for his pet project, an absurdly high-priced arena. It would have been Fort Worth knowing (to borrow from those commercials) that her son-in-law works for Ed Bass’ real estate company and sits on the board of the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo.

I have been asked once, maybe twice, why I would say something as outrageous as to suggest that Fort Worth's Congresswoman, Kay Granger, is a corrupt politician.

Let me answer that corrupt question quite simply.

A non-corrupt politician, when told her son was going to be given a job in her district, for which he was totally unqualified, being the executive director of a public works project, with that project relying on attaining federal pork barrel earmark money to fund it, well, a non-corrupt politician would immediately object, saying you can not do that, it would be wrong, it would look bad, it would be nepotism of the worst sort.

But, Kay Granger willingly signed on to her unqualified son being given a cushy, high-paying job where he could act out as a textbook case of  a frat boy with arrested development, organizing floating beer parties, concerts, junkets and all sorts of other nonsense that has nothing to do with the construction of a flood control project.

In reaction to FW Weekly's 2014 Turkey Awards there were several comments, including one from a guy named Roy, which said, in part...

So what is it about the stunning nepotism at the Trinity River Vision? I have wondered for years why the most qualified person to run that boondoggle is apparently the son of the politician who corrals the jack for it. And NOBODY seems to notice or say anything about it. Is that what they mean when they say something is being done “the Fort Worth way?”

I find it gratifying that I am no longer alone in referring to the Trinity River Vision as a Boondoggle. In fact, I believe the number now is quite large who refer to this ill-conceived, poorly executed, never voted for by the public, public works project as a Boondoggle.

I have long shared the puzzlement that Roy is expressing, that being that NOBODY seems to notice, in a meaningful way, that something is dire wrong about how Fort Worth has gone about and continues to go about foisting the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle on the people who have never voted for it.

And yes, Roy, I have been told repeatedly that this is what is known as the Fort Worth Way. A corrupt town run by a corrupt oligarchy of good ol' boys and girls, who operate primarily in their own self interest, not in the interest of the majority of the people of Fort Worth.

All of them Turkeys worthy of an award.....

At Today's TRWD Board Meeting We Learn Fort Worth Is The Envy Of Other Cities

I returned to my phone and computer after a bike tour of my neighborhood to learn that a meeting of the Tarrant Regional Water District Board was under way.

From TRWD Board Director Mary Kelleher, on Facebook---

"Headed to TRWD Board meeting. Please pray for the Board to do what's right for the people!!"

To which one of Mary's many friends said---

"Mary, I don't think prayer is going to help. An election? Maybe."

Then another of Mary's friends said---

"Mary is hammering them this morning. What Jim Oliver hired his sister in law? Man Jim didn't want to answer that question. Little defensive. Go Mary Go!"

Nepotism associated with the TRWD? I am as shocked as that cop was in Casablanca when he learned gambling took place at Rick's.

And then via text messages on my phone I learned some of what J.D. Granger was telling the TRWD Board.

(That is J.D. Granger in the photo above, used for illustrative purposes, with the photo taken at another meeting attended by Mr. Granger)

The two text message tidbits of interest are that J.D. Granger told the TRWD Board that "140,000 people had attended 39 Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Events."

And that "We are the envy of other cities."

140,000 people attended 39 events? That is almost 6,000 people per event.  Anyone out there see that many people at any of the Boondoggle's events? Anyone see that many people ever floating at one of the Boondoggle's Rockin'  the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats?

Did anyone at the TRWD Board meeting ask Mr. Granger by what mechanism the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's vision had evolved into hosting music events, beer parties, inner tube floats and other goofy stuff which seems to have little to do with controlling floods?

"We are the envy of other cities?"

I thought we had retired this embarrassing "envy of" verbiage being associated with anything to do with Fort Worth due to the absolute ludicrousness of saying such a thing.

You in other towns, Haltom City, Richland Hills, Keller, Arlington, Hurst, Bedford, is there anything about Fort Worth that you envy?

Okay, those are Fort Worth suburbs, or surrounding towns.

If towns which see Fort Worth up close can see nothing to envy, how about other towns?

Dallas? Envy anything about Fort Worth? Jealous of the Fort Worth version of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle?

Oklahoma City? Envy anything about Fort Worth?

Houston? Envy Fort Worth? Austin? San Antonio?

Chicago? New York City? New Orleans? Miami? Los Angeles? Portland? San Francisco? Seattle? Denver? Boston? Philadelphia? Phoenix? Atlanta?

Or even Albuquerque?

Do any of you in big cities in other states envy anything about Fort Worth? Do any of you reading this in other states even know anything about Fort Worth? Other than the town is in Texas and near Dallas?

What is wrong with people in Fort Worth, like J.D.  Granger, that they say things like "Fort Worth is the envy of other cities"? This seems so bizarre  to me. Who is being fooled by this type propaganda? And what is the point of spewing this type nonsense?

It is all very perplexing. As is the nepotism which hired J.D. Granger.....

Mary Kelleher Has Had Enough Of The TRWD's Jim Oliver's Attempts To Bully, Intimidate And Harass Public Officials

Photo from FW Weekly Static

On the left you are looking at Mary Kelleher, with a protest sign above her, with the message on the sign being "STOP HIDING DOCUMENTS."

I am assuming this photo was taken at the Tarrant Regional Water District board meeting at which Mary Kelleher's fellow board members censured her. If I remember right the censuring was for doing something totally outrageous like exercising her First Amendment right to free speech at a Fort Worth City Council meeting.

In this week's Fort Worth Weekly Static column titled "Water Disputes" we learn that Mary Kelleher has once again raised the wrath of TRWD Executive Director, Jim Oliver, because Mary had the raw gall to once again exercise her right to free speech by speaking to a group of journalists at the University of Texas in Arlington about her frustrations regarding her inability to be provided public TRWD documents she has requested to peruse.

That's right, Jim Oliver is denying one of the elected TRWD board members access to TRWD documents.

Oliver sent board members, TRWD staff and the TRWD's lawyers an email disputing what Mary Kelleher had to say in Arlington, along with bogus statistics alleging to show that the TRWD has adequately responded to document requests. Fort Worth Weekly did not agree with Oliver's claim. Nor did Mary Kelleher.

Is this all going to lead to another TRWD board meeting censuring Mary Kelleher?

How is it Mary Kelleher gets censured by the TRWD board, while no censuring takes place of a high ranking TRWD official caught flagrante delicto illicitly assignating with a subordinate? A big bad bit of bad boy behavior that is widely known.

How is it that a high ranking TRWD official has not been censured for loudly browbeating Mary Kelleher?

How is it that a high ranking TRWD official has not been censured for multiple acts of nepotism, putting multiple relatives on the TRWD payroll?

How is it that a high ranking TRWD official has not been censured for having little kids hold signs cheering for beer and going nuts for runner's butts?

Changing the subject slightly to something else I have noticed.

Is Fort Worth Weekly being, for want of a better word, censured for daring to be a real newspaper by reporting the TRWD's shady dealings?

I ask this because I have not seen any advertisements in Fort Worth Weekly this floating season for the Panther Island Pavilion Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats. But, I have seen Rockin' the River ads in the Dallas Observer and DFW.com.........

Today We Learn How TRWD Nepotism Can Lead To Tacky Cheesy Signs

Yesterday morning I blogged This Morning I Learned J.D. Granger Is Promoting Little Kids Cheering For Beer & Going Nuts For Runner's Butts.

By late afternoon, yesterday, Jeff Prince, in Fort Worth Weekly's Blotch, also blogged about this subject in Trinity River Vision's J.D. Granger, Kids Hold Tacky Signs.

I did not know til learning so in FW Weekly that it was J.D. Granger's kids who were letting runners know they go nuts for runner's butts and cheer for beer.

Jeff Prince talked to the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle spokesman, Matt Oliver, from whom he learned the signs were not tacky, but instead were "cheesy".

Four paragraphs from the FW Weekly Blotch blog explaining how these "cheesy" signs came to be...

TRV spokesman Matt Oliver explained the backstory to Blotch: Oliver had learned back in February that the Cowtown Marathon route would pass Panther Island Pavilion, and so he made up signs for he and friends to hold as the runners passed.

He looked online at signs being held up at other marathons, chose some of the "cheesy" ones, and printed up a handful of signs, he said.

Granger and his two children (the boy and girl shown in the enlarged photo) arrived shortly before the runners approached, and they grabbed a few of the signs that weren't being used and held them without paying much attention what was written on them.

“At no point were his kids involved in the making of the signs,” Oliver said. “[Granger] and the kids were walking down there, and there were six or seven signs left over and they picked up some to cheer on the runners.”

Who suggested the Granger kids were involved in making these signs? Why is that straw man being knocked down by this Oliver guy?

Speaking of Matt Oliver. Does anyone know how many of the Tarrant Regional Water District's General Manager Jim Oliver's relatives are nepotistically employed by the TRWD?

So, Matt Oliver came up with these "cheesy" signs by going online to find the "cheesy" slogans?

Okay, let's try that. I Googled "marathon signs" and found none cheesy or tacky.

I then Googled "cheesy marathon signs" and found "Run Fast I Just Farted" "Run Like An Angry Kenyan" "Worst Parade Ever" "The Beer at the Finish Line Won't Drink Itself" and "Mortuary 1 Block Ahead: Look Alive".

So, Googling for "cheesy marathon signs" came up with some that are almost as bad as the ones Matt Oliver claims to have found online.

But, Googling for "tacky marathon signs" quickly came up with one which more closely matched the Matt Oliver "cheesy" taste level with "Nipple Chafing Turns Me On" plus I saw one which looked familiar, saying "I Go Nuts For Runner's Butts". And then I moused over that one to see that Google had already indexed the photo of J.D. Granger and his kids from the FW Weekly Blotch blog.

So, I can not help but wonder what search term Matt Oliver used to find the words he put on those signs.

Matt Oliver claims that J.D.'s kids picked up the signs they were holding with no one paying any attention to what was on the signs. Yeah, that seems believable.

There was an email in my inbox this morning from someone who had read the FW Weekly Blotch blog who reacted in much the same way I did to the TRVB spokesman's "cheesy" explanation regarding the controversial signs.....

The guy who is supposed to be their spokesperson (who happens to be related to The Jim Oliver) swiped the tackiest sign ideas he could find, from someone else. Did he come up with Clean Swimmin' Dirty Livin' all by himself? What do we pay him to steal the worst ideas ever?? AND the guy who is in charge of a billion dollars (that has yet to materialize) didn't read the signs. What else didn't he read? 

So, when is the Censure Hearing scheduled with the Tarrant Regional Water District Board regarding Matt Oliver's "cheesy" bad judgement?

Fort Worth Weekly Goes In To Deep Waters Over The TRWD Controversies

This week's Fort Worth Weekly cover article is titled Deep Waters, Records reveal cozy relationships at the Tarrant Regional Water District.

Reading the article I was quite pleased to finally see someone using the "N" word in regards to the shenanigans of the TRWD.

The "N" word of which I speak is Nepotism.

Just last week I was verbalizing my perplexation regarding the seeming disregard regarding nepotism in Fort Worth, asking if the principle that nepotism is an unethical bad thing was a Yankee concept alien to the South.

The FW Weekly Deep Waters article has many interesting pieces of information. I'll copy and paste a couple blurbs that I found interesting.

The first blurb has to do with the TRWD's controversial Jim Oliver....

In 2006 the Weekly reported that Oliver had run up bills of more than $10,000 on his water district credit card at eateries, bars, and a private club between October 2003 and November 2005. None of the receipts complied with the water district’s expense policy. On some, there were no names for those covered by the payment, and on others there was no stated business purpose.

So, 7 years ago Jim Oliver was caught with his hand in the water district's credit card cookie jar to the tune of over $10,000? And he was not fired? I have been told of another instance of Oliver being caught flagrante delicto and not fired, but using public funds as his private piggy bank and still retaining his job is very perplexing.

And then there is this blurb with interesting verbiage from TRWD board member, Jim Lane...

“People have this board confused with city hall and the legislature,” Lane added, “This is an old quasi-government body that is there to provide water to a Metroplex that is booming. I don’t know why this has turned into something so controversial.”

So, Jim Lane is saying the TRWD is there to provide water to a booming Metroplex? Which leads one to wonder, if the TRWD's sole mission is to provide water, why is it in the economic development business?

Building a wakeboard lake, a restaurant, helping facilitate the building of a drive-in movie theater and sponsoring inner tubing beer parties at an imaginary island with an imaginary pavilion in the world's finest imaginary waterfront music venue.

Are the wakeboard lake, restaurant, drive-in movie theater and inner tubing beer parties bringing in a lot of water to the booming Metroplex one can not help but wonder.

Someone named Johns made a rather cogent comment regarding FW Weekly's Deep Waters article, which said, in part....

If there’s one thing the TRWD is good at (and it’s certainly not increasing/improving our water supply) – it’s galvanizing support against it. From Democrats to Republicans to Libertarians to Tea Partiers – heck, to the Supreme Court, there’s always a confluence of support against the poor management, power grabs, eminent domain abuses and corruption displayed by this organization. In any other town, the ‘water district’ has a ‘sleepy/low profile board” – but, in Fort Worth, the Water District Board means drama, graft, abuse, violation of open meeting laws, secrecy, nepotism – the list goes on and on. Let’s hope Mary Kelleher won’t be the lone voice of dissent on the board for long!

Why Do We Live Where We Tilt At Windmills When Struggling To Enlighten The Ignorant?

Someone named Anonymous made a comment this morning that is one of the best comments I've seen in months.

As in the comment from Anonymous is thought provoking, provoking me to wonder why I continue to live here where I find myself futilely tilting at windmills.

First the comment from Anonymous and then I'll see if I can muster the energy to do some windmill tilting....

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Spencer Jack's Favorite Girlfriend Brittney's Photos From Tacoma's Wedding Of The Century":

I'm a fan. I think the posts here and at the Star Telegraph are beacons of truth and should be read by all. 

Something I think about a lot lately... Why do we live here?

You are from one of the most beautiful spots on the continent. I keep seeing these other lovely places around the globe. Places that are green... have abundant water... have progressive policies... a well informed populace... 

Yet, here we are. And we struggle to inform and enlighten those who are ignorant of the tyranny of local rule.

Some here have spent a lifetime tilting at these windmills, with few, if any, victories. 

Why not find peace and a bit of green and wet? 

A recent opinion piece stated that FW is a place where "A river runs through..." . Well, a river gets dammed up at either end of town and sits there until a rain storm flushes it out. The author of this piece is a tool.

We have an elite ruling class who are not qualified to make policy. Yet they concoct and justify the projects that will benefit themselves and their pals, often without voter approval, or with an agenda buried deep with a bond package that masks their true intent. 

Why do we live here? Why do we let these local bullies give us knots in our gut. It can't be good for us.

Somewhere it is green and wet with clean air. Even if such a place is ruled by the same sort of cabal, would that not be a better way of life?

_______________________________

Yes, Anonymous, I do think being green and wet with clean air would be a much better way of life.

My most recent windmill tilting has been multiple bloggings about the Olivergate Scandal, bloggings such as The TRWD Olivergate Scandal Takes Another Scandalous Turn With Denials, Lies & Cover-Ups, with the Olivergate Scandal being so outrageous, that I really can not understand why the TRWD has not fired Jim Oliver for disgracing himself and the agency he works for.

Local TV has covered the Olivergate Scandal. The Fort Worth Business Press has editorialized in an editorial titled "Outrageous. Infuriating. Unacceptable." that Jim Oliver needs to resign or be fired. While the Fort Worth Star-Telegram has not said a word about the Olivergate Scandal.

Something like the Olivergate Scandal is so confounding to me. It just seems basic common sense that the guy needs to be fired. I am so naive that I think, even though I've had the Fort Worth Way explained to me, that somehow what's right should trump the Fort Worth Way.

Like the Paradise Center Scandal. How can such a thing happen in a modern American city? Without what's right trumping what's wrong?

Then there's the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle. A couple times in the past couple months I've wondered why there is no TRV Boondoggle project timeline. The most recent blogging on that subject was The Skagit River Vision Has Me Freshly Perplexed Regarding The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.

Why aren't the locals perplexed regarding the Trinity River Vision? The TRV Boondoggle has been boondoggling for well over a decade now. Why don't people wonder why we don't see more of the vision, what with its promise of providing supposedly much needed flood control and economic development? Done at a snail's pace.

How come the locals did not rebel at the absurdity of Fort Worth Congresswoman Kay Granger's unqualified son, J.D., being made the Executive Director of the TRV Boondoggle? Blatant nepotism of this sort is frowned upon in the democratic areas of America.

And now, after well over a decade of the TRV Boondoggle, what has J.D. Granger wrought? The world's premiere urban wakeboard lake. The world's first drive-in movie theater of the 21st Century. Weekly happy hour inner tube floats. An imaginary world class music venue called Panther Island Pavilion. A 4th of July fireworks extravaganza which lit the Trinity River levees on fire. And a restaurant.

Oh. I almost forgot something else the TRV Boondoggle has wrought, as in dozens of businesses and property owners left in stress and financial straits via the abuse of eminent domain to take property for an un-needed flood diversion channel.

Anyway, like Anonymous indicated, it does seem a bit futile to repeatedly raise issues, as if raising these issues makes any difference.

So, why do we live here?

Of course, I can only speak for myself as to why I am still here.

Before I moved to the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex I'd never witnessed eminent domain abuse. I'd never witnessed nepotism in action. I'd never seen public works projects brought about without a public vote. I'd never observed a corrupt school district. I've never been personally involved in anything as shockingly wrong as the Paradise Center Scandal. I'd never experienced a town taken over by corporate interests, as what happened in Fort Worth when the gas companies wanted to drill. I'd never lived in a town without a real newspaper, had never experienced how corrupting it is when a town's newspaper acts as a propaganda mouthpiece for the town's ruling oligarchy. I'd never lived in a town where the mayor is so stupid he thought he could dye a river purple.

In other words, living in the Dallas/Fort Worth zone is much more interesting than living in progressive, liberal, extremely well educated Western Washington.

The Lone Granger Wonders About Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Nepotism

This morning an incoming blog comment amused me...

The Lone Granger has left a new comment on your post "The Skagit River Vision Has Me Freshly Perplexed Regarding The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle":

Is the son of Mount Vernon's Representative in Congress running the Skagit River Vision? Or do you have ethical rules regarding nepotism up north?

That is the Lone Granger, above. I do not know if the Native American with the Lone Granger, above, is the Apache historic ground blesser employed by J.D. Granger when he needs a new erection blessed.

To answer the Lone Granger's question, I don't know if there are any ethical rules regarding nepotism, up north. What I do know is there is a surplus of common sense up north that prevents something outrageous, like the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's nepotistic appointment of Congresswoman Kay Granger's unqualified son to run a public works boondoggle that the public has never voted for.

The thing is, I would hazard to guess that the vast majority of those who live in the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Zone could not tell you what nepotism is, or why it is considered wrong in civilized parts of the world or how hiring J.D. Granger to manage the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle is a classic example of nepotism.

France's Millau Viaduct Vs. Fort Worth's Phyllis Tilley Bridge

No, that is not one of Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's non-signature bridges you are looking at in the picture.

The bridge you are looking at in the picture is the Millau Viaduct in France.

Why are you looking at a picture of a bridge in France, you may be sitting there wondering.

Well, stay with me and all will become clear.

A few minutes ago I got an email from Beale. Beale is part of the Fort Worth Underground. When someone sends me an email and does not tell me that it is not blogging fodder, I make the assumption that the email is blogging fodder.

Apparently Beale had a conversation with a member of the Fort Worth Underground named Bert. In that conversation Beale and Bert wondered about the per square foot cost of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.

We begin with Beale's comment about Bert's TRV cost analysis...

I have never looked at the TRV on a Sq. Ft. basis. So, if they sell the land to developers... man are the taxpayers taking a hit!

What follows is what Bert told Beale about the cost of the TRVB, plus another cost comparison...

Beale,

Apropos of our brief discussion today about my contention that the $909,000,000 (and counting) of our tax dollars that the Trinity River Vision is spending to connect 34 acres with Downtown equating to $26,735,294 per acre or a mere $613.75 per square foot of dirt . . . here is a rough cost comparison of the Phyllis Tilley Bridge to an engineering marvel in France,  the Millau Viaduct, which I am not saying is justifiable but, it did break new ground in engineering and can be used by everyone . . . in their daily pursuit of business, etc.

Regards, Bert

Fort Worth has done it again!

The Millau Viaduct in France is the highest bridge in the world (see it on Google), an engineering wonder that bridges the Tarn valley between Clermont-Ferrand and Beziers which will shorten the route from Paris to the Mediterranean on the French freeway, A-75, for all those hard-vacationing Parisians.

Designed by Sir Norman Foster, Architect, Manchester, England

Weight  400,000 tons
Height  1,125'   (50' taller than the Eiffel Tower)
Length  8,071'
Width  104'
Deck  839,384 square feet

Cost $523,000,000

Cost per square foot = $623.00

The Phyllis Tilley Memorial Bridge for pedestrian and bicycle traffic only, in Fort Worth, TX is a financial head-scratcher that spans the mighty Trinity River between its west bank and its yonder east bank in Trinity Park.

Weight ?
Height   Not very
Length 384'
Width  10'
Deck  3,840 square feet

Cost $2,500,000

Cost per square foot = $651.00

Designed by Miguel Rosales, Architect, Boston, Massachusetts

How do we keep getting horse traded into these incredibly expensive and unnecessary projects on the banks of the Trinity River by the likes of Bing Thom who brought us the indefensibly expensive Downtown Junior College at $1,500 per square foot and Miguel Rosales who has now bested the cost per square foot of this Anglo/French bridge?

_________________________________

Well, I've only been in this part of the planet for a short time, but I think I know part of the answer as to why Fort Worth keeps getting horse traded and hoodwinked.

The town does not have a real newspaper. Except for Fort Worth Weekly.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram does not perform a normal newspaper's function as the Fourth Estate, acting as the people's advocate, acting as a watchdog on the lookout for crooked politicians and crooked political deals.

Examples?

Rather than point out the obvious ridiculousness of the assertion that a sporting goods store would be the #1 tourist attraction in Texas, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram trumpeted over and over again what a great thing it was for Fort Worth to have a Cabela's come to town and bring with it millions of tourists a year.

Not only did Cabela's not become the #1 tourist attraction in Texas, it soon was not even the only Cabela's in Texas. And now the Fort Worth Cabela's is not even the only Cabela's in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.

Have you read anywhere in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram a fessing up to their part in the Cabela's tax break gaining con job?

An extremely lame, obviously doomed to fail, public works project called the Santa Fe Rail Market opened with the Fort Worth Star Telegram telling its readers this little boondoggle was modeled after Seattle's Pike Place Market and Pubic Markets in Europe and would be the first Public Market in Texas.

After the failure of the Santa Fe Rail Market have you read the Star-Telegram fessing up to misleading its readers regarding the Santa Fe Rail  Market?

What did you think of the investigative reporting job the Star-Telegram did into the credentials of J.D. Granger when a corrupt act of nepotism saw him appointed as the person in charge of running the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle?

Yes, you're right, you read no investigative reporting in the Star-Telegram regarding J.D. Granger's qualifications.

You also did not read an outraged editorial in the Star-Telegram regarding the obviously ridiculously nepotistic appointment of Fort Worth's Congresswoman, Kay Granger's son, J.D., to a job for which he had zero qualifications to run a project from which his mother stood to gain financially.

Have you read an article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram regarding how much it cost the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle to build a little lake in which the Cowtown Wakepark could operate, which J.D. Granger trumpeted as a great feat, making the sport of wakeboarding available to all of Fort Worth's citizens?

When the Cowtown Wakepark suffers its inevitable failure, will you read an article in the Star-Telegram about the failure, like you read regarding the Santa Fe Rail Market and Cabela's failures?

That's right, you read nothing in the Star-Telegram examining those previous failures and you will read none when the Cowtown Wakepark fails.

If Fort Worth had a real newspaper, something like the Cowtown Wakepark, Santa Fe Rail Market, Cabela's tax breaks and the Trinity River Vision would never get off the ground, because an informed public would not put up with the foolishness.

With no real newspaper, most of the Fort Worth public is oblivious to the foolishness.

Oblivious to the foolishness, while Rome burns, I mean, the Trinity River Vision parties. In private. And in inner tubes floating on the polluted Trinity River.

Which is another thing. What did you think of that investigative reporting the Star-Telegram did into how safe it is to float in the Trinity River?

I'm sure that report is coming soon....