History Lesson

Read the Letter to the Editor in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

YOU can't afford not to.

Wasting water

Someone once said, "Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink!"

There is an extreme lack of drinking water throughout the world, and we in the U.S. are a wasteful water nation -- homes, lawns, industries, water parks etc. And yes, the Trinity River Vision costing millions that should be spent for water projects 10, 20 and more years coming!

Think ahead not for ourselves but our future children's children!

Not meaning to be biblical, but if the Earth once was destroyed by water could it be destroyed by a lack of water?

-- George J. Anthony, Fort Worth

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One boondoggle after another...

It's the Fort Worth Way.

This very same writer once told you - "Don't be afraid of the rising cost of Trinity River Vision".  Now he's pissed about the rising cost of TCC?

Really?  Didn't see that coming?

Nothing costs what the "leaders" of the projects say they will.  WHO pays the price?  All of us.

Read about it in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

TCC's psyche and credibility are still recovering from the fiasco on the bluffs, the downtown construction project whose soaring costs gave the district a black eye. That project, the Trinity River East Campus, finally opened to students last week.

TCC is running away from that number as fast as it can. The figure was a placeholder, not a true estimate, spokesman Frank Griffis said. Indeed, a footnote in the CFO's slide show states that the "construction amounts are only for discussion purposes."

Then how about discussing the original budget number while they were at it?

The three public anchors were supposed to be finished by 2005. But the project hasn't delivered as expected, not with the economic shocks of the past decade. The city extended the time frame, waiting for more development and tax revenue.

But there's no guarantee. And it's more important, politically and economically, that TCC live within its means. If it can't build a nice hall for $8.3 million, it could ask North Richland Hills to throw in a little more.

Maybe, but the problem here isn't the idea of a performing arts center. It's the rising price.

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What can citizens do??

Something.

Anything...

Look what THEY did.

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Happy 129th Labor Day America

The first big Labor Day in the United States was observed on September 5, 1882, by the Central Labor Union of New York. It became a federal holiday in 1894, when, following the deaths of a number of workers at the hands of the U.S. military and U.S. Marshals during the Pullman Strike, President Grover Cleveland reconciled with the labor movement. Fearing further conflict, legislation making Labor Day a national holiday was rushed through Congress unanimously and signed into law a mere six days after the end of the strike. The September date originally chosen by the CLU of New York and observed by many of the nation's trade unions for the past several years was selected rather than the more widespread International Workers' Day because Cleveland was concerned that observance of the latter would stir up negative emotions linked to the Haymarket Affair, which it had been observed to commemorate. All U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and the territories have made Labor Day a statutory holiday.

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Promised Road

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram made us laugh.  The "street monster" is coming...

For more than two years, a big, hungry monster has dogged every meeting of the Fort Worth City Council. Only occasionally have council members talked about it, but the monster's low growl and hot, heavy breath have been a constant part of their lives.

The monster is a $1 billion gap between what's needed for major street repair, maintenance and construction and what's anticipated to be available next year and in future years.

Next question, how much is the gap with drainage?  Several years ago, it was a billion, too.

Previous councils share the blame for creating this monster. Since 1995, they reduced the share of the property tax rate that goes to pay off debt.

If we're not paying our bills and we're not fixing roads and infrastructure...WHERE is OUR money going??

Councilman Sal Espino, whose north side District 2 has probably the city's worst street problems, sided with other council members against the new fee, but he was clearly reluctant.

Housing growth in District 2 boomed before the national recession hit. As Espino put it, "We allowed these massive subdivisions to be built on two-lane county roads."

WE did?  WHY would WE do that?  Wasn't Sal out on the side of the road with the Mayor asking for money and making promises to fix it years ago?

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"Town Hall's are for rookies"

Maybe the term was freshman, but you get the drift.

WHO works for WHO, exactly?

Read it in the Fort Worth Weekly.

Normally in August, lawmakers go back to their districts to make nice with constituents. This year, though, an estimated 40 to 60 percent of members — from both parties and both houses — are planning none of the town hall meetings usual for the season.

When they skip recess, you know they must have dropped the Dippity-Do in a bad, bad place.

Here in U.S. Rep. Kay Granger’s district, for instance, we expected her to come home, press the flesh, be seen, answer questions, just be available.

But Granger is nowhere to be found. I and others have tried to find out when she will make an appearance. We called her office. We checked everywhere we could think of for events she might attend. No luck.

It reminds me of the “Where’s Waldo?” game. She isn’t in her office. Staffers said she had no town halls scheduled, though they did say she would be doing some “by phone.” Her workers let folks concerned over the budget/debt fiasco sign a sheet in her office.

Then there are those public servants who have the audacity to charge voters for the privilege of  attending a town hall. U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan’s only public recess meeting will be with the Rotarians, where the fee (“for food”) is  $15 to ask questions of the House Budget Committee chairman. 

Granger’s folks said they didn’t know when that telephonic town hall would be scheduled. Then last week I received a notice of an “Alzheimer’s Association Town Hall Meeting,” set for Aug.31 at the University of North Texas Health Science Center. It listed Granger among the distinguished guests. Those who attend will have the “opportunity to ... give your input” regarding the disease.

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What he said

See the Letters to Editor today, this one speaks volumes. Also, don't miss the ones about the TCC tax increase. 

Spending priorities

Fort Worth's public educational system is in shambles, but spending $9.2 million on a new state park is deemed to be more important.

In these fiscal times, do we really need another state park, just 20 miles south of Possum Kingdom state park, more than we need better schools for our kids?

One has to wonder how many other such expenditures are being made with no consideration for whether they could be put to better use, both locally and on a national level.

Our elected officials keep telling us they need more revenue and, when they don't get it, they cut essential services instead of re-examining their spending priorities and cutting or postponing projects and programs that could wait. This mentality has nearly destroyed our economy and sent us into enormous national debt.

We need new leadership, locally and nationally, to rescue us from this abyss.

-- Thomas J. Bazzone, Granbury

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