TRWD Board Wants To Charge John Basham $2,585.00 For Disclosure Of Public Records

On the left you are looking at page 1 of 3 that Tarrant Regional Water District Board candidate, John Basham, received today from lawyers representing the TRWD Board.

A few days ago John Basham emailed me 3 documents, with those documents being exchanges John Basham had with the TRWD Board's lawyers regarding John Basham's Texas Public Information Act (Open Records) Request.

One of the communications from the TRWD Board's lawyers asked Basham to narrow the scope of his Request.

The document John Basham received today from the TRWD Board's lawyer basically tells him if he wants to see the public records, that he is requesting to see, it will cost him $2,585.00.

I guess Freedom of Information is not free in Texas.

I can't help but wonder how much of the public's money the TRWD Board is spending on its lawyers to keep from giving John Basham the records he is requesting to see?

Today Mary Kelleher Yelled At Me Before I Voted For Her & Blogged About Why She Needs To Be On The TRWD Board

Mary Kelleher Making Sure I Voted For Her

A couple hours ago I blogged that I met a local political celebrity on my way to vote for Basham, Nold & Kelleher for the Tarrant Regional Water Board.

I arrived at my early voting Handley Community Center polling place to see a lot of signs and a lady standing by a pickup.

I got out of my motorized transport to soon find the lady yelling at me something about BNK.

Then I shouted the question are you B, N or K? Whilst knowing it could not be B or N. The lady hollered back that she was K.

So, I walked over and introduced myself to Mary Kelleher.

The last couple days I've mentioned a time or two my disdain for the smear tactics of the Water Board Incumbents' campaign, casting aspersions on the motives of those running to unseat 3 Water Boarders.

Mary Kelleher's motive?

“In my personal struggles with flooding, I had a lot of trouble getting anybody to help me. It seemed that the real public, people like myself, were under-represented. I want to be in a position where I can make some change.”

Mary and her neighbors have experienced flooding ever since a natural gas pipeline and a gas well site access road were constructed and started damming up floodwater on to her property.

Mary and her neighbors acknowledge that some flooding has always occurred  at their location in the Trinity River flood plain.

However, the flooding became much worse and occurred much more frequently after the pipeline and access road altered the landscape.

Mary turned to governmental agencies for help. To no avail.

Being a political neophyte Mary Kelleher did not realize that in Texas many government agencies responsible for protecting the public have been co-opted and corrupted by various entities, like Barnett Shale Natural Gas Drillers.

I don't know at what point in time Mary Kelleher realized the foxes had been put in charge of the henhouses, but when that  point in time came, Mary Kelleher decided she was going to do what she could to get some of those foxes out of the henhouses.

Hence, Mary Kelleher's motivation to seek a seat on the Tarrant Regional Water District Board where she can be the type advocate she was unable to find when she found her property being flooded, over and over again.

Walking With Wildflowers & Indian Ghosts After Voting For Basham, Nold & Kelleher

Prior to getting my daily aerobically induced endorphins I did my civic duty and voted for Basham, Nold & Kelleher for the Tarrant Regional Water District Board.

Prior to voting I met a local political celebrity. More on that in a subsequent blogging.

I do early voting at the Handley Community Center. Early voting uses these video game type voting machines. One would think I would remember how these video game type voting machines work, but I always seem to spend a second or two a bit bum puzzled.

This time the bum puzzlement came from the code entering part of the process that one must do before doing the voting. My code was 5099. But, I somehow read that as 5009. I caught my error before hitting the enter button.

The only other thing on the ballot, besides the Water Board, was two choices for City Council. Danny Scarth, I think that's how you spell the last name, and some guy I'd never heard of. I knew Danny Scarth is the incumbent and I knew I did not want to vote for him. Since I knew nothing about the other guy, I did not vote for a city councilman.

The ladies who run the early voting always seem to be having themselves a real fine time.

After doing my civic duty I drove to Arlington to the Village Creek Natural Historical Area to have myself a pleasant walk with the Native American Ghosts who haunt this location.

As you can see an orange yellow wildflower is now dominating the Village Creek Natural Historical Area's Wildflower Area.

Ally Collins Can Not Vote So I'm Voting Basham-Nold-Kelleher For The TRWD Board In Her Memory

In the past few days I have been annoyed a time or two when I've read shills for the TRWD Board dismiss the B-N-K sweep out the corruption slate as being made up of a bunch of Tea Party nutjobs.

A couple minutes ago I learned I was not the only one who finds these Tea Party dismissive jabs as being moronic low blows, when I read the following...

While the BNK candidates do have support from the Tea Party, they also have support from the Republican Party, the Democratic Party and the Libertarian Party.  They know water is nonpartisan.  You'd think a "news" paper writer would know that.

I believe the "news" paper writer being referred to is Bud Kennedy. I have read Bud Kennedy refer to the B-N-K group as Tea Partiers.

I think I am part of the B-N-K group. I am definitely not a Tea Partier. If anything I'm the opposite of that mindset. If had to politically label myself I think I would call myself a Progressive Liberal Democrat sort of person.

The TRWD Board shills seem to think that there is some sort of dark conspiracy of ulterior motives that is hitting them out of the blue. Allow me to disabuse that notion.

On June 18, 2007 four year old Ally Collins was snatched from her home by a rampaging, flash flooding Whites Branch Creek in Haltom City. The drowning of Ally Collins, along with the flash flood property damage from Whites Branch Creek and Big Fossil Creek and the follow up non-action by those whose responsibility it is to help mitigate flood dangers, galvanized the citizen reaction you are seeing in this TRWD Board election.

Back in 2010 Adrian Murray gave a speech which clearly articulates why so many voters are completely disgusted by the corrupt Tarrant Regional Water District. You can read Adrian Murray's speech in its entirety here, and a relevant excerpt below...

The Tarrant Regional Water District is responsible for flood control in the areas under its domain. It, along with the Army Corps of Engineers, had been studying the persistent flooding in the Big Fossil Creek watershed for decades. Yet nothing was ever done for, as the residents in the area were told, the money just wasn't there.

For all of Ally's short life, the focus of the TRWD had been on something not in its charter: commercial real estate development. Disguised as flood control, the project known as the Trinity River Vision was given birth by the Fort Worth City Council just days after Ally was born. The project consumed the energy, resources and time of the water district's management and board, funneling hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars into a grand scheme to construct a town lake at the confluence of the Clear Fork and West Fork of the Trinity River where Fort Worth itself had been born. The watershed to the north could wait.

A feasibility study for the watershed had been initiated by the US Army Corps of Engineers in February 2001. In a letter to Congresswoman Kay Granger in November 2009, Col. Richard Muraski of the Corps stated that, "Due to a variety of issues, including a lack of consistent funding, higher priority work and technical shortcomings, completion of the study has taken longer than normal." He went on to state that the Corp recognized the "history of destructive flooding" in the area and that approximately $100,000 would be provided to "continue the studies of the Big Fossil Creek watershed."

Meanwhile, $54 million has been spent to date by the TRWD on the Trinity River Vision and the Corps of Engineers has committed $110 million to this alleged flood control project, in an area that hasn't had a significant flood in over 60 years. The project has an estimated budget of $909 million, a figure which is sure to rise.

Ally Collins could have known none of this, of course. She was just a little girl, with little girl dreams. We will never know with certainty if Ally would still be with us today if the Corps of Engineers had not been shackled with a lack of consistent funding and higher priority work. We can say, however, with some certainty, that Ally's destiny was determined in the days just after she was born, when matters of priority and profit, prestige and power, influence and arrogance merged together in the great confluence of corruption and greed that would one day sweep her away in the great dark waters of fate.

In a few minutes Progressive Liberal Democratic me is taking off to do my early voting duty for Basham, Nold and Kelleher.

And now you know why I am voting to vote the rascals out, hoping to replace them with decent, caring humans who might help prevent any future Ally's from meeting a similar horrific fate.

Captain Clean Wants You To Know Who Is Paying To Keep The Current TRWD Board Intact

Captain Clean is the most politically vocal 5 year old I have ever heard shout. Today Captain Clean was not happy about the following 6 paragraphs that appeared in today's Fort Worth Star-Telegram in an article titled Big money is pouring into the race for Tarrant Regional Water District board.

Mailings from water board members who are not running for office hinted that Bennett was contributing to Basham’s campaign, but Basham vehemently denied that, saying he is working with a PAC, HillCo Partners, and with a firm, K C Consulting in Austin.

“I am not getting anything from Monty Bennett. I went out and found a PAC that stood for open and honest government. I wasn’t going to run unless I had the means to go up against the powers that be,” Basham said.

Records show that Basham is getting donations primarily from two sources, both outside Tarrant County — HillCo and Bray.

Bray, the $100,000 contributor, owns the Barefoot Ranch, which is in the path of the Integrated Pipeline.

The incumbents are getting funds from various donors and lending money to their campaigns, records show.

Basham responds to the criticism about his out-of-county donations by pointing out that the incumbents have gotten out-of-state donations, as well as financial support from contractors with ties to the water district.

The Star-Telegram told you who some of Basham's donors are, but were not specific regarding the mountain of conflicts of interest type donations received by the TRWD Incumbents.

I received the following information about the TRWD donors yesterday....

WANT TO KNOW WHO IS PAYING FOR THE CURRENT TRWD BOARD MEMBERS TO STAY IN PLACE? HERE IS A LIST OF DONORS TO THEIR CAMPAIGNS FILED MAY 3,2013 AT THE 5PM DEADLINE .... SEE A PATTERN?

FREESE & NICHOLS PAC - FT WORTH - (DESIGN AND ENGINEERING CONTRACTOR WITH AWARDS FROM TRWD)

ROBERT SMITH - DALLAS - (PRINCIPAL - HALLIBURTON TECHNICAL SERVICES)

DANIEL BUHMAN - COPPELL - (CONTRACTOR WATER ENGINEER WITH CONTRACTS FOR IPL FROM TRWD/DWU)

JAMES J. PARRISH - ALLEN - (LAND SURVEYING / ENGINEERING FIRM CONTRACTS TRWD)

EDWARD MOTLEY - ARLINGTON - (VICE PRESIDENT - CH2M HILL / CONTRACTS WITH TRWD FOR WATER ENGINEERING)

GREGORY WELCH - MCKINNEY - (GEOGRAPHIC MANAGER - CH2M HILL / CONTRACTS WITH TRWD FOR WATER ENGINEERING)

BRINTON PAYNE - FT WORTH - (TRWD PAID REGISTERED LOBBYIST)

KATHY BEREK - FT WORTH - (DIRECTOR OF SPECIAL PROJECTS TRWD)

SHANNA CATE - FT WORTH - (PLANNING DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR TRINITY RIVER VISION)

MINDY ELLMER - FT WORTH - (REGISTERED LOBBYIST TRWD)

HOPPER SMITH - EDMOND OK - (PRINCIPAL - STRATEGIC ENERGY RESOURCES)

LOCKWOOD, ANDREWS, AND NEWMAN PAC - HOUSTON - (ENGINEERING CONTRACTOR)

CHARLIE GEREN - FT WORTH - (STATE REP)

WAYNE OWEN - FT WORTH - (PLANNING DIRECTOR TRWD)

HAYDN CUTLER - FT WORTH - (DEVELOPER AT MARINE CREEK & DOWNTOWN FTW)

JULIE WILSON - FT WORTH - (VICE PRESIDENT OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT CHESAPEAKE ENERGY FT WORTH)

DAVID YANKE - AUSTIN - (BRANCH MANAGER SAIC ENGINEERING / AWARDED IPL CONTRACT FROM TRWD)

CH2M PAC - DALLAS - (CONTRACTOR WITH AWARDS FROM TRWD)

CP&Y INC PAC - DALLAS - (DESIGN AND ENGINEERING FIRM)

HALFF ASSOCIATES PAC - RICHARDSON - (DESIGN AND ENGINEERING FIRM)

CDM SMITH PAC - HOUSTON - (DESIGN AND ENGINEERING CONTRACTOR WITH AWARDS FROM TRWD)

DONALD D'ADAM - AUSTIN - (ENGINEER ATKINS NORTH AMERICA - WATER ENGINEERING CONTRACTOR)

BRAD GORRONDONA - BURLESON - (OWNER GORRONDONA & ASSOCIATES - GEO TECH ENGINEERING)

THOMAS CAVER - AUSTIN - (OWNER CAVER & ASSOCIATES WATER RESOURCES CONSULTING)

TIMOTHY PETRUS - FT WORTH - (PRINCIPAL / MORNING STAR PARTNERS - OIL & GAS EXPLORATION)

KEVIN PATRICK - ASPEN CO - (ATTORNEY / WATERLAW PATRICK, MILLER, KROPF, & NOTO - WATER ATTORNEY)

DAVID PETTIT - FT WORTH - (PRINCIPAL / BENNET, BENNET, & PETTIT ARCHITECT AND PLANNERS)

MICHAEL BENNETT - FT WORTH - (PRINCIPAL / BENNET, BENNET, & PETTIT ARCHITECT AND PLANNERS)

BOOTH AHRENS WERKENTHIN - AUSTIN - (ENVIRONMENTAL LAW FIRM)

WILLIAM DILLON - PROSPER - (COO SR VP / BROWN & GAY ENGINEERS - CIVIL ENGINEERING - CONTRACTS AWARDED BY TRWD)

DORIAN FRENCH - DALLAS - (SR VP MAJOR PROJECTS / BROWN & GAY ENGINEERS - CIVIL ENGINEERING - CONTRACTS AWARDED BY TRWD)

CARL KROGNESS - FT WORTH (PROJECT MANAGER / BROWN & GAY ENGINEERS - CIVIL ENGINEERING - CONTRACTS AWARDED BY TRWD)

One of those on this list stuck out to me....

SHANNA CATE - FT WORTH - (PLANNING DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR TRINITY RIVER VISION)

Why would the Planning Director of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle want to make a donation to help with the re-election of the TRWD Board Members? Job insurance for herself? Job insurance for a friend? Or a boyfriend? Did her boyfriend's mother tell her to make a donation?

And how much money did Shanna donate?

J.D. Granger Confuses Smear With Fear In Well Financed TRWD B-N-K Campaign

This morning's Fort Worth Star-Telegram has an article about the TRWD Board election that managed to slightly annoy me.

The article that managed to slightly annoy me is titled, Big money is pouring into the race for Tarrant Regional Water District board.

One of the board incumbents, running for re-election, Vic Henderson, claims the water quality of the Trinity River is much improved from when he began serving on the board in the 1980s, saying, “I know what that river was like. It’s very different than it used to be.”

The Trinity River is different than it used to be? Well, now that totally settles the quality of the water issue.

Apparently the TRWD Board and J.D. Granger are stunned regarding the large amount of money that has been raised by their opponents, particularly John Basham.

J.D. Granger claims "we did not expect a race at all." In that same paragraph I learned that not only is J.D. the executive director of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, he is also the development director for the Tarrant Regional Water District.

Also from J.D....

“And all of a sudden, four or five mailers hit the street. I’ve never seen anything close to this much money spent on a water district election."

As a result, the incumbents are suddenly playing catch-up, and the district “is staring at a well-funded smear campaign.”

As opposed to the incumbents underfunded smear campaign?

The Star-Telegram neglects to mention the fact that the TRWD Board is being sued for over 300 violations of the Texas Open Meetings law.

Speaking of which,  does anyone have the public record of the Open Meeting the TRWD Board held when they discussed why it was a good idea to give the unqualified, un-experienced, J.D. Granger the job of TRV Boondoggle executive director?

The TRWD Board people have been in brouhaha mode over having the fact that they bought a helicopter brought to the attention of the voting public.

The following 2 paragraphs in the Star-Telegram article particularly vexed me...

TRWD Helicopter

Jim Lane, who serves on the water board and is a candidate in the District 2 Fort Worth City Council race, told the Star-Telegram Thursday that Basham’s mailings are spreading lies suggesting that the district bought a multimillion-dollar helicopter. The mailer showed a large helicopter with leather interior.

The $440,000 helicopter owned by the water district does not boast any leather seats. It is used to fly over and inspect pipelines and facilities that are not easy to reach on roads.

I have received all the B-N-K mailings. I have seen no photo of a large helicopter in any of the B-N-K mailings. I have seen a photo of part of the interior of a helicopter in one of the B-N-K mailings. No where have I seen a claim made that the TRWD bought a multi-million dollar helicopter. I have read mention made of leather seats. And that the TRWD Board uses their helicopter to fly to a private deer hunting location.

I thought it odd that Jim Lane was all adamant about the leather seats, but made no mention of the deer hunting.

Look at the picture above, which I took from the controversial campaign mailer that the TRWD Board spent your tax dollars on, and see if you think that those seats look like they may be leather covered.

I  find Jim Lane's explaining that the almost half a million dollar helicopter is needed to inspect pipelines and facilities without road access to be troubling.

Has the TRWD always had a helicopter, all the way back to its inception? One must assume so, what with those hard to get to pipelines needing to be inspected.

So, the TRWD Board spent almost a half a million dollars to buy the helicopter. How much is spent on fuel each year? How much is a pilot paid?

Here's what I'm thinking. Would it not be a wiser use of taxpayer money to invest that half million dollars in some interest generating instrument, and then use the interest on that investment to hire a couple people to walk the sections of pipeline that one can not drive to? I am sure there are a lot of currently unemployed people who would love the job of hiking to inspect pipelines.

After all, we learned in the notorious Betsy Price TRWD Water Protection Team mailer that the Tarrant Regional Water District provides wise and conservative stewardship of our tax dollars....

The hubris gives me a headache.

Captain Clean Again Accurately Aims His Plunger At The TRWD Board

This morning, before heading to the pool for my morning swim, I was directed to read an article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram titled Big money is pouring into the race for Tarrant Regional Water District board.

That article contained some major distortions from TRWD board members, ironically claiming there have been major distortions in mailers sent out by the B-N-K candidates. More on that later in another blog post.

On my way to the pool I checked my mailbox and found another mailer from Captain Clean and the B-N-K candidates.

I am sure this latest mailer from the B-N-K candidates will have Fort Worth's favorite dowager heiress, Marty Leonard, clutching her pearls.

Again.

Along with fellow pearls clutcher, Kay Granger, with both claiming this mailer is spewing lies.

Marty Leonard and Kay Granger will likely be unable to grasp the ironic hyperbole that Captain Clean is using to make his point on side one of the mailer.

Captain Clean says "Exactly one year ago in Tarrant County...."

And then shares a "letter" from the TRWD Board which says---

Dear Voter,
We decided to cancel the 2012 scheduled elections because we need more time to come up with excuses for our terrible record in office. We'll see you in May 2013.
Sincerely,
The TRWD Board

Moving on to side two of today's mailer from the B-N-K candidates...

Captain Clean's headline is "TARRANT REGIONAL WATER DISTRICT BOARD MEMBERS THINK THEY ARE ABOVE THE LAW!"

Captain Clean goes on to elaborate...

"In 2012, the TRWD Board canceled their own elections because they thought no one was watching. But the truth is, we are watching. The TRWD Board has been recently sued for more than 300 violations of Texas  law for holding secret meetings!"

"The only way to stop the corruption on the current TRWD Board  is to vote for three (3) new board members in this May's election. Vote for Captain Clean's trusted allies - Basham, Nold and Kelleher - to clean up the TRWD and put our water supply first!"

Captain Clean could have also mentioned that complaints have been filed against each TRWD board member with the Texas Ethics Commission due to TRWD's misuse of public funds in printing and mailing a 10 page 4 color glossy brochure promoting the Board of Directors just days before early voting begins in the board election.

Tonight Facebook Informed Me I Was Not Invited To A Party But Am Party To The TRWD Resistance

I had not visited Facebook today til a couple minutes ago. My Facebook visit brought me a couple surprises.

One surprise was to learn that a party took place today at the Mary Kelleher Ranch on Randol Mill Road, a short distance from my abode.

Mary Kelleher has a very meager voting record and is running for a seat on the Tarrant Regional Water District Board. Hence this party, to which I was not invited, which was in support of the effort to get elected.

The other Facebook surprise came from someone named Bud Kennedy. Bud Kennedy made a Facebook post because he said some readers wanted to see a map, again, of "who gets to vote in the water board election. (Only taxpayers get to vote, not customers.)"

The part of the above in quotes is directly quoting what Bud Kennedy wrote on Facebook.

Only taxpayers get to vote? Not customers?

Then Bud Kennedy commented to his post saying "Always interesting clash between incumbents and Tea Partiers. Clyde Picht won almost 6 years ago, but challengers didn't do as well last time. Early voting has been very heavy, which does not bode well for incumbents."

I really don't think the Tea Party has much of anything to do with those trying to unseat the TRWD incumbents. The Tea Party is so 2010. It is now 2013.

Then this guy named Rick made a comment on Bud Kennedy's post that was just a tad scary. Rick said, "If the majority of that board turns over to people that have an axe to grind, want to protect water for dallas we will be in trouble, no one pays any attention to trwd because they do such a good job. makes you wonder what organized resistance is trying to put over on the public."

When I read what Rick wrote it brought to mind a blog post I made back on March 13 titled Combined With Dallas Fort Worth Is One Of America's Least Favorite Cities in which we learned, via extensive scientific study, that of the top 35 Metro areas in America, Dallas/Fort Worth is the Least Intelligent.

Let's just ignore Rick's capitalization and punctuation shortcomings. Organized resistance? Protect water for Dallas? No one pays attention to the TRWD because of the good job they do?

I tell you, an uninformed public, ill served by their local media, unable to figure out they are being propagandized, or confused by the propaganda, like confused Rick's obvious misunderstanding of what the Dowager Heiress, Marty Leonard, actually said regarding her allegation about a Dallas businessman being the nefarious money source for what Rick thinks is the resistance, is a sad thing to witness.

I actually sort of like the "resistance" metaphor. I do see some commonality between the current TRWD and the end days of the USSR. Gorbachev brought Glasnost to the Soviet system. The Soviet system could not withstand Glasnost, which means Openness, in English.

Methinks the current TRWD will suffer a similar fate from Glasnost. With over 300 Open Meetings violations, the TRWD doomsday clock is ticking down. When the "resistance" gets on the TRWD Board, transparency will arrive at the TRWD. All the secret backroom deals will see the light of day and all the cockroaches will scurry as quick as they can, back to the cover of darkness.

Or a jail cell.....

Hiking The Tandy Hills Thinking About A Stone Monument To A Pearls Clutching Fort Worth Dowager Heiress

Today was the first time I have been on the Tandy Hills in 3 weeks.

A lot more wildflowers were blooming this Saturday than 3 Saturdays ago. But, the wildflower display is being a bit paltry, this year, compared to previous years.

In addition to a lot more wildflowers the other thing I noticed today that was not there 3 weeks ago was the stone statue monument you see in the picture.

Is this stone statue a monument representing Marty Leonard?

Today whilst getting my daily dose of endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation and the improved mood that comes with the endorphins I found myself dwelling on the absurdity of the propaganda letter I got yesterday from the Fort Worth Dowager Heiress, Marty Leonard, she being on the Tarrant Regional Water District Board, a position, near as I can tell, she is qualified to hold only due to the fact that she was elected to the position.

And yet this self-entitled Dowager Heiress gives herself permission to judge who is qualified or un-qualified to get elected to her board.

I continue to be amazed that this woman had the bad judgement to put the following words in a letter mailed to the masses...

"We cannot risk having unqualified candidates elected to our Board."

Marty Leonard opines it is risky to have unqualified candidates elected to her Board?

While Marty Leonard thinks it is perfectly okay to risk appointing an unqualified person to run the billion dollar TRWD project known as the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle?

In her propaganda letter Marty Leonard character assassinates the three Incumbent Opponents, saying one is a bankrupt candidate, one is a deadbeat and another has a meager voting record.

Morally bankrupt hubris from a pearls clutching self-entitled Dowager Heiress.

If I was a candidate would Marty Leonard clutch her pearls and attempt to assassinate my character with the shocking news that 4 years ago a Fort Worth cop gave me a ticket because I was not wearing a seatbelt? While driving too slow?

Fort Worth's Grande Dames of Obfuscating Obtuseness Aggravate Me

Above you are looking at side one of the latest TRWD Opponents B-N-K Mailer. This mailer arrived in my mailbox yesterday, along with an inflammatory letter from TRWD Board Member, Marty Leonard, she being Fort Worth's favorite pearls clutching self-entitled dowager heiress.

I blogged  about my disdain for Marty Leonard's sleazy smear tactics in a blog post titled The TRWD Election Propaganda Spewings Of Self-Entitled Dowager Heiress Marty Leonard.

After Elsie Hotpepper read what I thought about Marty Leonard's sleazy smearing Elsie text messaged me "I'm going to go out on a limb here and say Marty Leonard pissed you off. LOL!!!."

As usual, Elsie Hotpepper is correct. I was extremely offput by Marty Leonard's letter, with its falsehoods,  propaganda, smears and shear gall.

Both Marty Leonard and her co-conspirator, Kay Granger, make allegations about negative and false propaganda, misinformation and flat out lies supposedly being mailed out by the B-N-K Opponents. Yet neither of these Grande Dames go to the bother of providing any facts to substantiate their allegations.

The latest B-N-K mailer, as you can read above, says "The Tarrant Regional Water District has been sued for more than 300 violations of Texas law for holding secret meetings."

That's a fact, you Grande Dames of Obfuscating Obtuseness. To say the Tarrant Regional Water District has been sued for more than 300 violations of Texas law for holding secret meetings is a fact, not propaganda, not misinformation, not a lie. It's a fact.

Facts are something I think maybe pearls clutching Grande Dames of Obfuscation are not very comfortable with.

On side two of the latest TRWD Opponents B-N-K  Mailer  Captain Clean boldly asserts that "ONLY YOU CAN HELP CAPTAIN CLEAN STOP THE CORRUPTION AND MISMANAGEMENT AT THE TRWD!"

What Captain Clean boldly asserts is yet one more fact that likely makes the Grande Dames of Obfuscation uncomfortable.

On Thursday, after finding a mailer from the TRWD Board Incumbents in my mailbox I wrote a post titled Betsy Price Should Think Twice Before Joining A Floundering Local Water Protection Team About To Get Flushed.

In that blog post I really did not do justice in my attempt to ridicule that part of the mailer where there is a list of 4 things the TARRANT REGIONAL WATER  DISTRICT PROVIDES. Below is that list...

1. A safe, reliable supply of water to meet the current and future needs of our families and businesses.
2. An extremely effective and extensive flood control system that protects our homes and property.
3. Extensive water conservation efforts that protect our environment and water supplies for future generations.
4. Wise and conservative stewardship of our tax dollars.

This morning on the Star-Telegraph, in a blog post titled Say it again, I saw that one of Fort Worth's wisest treasures, Don Woodard, has done justice, in the ridiculing department, regarding the TRWD Board Member Incumbent's list of 4 things the TRWD provides....

1. None of the incumbents had anything to do with building the lakes with which we draw our water: Lake Worth; Lake Bridgeport; Eagle Mountain; Richland-Chambers; Cedar Creek. Our fathers built them. The incumbents are engrossed in building a 33-acre Casino Lake for tourists.
2. Jim Wright, dating from the 1949 flood, is whom I give credit for our levees and flood control. The Star-Telegram reported June 12, 2005 that the Army Corps of Engineers had a plan to control any realistic flooding problem for $10 million.
3. Extensive water conservation efforts. The Lawn Whisperer. Is that it?
4. Wise and conservative stewardship of our tax dollars? Like the goofy billion dollar Trinity Uptown earmark boondoggle?

I will be glad when this election is over.

Don't forget to vote for Basham, Nold and Kelleher to Flush the TRWD.