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....

Flood Of Conflict Of Vested Interest Dollars Pollute TRWD Incumbents Lane & Leonard's Re-Election Scheme

I saw that which you see here on Facebook this morning. It came to Facebook from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram via an article about the over half million dollars the TRWD board incumbents have collected from those with a vested interest in making sure the incumbents get re-elected and thus keep that TRWD money flowing to those with the vested interests who are financing the Lane/Leonard campaigns.

The link to the Star-Telegram's TRWD board race brings in big money from big names article seems to be working, allowing you to read all about the "big money" being funneled to the TRWD incumbents, with some of that money coming from evil Dallas, but not that evil Dallas businessman, Monty Bennett.

One of the evil Dallas businessmen funneling funds to Lane and Leonard has the familiar last name of Perot.

Why is it okay in the TRWD apologist's shady eyes for Ross Perot Jr. to donate money to support TRWD candidates, without Perot being accused of trying to take over the board, or making the donation so as to continue currying favor with the TRWD? What is Perot's vested interest?

The over half million dollars funneled to the campaigns of Jim Lane and Marty Leonard dwarf the dollars that Monty Bennett has donated to the worthy cause of electing Craig Bickley and Michele Von Luckner.

Below are some voter's comments from the Facebook TRWD Big Money posting....

2 shares

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  Bob Horton Wow! Over $550,000!

  13 hrs · Like
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  Miki Hojnacki Von Luckner Dallas money?!?! Well how dare they let those yucky, evil Dallas folks put money in this campaign. Tsk tsk... Pot calling kettle....

  13 hrs · Like · 1
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  Mary Kelleher Anyone want to guess why those 2 seats are worth so much to the people identified in the story?

  12 hrs · Like
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  Melissa McAdoo-McDougall That's exactly what I noticed Miki. Looks like the FW rich are trying to keep the rich, rich.

  12 hrs · Edited · Like
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  Melissa McAdoo-McDougall What ticks me off is how they mention in the article all the ritzy neighborhoods as being in the voting district and once again do not recognize the Eastside of FW. I think we need to show them how many votes the Eastside can produce and vote for Bickley and Von Luckner!

  12 hrs · Edited · Like · 2
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  Bob Horton Lots and lots of votes matter!

  12 hrs · Like
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  Mary Kelleher Our eastside is underestimated.....time to show the good ole boys what the eastside can do together!

  12 hrs · Like · 3
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  Norma Mascorro Keyser Why only part of River Oaks gets a vote?

  5 hrs · Like
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  Brian Henry Tell me who to vote for.

  4 hrs · Like · 1
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  Jayne Marshall So now we see who is "buying" the Board. Looks to me like the incumbents are being bought by the big Ft. Worth $$$$ !!!

The TRWD Incumbent's River Vision Is A Deceitful Foolish Boondoggle But Vote For Them Anyway

A couple hours ago Elsie Hotpepper sent me a link to some letters to the editor in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

I can not share that link because the Star-Telegram insists you be a subscriber to read their secret content. When Elsie Hotpepper wants me to read something in the Star-Telegram she sends me a "magic" link which lets me check out the Star-Telegram without being a subscriber, but if I put that same link in this blogging, it won't work. Which is what makes it an Elsie Hotpepper "magic" link.

Anyway, on to the subject of the "magic" link.

So, I really do sort of find it exhausting processing the thought processes of some people's thinking when it comes to the TRWD board and the upcoming election.

Case in point, letter #1, which I screen capped above, and copy below....

Water board election

The Trinity River project is a deceitful, wasteful boondoggle that will be a disaster if it fails and will enrich the well-connected if it succeeds, while destroying the confluence that led to the founding of Fort Worth.

I wish I could vote against its supporters, Marty Leonard and Jim Lane, in the Tarrant Regional Water Board election.

However, Monty Bennett is a Dallas businessman who, to avoid having a pipeline buried beneath his ranch, would deprive 1.7 million people of access to a vitally needed resource. He’s bankrolling Leonard’s and Lane’s principal opponents.

If they win, a private citizen will have successfully gained control of a unit of government to avoid obeying the same laws as the rest of us. That’s worse than the Trinity Mud Puddle.

I urge voters to hold their noses and vote for Leonard and Lane, even though I think they’ve behaved foolishly. The alternative is unacceptable.

— George Michael Sherry, Fort Worth

Where do I start? First off, are the TRWD propaganda-ists getting more twistedly clever with their propaganda, is that what the above letter is evidence of?

Second off the letter writer makes the case that something is amiss with the water board and verbalizes his wish that he could vote against the pair of TRWD lackeys running for re-election, Jim Lane and Marty Leonard.

And then the letter writer brings up the Dallas businessman bogeyman, Monty Bennett, claiming Bennett is bankrolling the opposition so as to deprive 1.7 million people access to a vital resource, meaning water. And that if Bennett, and his co-conspirators, win, they will have gained control of a unit of government, meaning the TRWD, and thus avoid obeying the same laws as the rest of us.

Avoid obeying the same laws as the rest of us? That does not even remotely make sense. What laws do the rest of us "avoid obeying"?

What law is Monty Bennett avoiding? Monty Bennett lives in this county called the United States of America. That country gives its citizens the right to seek redress in the court system when a citizen feels his rights are being trampled on.

If you own property and if some entity, governmental or non-governmental, tries to take or use your property, you have the right to protect your property by any legal means at your disposal.

Monty Bennett tried to work with the TRWD to find a solution. Monty Bennett suggested alternatives. The TRWD arrogantly turned a deaf ear. The TRWD brought upon itself Monty Bennett deciding to use the courts to protect his property and get a fair hearing of his grievances.

The pipeline the TRWD wants to run across Bennett's ranch connects to a reservoir which I do not believe yet exists. The pipeline/reservoir project is a cooperative enterprise with Dallas as a partner.

Yes, evil Dallas.

Which is another thing that really sickens me with this maddeningly stupid TRWD incumbent propaganda, that being the use of "Dallas" as an identifier as to what type businessman Monty Bennett is.

The fact of the matter is one could just as rightly say a Fort Worth businessman is trying to deprive access to water. Or a Texas businessman. Or an American businessman.  Monty Bennett owns property in Dallas, Fort Worth, east Texas and likely other locations in America, or the world, for all I know.

The letter writer urges voters to hold their noses and vote for Leonard and Lane, even though they have behaved foolishly.

Behaved foolishly? I'd love to have that elaborated on.

The alternative is unacceptable? It is unacceptable to elect ethical, well-educated, well respected candidates who are running on the concept that the TRWD should operate in a transparent manner responsive to the needs of those for whom they serve? And not operate as a secretive, crony club rife with backdoor dealings, nepotism and corruption?

The second letter writer is from a voice of reason, who should have been recently elected to replace Fort Worth's Queen Mother of Nepotism....

The Tarrant Regional Water District has delivered its “annual report,” a slick, taxpayer-funded mailer supporting challenged incumbents. It contains not a word on Panther Island, which consumes most of the district’s attention and resources.

It mentions incumbent Marty Leonard’s bachelor’s degree from Southern Methodist University, and bestows on incumbent Jim Lane the unique title of “secretary pro tem.”

The four status-quo members are nicely flowered. Mary Kelleher, the only director who has challenged the status quo, and who has led the charge to inject ethics and transparency into this organization, is listed simply as “director,” with no educational credentials.

With a master’s in educational psychology and certificates in advanced graduate studies, she is likely the most highly educated board member.

Three challengers – Keith Annis, Craig Bickley and Michele Von Luckner, are vying for Leonard’s and Lane’s seats. We must ensure new blood to clean up this corrupt cesspool. Study up, and vote!

— Mark Greene, Fort Worth

I have not yet received the TRWD annual report to which Mr. Greene refers. Imagine that, the annual report contains not a word about the TRWD's imaginary island. Or the little bridge taking four years to build to connect the imaginary island to the mainland.

Is the Panther Island nonsense the type TRWD foolishness the first letter writer was referring to?

I do not know why Keith Annis joined the challenge to the incumbents, after there were already two strong challengers. Having a third challenger dilutes the opposition vote, making it more likely that the incumbents might win again.

Which would not be a good outcome for the future of Fort Worth, or Fort Worth's water.....

Tandy Hill Hiking With Wildflowers Texting Germans & Bacon Hotdogs

Even though a downpour poured down a large volume of water this past Thursday at my location on the planet, I thought, despite thunderstorms being forecast, that today would be a mighty fine time to go do some hill hiking on the Tandy Hills prior to doing some treasure hunting at Town Talk.

Thursday's rain turned out to have had no muddying effect on the Tandy Hills, which resulted in the desired mighty fine hike.

Today the hills were much greener than two Saturdays ago, greener and the hills were alive with the blooming of color. One example of which you can see below.

It is always baffling to me how few locals take advantage of the Tandy Hills for some much needed nature communing on a day as nice as today.

I did come upon two women hiking. The first one was dressed colorfully, topped with a bonnet which was not blue. The second one was texting on her phone as she hiked. I howdied her and told her it was against the law to text while you hiked.

The texting woman acted panicky when I advised her regarding the texting/hiking law, apologizing for her lawbreaking in a thick German accent. I quickly tried to explain that I was joking. I hope I did not cause any sort of international incident.

I forgot to make mention of the Hoodoos, above. That collection of artistically sculpted Hoodoos was located at Hoodoo Central at the north end of the View Street trail.

On the top of Mount Tandy I came upon the beautiful, big, purple wildflower you see below.

This wildflower looked like a flower one might see being grown along with the tulips in the flower fields in my old home zone of the Skagit Valley in Washington.

Town Talk was uneventful today. I got a bag of carrots, some honey lemon yogurt, swiss cheese, a bag of whole grain bagels and bacon hotdogs. Bacon hotdogs may turn out to be problematic, but when I saw them I was hungry and the concept sounded good.

I will soon know if the bacon hotdog concept turns out to be good in reality, because they are on the lunch menu.

Is Fort Worth Weekly Suggesting Mary Kelleher Symbolically Scoops Corruption Sludge From The Trinity River?

With this week's Fort Worth Weekly I had not previously paid any attention to the artwork on this week's cover, what with my attention drawn to the TRWD typo and the article which the cover artwork apparently represents.

It was not til this morning I looked down to see Fort Worth Weekly laying on the floor to find myself wondering what is that cover artwork supposed to be telling us?

Is that redhead at the lower right supposed to be Tarrant Regional Water District board member, Mary Kelleher?

With Mary Kelleher scooping some symbolic sludge corruption from the polluted Trinity River while bundles of dollars are flushed down the river?

Or is that supposed to be a redheaded J.D. Granger scooping a handful of gold, for his personal use, from the polluted Trinity, while taxpayer dollars are flushed down the river, eventually floating under the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's three little bridges currently being constructed to connect to an imaginary island in four years?

Anyone else wondering what this Fort Worth Weekly cover is trying to tell us?