Someone Needs To Put An End To J.D. Granger's Visionary Trinity River Beer Parties

Yesterday I blogged The Incredible Alternative Universe Of J.D. Granger & America's Biggest Boondoggle in which we learned how long America's Biggest Boondoggle has been boodoggling along and how it came to be that Congresswoman Kay Granger's son, J.D., got the job of directing The Boondoggle, almost 10 years ago, earning around a million bucks during the course of his tenure of turning a public works project the public has never voted for into America's Biggest Boondoggle.

Today I was flipping through the latest issue of Fort Worth Weekly, when, somewhere past the bizarre cover article asking the important question "How is burlesque sexy and empowering?" which seems to be one more indicator that FW Weekly has lost its way since it lost Gayle Reaves, when I came upon the advertisement you see here, advertising a Big Music & Beer Event at The Boondoggle's tacky "music venue" Panther Island Pavilion, where there is no island or pavilion, but where the restroom facilities are outhouses surrounded by concrete.

Way back in 2006 when the TRWD's Chief Henchman, Jim Oliver, thought it was a good idea to hire a low level district attorney with no project management experience to oversee what was then called Trinity Uptown, before it became the Trinity River Vision, after J.D. Granger saw what needed to be seen, eventually turning that "vision" into an imaginary island, did Jim Oliver realize this was the direction Trinity Uptown was going to go down?

A Frat Boy's Dreamworld.

In 2006, when he hired J.D. Granger did Jim Oliver know then that within a few short years this poorly conceived, ill-executed project would evolve into sponsoring Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats, at a pathetic "music venue" touted by J.D. Granger as being a world class event location and the only one of its kind in any town in Texas?

In 2006 did Jim Oliver foresee that nine years later, in 2015, all he would see of the 2006 Trinity Uptown "vision" would be J.D. Granger's beer parties in various forms, a restaurant, a drive-in movie theater, a brewery, a wakeboard pond and three little bridges being constructed in slow motion over dry land to connect to an imaginary island?

Why would anyone vote for anyone who has had anything to do with foisting America's Biggest Boondoggle on the mighty fine city of Fort Worth, Texas?

My Favorite Nephews Are Looking Forward To A Sunny Weekend With Their Replacement Aunts

Incoming email from one of my favorite nephews this morning.

No subject in email subject line.

Text in body of email----

One of our replacement aunts took this pic of Mount Rainier today inbound from Arizona to the Great PNW. Looking forward to this sunny weekend.

The sunny weekend to which the favorite nephew refers is this weekend's Pacific Northwest weather forecast of clear skies, with temperatures in the low 70s.

Temperatures in the low 70s are pretty much considered to be a major heat wave in the PNW. I did not think that odd til I moved to Texas and got myself acclimated to temperatures above 100, with temperatures in the 70s feeling cold.

Below is a screen cap of the temperature weather bragging said nephew shared on Facebook.

After I saw said nephew shared the the above temperature information I commented with the current temperature/weather info for my location...

Reading said nephew's temperature info on Facebook prompted his mother to tell us that she can't take this heat anymore, so she is having air conditioning installed.

I did not share with my PNW relatives the fact that at our current temperatures in the 70s we open our windows in Texas and enjoy the natural air conditioning. At those temperatures the PNW is experiencing, in the 60s, many of us at my current location fire up our heating systems.

As for that view from Aunt Chris' window seat, that sure is nothing like what one sees when one flies into D/FW International Airport. I remember one time flying out of Sea-Tac on my way back to Texas with the pilot telling us if we looked out the right side of the plane we would see Mount St. Helens doing some steamy hiccuping.

It always causes me to have a strange feeling of contented happiness when I fly north and reach the part of the journey where I look out and see the Cascade Mountains and their sea of peaks far into the distance, with a volcano popping up here and there.

Apparently Marty Leonard Never Worked A Hard Day In Her Life Til She Got Caught In The TRWD Scandal

That gray haired grandma-like looking person you see here, the one in the middle, not the one on the left, is Marty Leonard.

Grandma Leonard is surrounded by protesters protesting last year's TRWD board censure meeting censuring Mary Kelleher.

That TRWD Mary Kelleher censuring meeting went all sorts of sideways on the TRWD board members, other than Mary.

That meeting ended up with the TRWD board seeming to be the thing in need of being censured.

In much of the public's eye.

And seen as a triumph for Mary Kelleher, in much of that same public's eye. What with the TRWD board members, other than Mary, seeming to be a group of doddering nincompoops on a twisted misguided witch hunt.

Two of those seemingly doddering nincompoops are wanting to be re-elected to the TRWD board. I have no idea why. Are they gluttons for publicly disgracing themselves?

I particularly don't understand why Marty Leonard wants to be part of the TRWD debacle. I would think she would choose to bow out gracefully and be done with the whole mess, riding off into the sunset on her golf cart to have herself a mighty fine time in the many years she has left to enjoy this planet.

A day or two ago someone named Anonymous made an interesting blog comment regarding Marty Leonard which also made me wonder why Miss Leonard continues to willingly participate in the TRWD mess....

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Complex Imaginary Dallas Plot To Take Control Of Fort Worth & Tarrant County": 

Is Marty Leonard the owner of the golf courses being referred to?

Marty Leonard and her sister own a 9 hole golf course located in Tolar Texas. The course was her father's private playground.

Marty also owns a golf driving range in far west Fort Worth.

Marty grew up at Rivercrest, Colonial and Shady Oaks Country Clubs. 

Marty's father Marvin Leonard started Colonial & Shady Oaks while Marty founded a driving range. The driving range does have a pitch & putt feature however. 

Why is Marty frequently photographed wearing blue chambray work shirts? She's never known a hard day of work in her life which is very typical of the Fort Worth Way types.

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.....

The Incredible Alternative Universe Of J.D. Granger & America's Biggest Boondoggle

Why is it when I see a photo of these two the Manchurian Candidate comes to mind?

The young lady you see here is Fort Worth's Congresswoman, also known as the Queen of Nespot, Kay Granger, standing next to the Queen's heir, J.D.

J.D. is the executive director of a pseudo public works project currently known as Panther Island, also currently known as The Boondoggle, recently recognized as America's Biggest Boondoggle.

The Boondoggle being America's Biggest Boondoggle marks the first time Fort Worth has had the biggest of anything in America. I doubt this is making city's far and wide Green with Envy.

Over the years The Boondoggle has gone by various names. Trinity Uptown. Central City. Trinity River Vision. Panther Island. The Boondoggle.

I have heard various opinions as to when The Boondoggle began. I think some date the start of The Boondoggle to the start of initiating a name change. For instance, one might say The Boondoggle as Panther Island is two years into the project. While The Boondoggle as Trinity River Vision is nine years into the project. The Boondoggle as Trinity Uptown is 13 years into the project. Well, you get the idea.

Now, I have long said that my memory tells me The Boondoggle began way back in 1999. I remember soon upon my arrival in Texas learning of a Dallas Trinity River Vision for which Dallas voters had voted. Soon thereafter I recollect reading of a proposed similar Fort Worth vision. I remember thinking it odd, what with no mention made of a planned public vote. And also wondering if there was some sort of history of Fort Worth copying Dallas, what with the two visions seeming so similar, including both having three signature bridges.

Ironically, all these years later, Dallas has actually built one of its signature bridges, and a cool signature bridge it is, while Fort Worth long ago dropped the signature bridges and is now building three little bridges over dry land, with a four year construction schedule, far longer than it took Dallas to build its actual signature bridge over actual water.

I have had people tell me I am wrong when I say the Fort Worth Boondoggle has been boondoggling along since late in the last century. Some will date the start of The Boondoggle to 2002 or 2003. Some as late as 2006, that being the year Kay Granger's son was hired.

I believe it was early in this century, 2001 or 2002, that a Star-Telegram Sunday edition front page banner headline shouted something like "Trinity Uptown to Turn Fort Worth Into Vancouver of the South."

Well, turns out my memory is far more accurate than I give it credit for, with my memory validated by a quote from J.D. Granger.

Googling for info about The Boondoggle, I came upon that which you see below,  from the March 3, 2006 edition of the Victoria Advocate. I assume the Advocate is in the Victoria in Texas, not the one in British Columbia, though I can see where a British Columbia newspaper would be interested in a project slated to turn Fort Worth into the Vancouver of the South.

This article has some jaw dropping, ironic, embarrassing quotes from J.D. and the man who hired him, the TRWD henchman known as Jim Oliver.

Nine years ago, when this article was written, the cost of The Boondoggle was still under a half billion dollars, at $435 million.

First paragraph...

J.D. Granger, whose mother is U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, will earn $110,000 a year and start work Monday at the Tarrant Regional Water District, said Jim Oliver, general manager of the district, which is spearheading the project.

$110,000 a year. In the almost 10 years J.D. has been boondoggling The Boondoggle he has been paid around a million bucks. So much money while doing so little. I wish my mama was in Congress.

Next paragraph...

J.D. Granger, 36, an assistant Tarrant County district attorney for eight years, also has worked in various volunteer roles during the planning for the Trinity Uptown project, Oliver said.

So, apparently, J.D.'s qualification for this job is he had various volunteer roles during the planning of what was then called Trinity Uptown.

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."

Yes, J.D.'s appointment was asking for criticism, what with that Queen of Nespot issue, and the idea that hiring a low level district attorney, with no project management experience, was a good idea.

Try and figure out what is being said in the following paragraph...

J.D. Granger's salary will come from water district funds, not federal money that Kay Granger is securing, Oliver told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Those funds do not come directly to the water district, he said.

What is Oliver's point? Federal money from Kay does not go directly to the district? And so the money paid to Kay's son does not come from wherever Kay's money goes, but instead comes from district funds? And how does Oliver differentiate where J.D.'s take is coming from, what with funds coming in from various sources? All ending up in the TRWD pot. What point is made by saying his salary comes from water district funds? What sort of shell game is Oliver trying to play here?

And then there is this additional bit from Oliver....

Oliver said he realized that hiring the congresswoman's son "would probably raise some eyebrows" but felt J.D. Granger was right for the job because of his familiarity and expertise on many facets of the project. Oliver said he thought about several possible candidates but did not conduct a job search.

Nine years later, with the Trinity River Vision now America's Biggest Boondoggle, is Jim Oliver still thinking J.D. Granger was the right man for the job? Why was the hiring of J.D. Granger left solely to Jim Oliver? And not the elected TRWD board members? How was this allowed? How did the un-elected Jim Oliver get this dictatorial hiring power? Did this power come from the same unseen entity who gave Oliver key power over newly elected TRWD board members?

And then this revealing quote from J.D. Granger which let me know my memory has been right all along as to when The Boondoggle began....

J.D. Granger said he's been working on the project "since it was just a vision, back in 1999. I bet I know about as much as any single person out there who's not been paid to participate in this," he said. "I know it inside and out, so there's not going to be any lag time."

No lag time? Nine years after getting hired, with little accomplished. No lag time? What about the incredible lag time of taking eight years to start construction of three little bridges over dry land with an equally incredible lag time of taking four years to build the little bridges, with the scheduled completion of the bridges 13 years after the hiring of J.D. Granger ? If that is not lag time, what does J.D. Granger consider to be lag time?

Next paragraph...

He (J.D.) said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is expected to give final project approval in two weeks. He said he expects one of his first roles to be working with landowners whose property is needed for construction.

How cavalier of Granger. Working with landowners? Soon the working with landowners became abusing eminent domain to take property needed way in the future for those three little bridges and the ditch that one day may be dug beneath them.

And then the final three paragraphs from the Victoria Advocate article...

J.D. Granger said he considered running for the water district board when he was approached about working for the district.

He said his mother's involvement at the federal level strengthens his knowledge of the plan. And he said he will try to ensure that the federal price tag "doesn't get any higher."
County Commissioner Roy Brooks said he believes that J.D. Granger will do a good job but said "some people might not agree with me that there's no conflict of interest."

Well, count me among those who do not agree that there is no conflict of interest. I also agree with those who would say J.D. has not done a good job ensuring the federal price tag doesn't get any higher. It's only doubled since J.D. began his life's work.

I can not help but want to hear J.D. explain how his mom's involvement at the federal level makes his knowledge of the plan stronger.

So, there you go, Fort Worth has a public works project the public has never voted on, a project which began 16 years ago, in 1999. Fort Worth kids, now in high school, have never known a Fort Worth without a bizarre public works project being built in slow motion.

Fort Worth kids now in high school will soon be graduating in the town with the bragging rights to having America's Biggest Boondoggle.

Tell me again why anyone in their right mind would vote for a Tarrant Regional Water District incumbent board member?

From The Desk Of Mary Kelleher Why We Need To Elect Bickley & Von Luckner

Incoming email from the desk of Mary Kelleher.

But, before we get to that, if you have found yourself subjected to the propaganda being spewed by the Tarrant Regional Water District (TRWD) board incumbents regarding the upcoming election, with their embarrassing claim that an evil plot by a Dallas businessman, Monty Bennett, to take over Fort Worth's water via his puppets, Mary Kelleher, Craig Bickley and Michele Von Luckner, propaganda repeated in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and, to a lesser degree, shockingly, in Fort Worth Weekly, well, read what Mary Kelleher has to say about why she is in this fight.

Be sure to read the Voter Beware! section below, where, in part, Mary Kelleher will tell you, "You can expect to hear some outlandish attacks from people in authority like Mayor Betsy Price, Mike Moncrief, and Kay Granger. I implore you to hold to the facts. You will be told Dallas businessman Monty Bennett of Dallas is trying to steal Fort Worth’s water. NOT TRUE!"

Below is the aforementioned email from the desk of Mary Kelleher in its entirety....

MY STORY
The events of 2010 turned the world completely upside-down for my husband and me. Our farm in east Fort Worth flooded, livestock drowned, tractors and farm equipment were destroyed, and the flood waters didn’t recede for eight long months! The smell of death lingered in the air as our property was covered by E.coli-ridden waters of the Trinity River mixed with dead animals and garbage. We soon learned there had been changes to the elevation in the flood plain in our area; the result of corporate greed, lack of oversight of commercial and residential development and the failure by regulatory agencies to protect the very people whose responsibility it is for them to serve.

POLITICIANS AND PUBLIC SERVANTS
I have truly learned the hard way the difference between politicians and public servants. I used to think they were one and the same; they are definitely not. Politicians put their own interests before those they serve. Public servants put the interests of the people they serve ahead of their own. Politicians are most of the problem, though it is really our fault because we are the people electing them. It takes a lot of money to run for election. If only people with money and powerful friends can afford to run for public office, why are we so surprised when these politicians choose money over the people?

We must elect more public servants. Only about 4% of the people vote in local elections. More people shop at Walmart on Black Friday than vote in local elections! And, it is the local politicians who have control over our quality of life, day in and day out. Five years ago, I decided I had had enough! It was time to fight back. After all, it is my property, my land, my water, my money, my life that the politicians are messing with. If I didn’t stand up to these bullies, who would? I hate politics and I surely don’t have the money it takes to win a campaign.

FIGHTING BACK
Regardless, I took that huge, scary step and filed to run for the TRWD Board of Directors. I didn’t know much about the TWRD, other than I pay taxes to it and its primary mission is flood control and water supply. My experiences told me this is where I needed to be — where I could contribute as a public servant.

The next few months were a blur, but I’ll never forget the first time I met a group of concerned citizens who would be supporting me. As we were introduced, I realized this was a very diverse group, all of whom are committed to a common goal — change at the TRWD. They represent the Republican Party, the Democratic Party, the Libertarian Party, the Green Party — and independents. Regardless of political affiliation, they are like so many of us. They are tired of politicians having their way and want people in positions of authority to be willing to represent the people, not special interest groups. WATER IS NON-PARTISAN.

A SNAPSHOT OF TRWD
The TRWD’s focus is supposed to be flood control and water supply. When gas drilling came to Texas, TRWD made hundreds of millions of dollars in gas royalties. One would think all this money would have been put towards its mission. But the politicians had other plans.

In 2004, the citizens of Fort Worth voted to spend $232 million for street and storm water improvements. What the people didn’t know was this money was going to be used for the design and construction of the Trinity River Vision, a master plan for 88 square miles through the heart of Fort Worth. Within a year, a former TRWD board member and now state representative pushed through House Bill 2639 which vastly expanded the TRWD’s powers. This gave the board a legal green light to use eminent domain for “economic development.”

With the board’s new found power their priorities have been completely altered. The board has purchased a restaurant, ice skating rink, and a drive-in theater; none of these contribute toward water supply nor flood control.

The TRWD manipulates Texas’s freedom of information laws and is currently pending a decision by the Texas Supreme Court regarding violations of the Open Meetings Act.

The TRWD has awarded hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of contracts without allowing us to know who is profiting from their money. One board member’s friend even had his land purchased at double the appraised value, a shady deal which cost the rate payers $9 million.

WHERE MY SUPPORT COMES FROM…..
I now understood why this non-partisan group of average folks who supported me and who are actively involved in this year’s TRWD election have been so concerned. This is like a B-rated horror movie, with the villains being the politicians. I had so much FROM THE DESK OF MARY KELLEHER Tarrant Regional Water District Board Member to learn and I had wonderful teachers. I knocked on doors, I talked with people on the phone and I attended a lot of meetings. I really didn’t think I could do it but it sure was exciting when I actually won!

I was so humbled by the support of the people and the sheer number of votes I received: 8,942, more votes than anyone in the history of the TRWD elections and the first time an incumbent was defeated. I am determined not to let the people down. I want to make a difference in my community, for myself, my neighbors, and the citizens of Tarrant County before we flood again or run out of water.

Since being elected I’ve met people with issues from flooding to water contamination to eminent domain; average citizens from Fort Worth, Arlington, Haltom City, Keller, Mansfield; people from as far away as Marvin Nichols Reservoir have called me to ask for help. It is the TRWD that impacts millions of lives across North Texas. Decisions are being made by a select few. Some are serving in elected or appointed offices that they have held for decades. Some of their children and relatives are handed great jobs, some of their friends are appointed to boards and commissions who have control over millions of taxpayer dollars, while some are writing and passing legislation giving them the power to take our land, use our money however they see fit, and grant no bid contracts to whomever they want. This must stop!

MY EXPERIENCE ON THE BOARD
 I won my election and very nervously and humbly took my seat at the TRWD board table. I’ve been yelled at, threatened, lied to, bullied, intimidated, laughed at, censured, ridiculed, and called names. I left the first few board meetings in tears. I have never experienced such pre-meditated contempt by a group of people in my life. I asked for records, e-mails, and financial reports. My first record request landed me in the general manager’s office where I was berated and bullied. Some records I received and others I did not.

Being on the TRWD board is an emotional roller-coaster. But with each attack against me, my resolve just gets stronger!

Despite the roadblocks thrown at me, I am making changes. TRWD board meetings are now televised live online and recorded so people may watch them after work since they are held during work hours. The Trinity River is tested weekly, instead of monthly, and the results are posted in laymen’s terms online so people considering getting in a tube and floating around in the river know what they’re getting into. We now have some discussion on million dollar agenda items instead of unanimously approving every agenda item without discussion. There is now additional seismology testing at Eagle Mountain Dam.

I need your help; this job is huge and I cannot do it alone! There are two candidates for the upcoming May 9 election who I am endorsing and who deserve your support and vote.

CRAIG BICKLEY AND MICHELE VON LUCKNER
Craig Bickley and Michele Von Luckner are like me, ordinary people who are disgusted with the TRWD board. Like me, they share my vision for good governance and refocusing the board on its essential responsibilities of water supply and flood control.

VOTER BEWARE
Now please be forewarned. You can expect to hear some outlandish attacks from people in authority like Mayor Betsy Price, Mike Moncrief, and Kay Granger. I implore you to hold to the facts. You will be told Dallas businessman Monty Bennett of Dallas is trying to steal Fort Worth’s water. NOT TRUE! Monty Bennett is a wealthy businessman who lives in Dallas but he also owns property in Fort Worth and east Texas. Monty is one of many victims of TRWD’s abuse of eminent domain; he just happens to have the financial resources to fight against this abuse.

THANK YOU
It is an honor and unique privilege to serve you, and I am looking forward to the election this May. I pray and trust you will do all you can to help elect Craig and Michele. They will help me move forward to return the TRWD to its core mission of water supply and flood control.

Sincerely,

Mary Kelleher
Newly elected Director, Tarrant Regional Water District “T.R.W.D.”
Fort Worth, Texas

P.S. If you have any questions I can answer for you, please do not hesitate to call me at (817) 880-5419, or email me at mkk4263@gmail.com. I’m more than happy to answer your questions.

Embarrassingly Idiotic TRWD Election Propaganda Finally Showed Up In My Mailbox

This morning, finally, some of the more than a half million dollars non-evil Dallas businessmen have funneled to the re-election campaigns of TRWD board incumbents, Jim Lane and Marty Leonard, showed up in my mailbox.

Showed up in the form of a slick poster-sized piece of embarrassing propaganda, which I had already seen in other forms, but never face to face in all its demented glory.

The poster was too big for my scanner, so I laid it on the floor so as to snap a picture.

No, that is not my hand appearing to have an unseemly hold on a shaft of water.

I assume that hand represents the evil hand of the evil Dallas businessman, Monty Bennett, and his nefarious plot to take over Fort Worth and its vulnerable water supply.

Are these unscrupulous TRWD incumbents actually going to continue to run on this embarrassing Stop the Dallas businessman idiocy?

Either these TRWD incumbents and their campaign advisers are incredibly stupid and actually believe this is a legit accusation to be making.

Or these TRWD incumbents think the voters or so stupid they will buy in to this idiotic scare tactic.

Maybe it is a combo of both.

Isn't it interesting that the TRWD incumbent's propaganda makes no mention of the wonders their management has brought to the Fort Worth, Tarrant County and North Texas water and flood control needs?

No mention is made of the millions of dollars wasted trying to use the courts to take water from Oklahoma, wasted til the Supreme Court told the TRWD to knock it off.

No mention made of the current Biggest Boondoggle in America, boondoggling along now for well over a decade, with little to show for the money spent.

Well, there are those three little bridges supposedly currently under construction, due to be ready to carry traffic from the mainland to an imaginary island in about four years.

I can't imagine why the TRWD incumbents don't trumpet all that the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle has accomplished.

Why isn't TRWD incumbent, Jim Lane, sharing with the voters how he helped finagle spending almost $20 million of taxpayer TRWD money to buy a chunk of land from a bankrupt friend? Land valued at far less than what the TRWD paid for it.

Land on which then was built the world's first drive-in movie theater of the 21st century.

How is that Coyote Drive-In working out? About as successful as the TRWD/TRV Boondoggle's world premiere urban wakeboard park?

I know the TRWD election is stacked in favor of the good ol' boy and girl network who run Fort Worth in what is known as the Fort Worth Way.

Just the bizarre gerrymandering determining what areas in the "district" get to actually vote is yet one more symptom of the corruption which is the TRWD. Why would not all the voters who live in areas which buy their water from the TRWD get to vote in a TRWD  election? How did this bizarre usurpation of voter's rights come to be? Why is it allowed to continue?

So much is so perplexing about Texas. I should blog about a conversation I had with a Washingtonian who was perplexed about the TRWD Scandals, after reading about it on my blog, and filtering it through his Washington sensibility, where the local water utility is totally non-controversial, does not involve itself in economic development, does not abuse eminent domain to take property, does not own private hunting preserves, does not build slow motion bridges over nothing or organize inner tube float beer parties in the totally un-polluted Skagit River.

I told the Washingtonian he had no concept of how twisted the government is in Texas, that it is way worse than the really embarrassing stuff that gets national attention.

I asked the Washingtonian what he thought the Texas Railroad Commission did.

Uh, regulate the state's railroads?

Yeah, that's what a logical person might think, said I, but logic and the way things are done in Texas often are not in the same room.....

The Complex Imaginary Dallas Plot To Take Control Of Fort Worth & Tarrant County

Some eye opening, jaw dropping J.D. Granger information fell into my lap yesterday. I figured I would blog about the J.D. Granger material today. But then I found myself needing to make a fix to almost 400 webpages, so I will be postponing sharing the eye opening, jaw dropping J.D. Granger information til I get done with the webpage fixing.

However, this morning in the midst of doing that webpage fixing a blog comment arrived which I thought to be share worthy in its inadvertent amusing embarrassing imbicilicness, to coin a new word that needed coining to describe much of what I witness at my current location on the planet.

The blog comment....

Ed Jackson has left a new comment on your post "More TRWD Election Propaganda Lies From Jim Lane, Marty Leonard, Betsy Price & Mike Moncrief": 

Monty Bennett does have a horse in this TRWD race. It is at least an eminent domain issue about a ranch he owns. Mr. Bennett is not a resident of Tarrant County, nor is he a customer of the TRWD. He does what a lot of Dallas business people do, attempt to gain control of Fort Worth and Tarrant County by filling political positions with people who will owe favors to him, and to the democrat party. 

The facts are Marty Leonard and Jim Lane have been on the TRWD Board for some 10 years, and vast improvements to access water and manage resources have been made in that 10 years. Mayor Betsy Price is a great Mayor, and Mike Moncrief was a good Mayor. Both have lead Fort Worth to prosperity in most areas of the city. 

Mr. Bennett, OTOH, also tried to gain control of the TRWD back in 2013. when the other 3 board members were up for reelection. He got one candidate to win, Mary Kelleher, who has no engineering. business, or legal background. She is a school psychologist, a worthy background, but not a qualification to manage and plan a water district. If Mr. Bennett gets his two candidates onto the TRWD Board in this election, he will control the board. Have you noticed his two 2015 candidates have not listed any qualifications, except for "former president of the Tarrant County democrat party"?

After these last 6 years, I don't want any democrat running anything, much less than something that costs billions of dollars and affects millions of people. 

The current make up of the TRWD Board is 2 engineers, 1 Lawyer, 1 small business owner (that understands water use and conservation because they are golf courses), and 1 school psychologist. Let's not put two more political hacks on the board. 

______________________________________

A business owner who understands conservation and water use because they are golf courses? That sounds like Charlton Heston exclaiming Soylent Green is People.

Is Marty Leonard the owner of the golf courses being referred to?

Monty Bennett has a horse in this race, because it is an eminent domain issue about a ranch he owns?

Does this Jackson guy even know what eminent domain is? Or that the issue as it pertains to Monty Bennett is he feels the way the TRWD has gone about trying to take his property is what is known as eminent domain abuse? Or that Monty Bennett is not alone as a property owner believing himself to be a victim of what they believe to be eminent domain abuse by the TRWD? Ask the business owners whose property was taken for the TRWD's Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's ditch and little bridges being built in slow motion over dry land to connect to an imaginary island, what they think of the TRWD's use of eminent domain.

What does it have to do with anything that Monty Bennett is not a resident of Tarrant County? He owns two hotels in downtown Fort Worth. If he was a resident of one of those hotels would it change anything to do with his fight to keep the TRWD off his property?

I am fairly certain Monty Bennett is a customer of the TRWD. Unless he somehow pipes water to his Fort Worth hotels via a pipeline from Dallas.

A lot of Dallas business people try to gain control of Fort Worth and Tarrant County? Really? And who would they be and why would they want to control Fort Worth and Tarrant County? A messianic dream of modernizing the town and pulling it into the current century?

A Dallas football team owner moved his team to a new football stadium in Tarrant County. Was that the result of an evil Dallas businessman's evil plotting to take over Tarrant County?

Mary Kelleher has no engineering background? And so she is not qualified to manage a water district? Remind me again what exactly J.D. Granger's qualifications were to manage a water redevelopment project? J.D. Granger has been paid over $110,000 a year for almost 10 years to ramrod what is currently the biggest boodoggle in America.

Craig Bickley and Michele Von Luckner are political hacks? Implying also that Mary Kelleher is a political hack?

I tell you, the TRWD Scandal is the weirdest Alice Through the Looking Glass thing I have ever observed up close.

A backwards Looking Glass where right is wrong, wrong is right, qualified is unqualified, unqualified is qualified, smart is stupid, stupid is smart, world class is no class, no class is world class, public good is public bad.

And taking four years to build three little bridges over dry land saves money and makes engineering sense....

UPDATE: On Facebook TRWD board candidate, Craig Bickley, had the following to say about the above comments from Ed Jackson....

Craig Bickley likes this.

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  Craig Bickley For the record (to your commenter), the former director of the Democratic party mentioned is the 5th candidate, not Michele or I. He seems like a nice person, but got a very late start, and hasn't gained much traction. He would be great to watch in two years. Also, I have an engineering degree from Texas A&M and have been in the field of engineering and project/personnel management for over 15 years...

Apparently Away From The Camera's Eye Kay Granger Makes Her Mark While Scaring Texans

What does "Makes her Mark" mean?

Like what a dog does to a fire hydrant?

Elsie Hotpepper sent me the link to the article where I learned the startling news that Fort Worth's Congresswoman, also known as the Queen of Nespot, Kay Granger, makes her mark only when the documenting lens of a recording camera is not aimed at her marking antics.

The title of this puff piece, I mean, article is Outside the Camera Frame, Granger Makes Her Mark.

The first four paragraphs of the puff piece, I mean article, are amusing....

Rep. Kay Granger doesn’t suffer fools.

The Texas Republican has a story about a lawmaker who admitted he hadn’t read a bill he was trying to amend; She told him he had “no business being in Congress.”

Nor does she hesitate to tell any of her more bombastic male colleagues in the Lone Star State delegation when they’re “misbehaving.”

“I’m very plainspoken,” she said. “I don’t mince words. … If you talk to Texans, they’ll always say, ‘I’m scared to death of Kay Granger.’”

Kay Granger doesn't suffer fools?

A large body of evidence would suggest otherwise.

Wasn't Kay Granger caught on camera suffering the fools who used a TNT explosion to mark the start of building the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's three little bridges being built over nothing to nowhere?

Didn't Kay Granger, at that momentous event, get recorded saying that Fort Worth's slow motion water project was the biggest urban water project currently underway in North America?

When it is not.

When there are other urban water related projects underway in North America which are public works projects voted on by the public, fully funded, being built on a schedule with results to be seen. While little is to be seen of The Boondoggle's boondoggle after well over a decade of slowly boondoggling along.

Kay Granger doesn't suffer fools? She seems to suffer fools quite easily. And also willingly participate in the fool's foolishness.

My goodness, Kay Granger told a colleague he had no business being in Congress. What perplexes me is what is wrong with Fort Worth's voters that in the last election they did not let Kay Granger know she does not belong in Congress?

Kay Granger does not hesitate to tell any of her male colleagues that they are misbehaving? Very maternalistic of Kay. One can not help but wonder if that same motherly type admonishing is directed at her grown sons when they misbehave?

Kay thinks if you talk to Texans they will tell you they are scared to death of her?

Well.

I have not been in the Lone Star state long enough to qualify as a Texan, but, I have talked to many Texans and have never heard any Texan say they are scared of Kay Granger.

I have heard more than one Texan say they find Kay Granger scary.

Thinking someone is scary is different than being scared of someone.....

The Last Blog Post Disrupting The Most Corrupt Institution In Fort Worth

Years ago when I first started doing this blogging thing I recollect coming upon The Whited Sepulchre blog. If I remember right I came upon The Whited Sepulchre blog after The Whited Sepulchre blogger, Allen Patterson, made the first of many comments on my blog.

Recently, I, along with a lot of other people, became aware of the fact that Allen Patterson is ailing.

Seriously ailing.

As he puts it, he went to the ER and ended up getting diagnosed with nasty brain tumors.

Today, on Facebook, I saw that Allen had posted a link to his blog, to a blogging titled The Last Blog Post - "Don't Be Safe".

I suspect this last blog post of Allen Patterson may go on to be what is known as viral. One of those commenting about the blog post echoed that sentiment...

Allen...that was as fine an internet post as I have ever read. I will make sure that my children read it and I intend to spread it far and wide. I do not know which one of us will leave this planet first but I do know that we will see each other again one fine day. Keep the faith and fight like hell. The Lord will use your experience for good....best I can tell, He has already started the process.

And the following bit of sage advice from The Whited Sepulchre The Last Blog Post - "Don't Be Safe". post I thought I would copy and share....

Get involved in politics and put Mary Kelleher to work disrupting the most corrupt institution in Fort Worth. Raise Hell.  Find some activists to associate with, and bang some pots and pans together in the street.  WIN the Fort Worth Gay Pride parade and then wake up the nest morning to staff your booth at a gun rights show.  I promise you that if you ever get brain tumors everyone of of those beautiful people you meet will come see you in the hospital. 

Helping Mary Kelleher disrupt the most corrupt institution in Fort Worth sounds like a mighty fine goal. I suspect Allen will get to witness that happen and join in the celebrating....