Duh...

A new study called Family Affair, details the rampant nepotism in Congress.  Which isn't "technically" illegal, but how to YOU feel about paying for it? 

Recently there was the article about how much YOUR Congressperson is bringing home.  Now here's one about how much of YOUR money they are funnelling to their family. 

Guess WHO made the list? 

Even the Fort Worth Star-Telegram gave it a little notice.  YOUR billion dollars got a two sentence mention. 

Two-thirds of the Texans serving in the U.S. House of Representatives -- including three from North Texas -- have relatives who financially benefited from having a legislator in the family over the past four years, according to a report released this week.

The report, titled "Family Affair," was released by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which reviewed documents for nine months. It shows that relatives of 248 members received payments or otherwise benefited because of the lawmaker in their family.

Some payments were not made directly to relatives but may have come through federal funds earmarked to institutions or nonprofit organizations where they work. Or family members may have served as lobbyists or in government relations, actions that are "not illegal, but ripe for abuse," according to the report by the nonprofit ethics group.

Granger was named because she earmarked $30 million in federal funds for a river redevelopment plan in Fort Worth. Her son, J.D. Granger, heads the Trinity River Vision Authority, which is working to make Kay Granger's vision a reality.

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Typical

Both the TIF and the reporting.

Read the article about TIF's not living up to their hype or promises.  The article that then goes on to tell you how much the TIF's should make.  Wait, what??  Typical Fort Worth Way in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. 

It talks about the developers taking risks with TIF's, it doesn't say much about those that fund the TIF.  Yes, it's YOU.

Notice how when they tell you about the Trinity River Vision TIF, they leave out the 40 years it spans (so far).

Does that mean YOUR kids will be sheep too?

Many projections for valuation growth were wildly overoptimistic.

For example, the tax increment finance district, or TIF, that covers east Fort Worth's Woodhaven neighborhood has lost overall property value for two years in a row. And a TIF that was started to attract a Cabela's sporting goods store to far north Fort Worth doesn't generate enough revenue to reimburse the retailer for bond payments tied to the development.

They typically stay in place for 20 years.

But he added, "Nobody predicted the loss of tax base two years in a row," referring to Woodhaven.

Cabela's was touted as a destination that would attract other development and millions of visitors. But there has been no other building.

The TIF, which was challenged in court by a citizens group, was set up to attract the Cabela's project at the northeast corner of I-35W and Texas 170. Cabela's said it wouldn't come to Fort Worth without it.

One of the more ambitious TIFs in terms of funding development is the Trinity River Vision TIF, which spans 3,980 acres from Northeast 23rd Street on the north and West Lancaster Avenue to the south, and includes Gateway Park to the east. The TIF proposes $320 million in spending.

The TIF currently carries costs associated with the Trinity River Vision project and has raised $8.4 million but spent only $2.5 million, the report says.

It started in 2003 with a base property value of $130.7 million.

That grew to $334.8 million in 2010, but expectations are that it could have a taxable value of $2.6 billion by 2044.

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Don't you just Love it?

The Woodshed is back in the spotlight.  Or rather, Tim Love is. 

The DFW.com article goes on and on.  While it did discuss the Tim Love restaurants that didn't survive, (New York City didn't quite love Love) it reminded us of an infomercial.  Well, Love did say he loves to be on TV. You can read it on DFW.com. 

We found a few notes of interest, other than that, more of the Fort Worth Way. 

We do love THE PEOPLE in Fort Worth, their comments are usually right on the money. 

Too many good BBQ places in FTW to be wasting your time with wanna be BBQ at the Woodshed.  The only reason why people go there is to check out the TCU hotties.  Once the hotties move on to the next new place to be seen, the Woodshed will fold.

Timeline:  2011  Star Telegram's  "Battle Of The Burgers"
Timeline:  2012  Star Telegram's  "Battle Of The Barbecue"

And take note of WHO is mentioned in the story.   WHO's money is that?

In early 2000, Love ran into Star-Telegram Eats Beat columnist Bud Kennedy in Milano's, the Seventh Street pizza-and-pasta restaurant not far from Michaels. He told Kennedy that he was a chef and that he was about to open a great new restaurant. Kennedy shrugged it off as a random encounter with a stranger. Six months later, he wrote that Lonesome Dove Western Bistro might be the best of several new restaurants that opened in Fort Worth that year.

The TRVA may have provided nearly a million dollars toward building the structure, but Love points out that he still put a lot of his own money into the project and he feels confident that, in the long run, Woodshed will be seen as a trailblazer along the river.

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Fort Worth Drive-In

Has everybody talking. 

Durango does it again.  YOU don't want to miss it, or the comments.

Yes. That sounds like a good plan, lease land to a startup business starting up a new business they've not started up before. Sounds like a recipe for success. Sort of like building the world's premiere wakeboard park where it can get wiped out by a flood.

The TRV Boondoggle Drive-In propaganda promoters are saying they anticipate around 300,000 TRVBDIT (Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Drive-In Theater) movie goers a year.

That works out to about 822 paying customers a day.

That sounds believable. Sort of like how the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and its propaganda co-horts claimed 7 to 8 million visitors a year to the Fort Worth Cabela's sporting goods store would make Cabela's the top tourist attraction in Texas. With apparently no one doing the math to see how unlikely was a daily average of around 22,000 visitors to a sporting goods store.

Three screens with up to 500 cars each? That'd be 1,500 cars running their A/Cs to keep cool on a HOT Texas summer night. That does not sound very eco-friendly to me.

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More hidden costs of TRV 'Flood Control'

SUBJECT:  Authorize Execution of a Master Utility Agreement with Atmos Energy Outlining Cost-Sharing Responsibilities and Processes for Utility Relocations Required by Trinity River Vision – Central City Project (COUNCIL DISTRICT 2)

RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the City Council authorize the execution of a Master Utility Agreement with Atmos Energy outlining cost-sharing responsibilities and processes for utility relocations required by the Trinity River Vision – Central City Project.

 DISCUSSION: 
On June 3, 2003, (M&C G-13989) the City Council adopted the Trinity River Vision Master Plan as a guide for future development along the Trinity River and its major tributaries. The Tarrant Regional Water District (TRWD), in cooperation with Streams and Valleys, Inc., the United States Army Corps of Engineers and the City of Fort Worth led the effort to prepare the Master Plan.

The Trinity River Vision – Central City Project will alter the flow of the Trinity River at the confluence of the Clear and West Forks near Downtown with a primary purpose of reducing Central City flooding threats. The Project will also better control the flow of the Trinity River so as to allow greater public access to the river, increased recreational opportunities, ecosystem enhancements and an urban waterfront that will enable economic redevelopment efforts. The City Council, the Tarrant County Commissioners Court, the TRWD Board and Streams and Valleys, Inc., have all endorsed the Trinity River Vision – Central City Project.

Over the past year, Atmos and the City have had multiple discussions with respect to who ultimately bears the financial responsibility for an estimated $9 million worth of Atmos utility relocations that are required as a result of the Trinity River Vision – Central City Project. The relocations involve facilities located in public rights-of-way and are necessary for construction of both the bypass channel and related street and bridge work. Due to the difficulty in pinpointing which party has legal responsibility to pay for the relocation of a specific facility and disagreements between the parties over those legal requirements, these discussions have culminated in an Agreement to equally split the cost of all necessary relocations on a 50/50 basis. This settlement has been reached with the primary purpose and intent of completing the project in a timely and successful manner without the need for either party to pursue legal action.

Atmos is expected to invoice the City as work under the Agreement is completed. Invoices will be paid for with funds advanced by TRWD. TRWD will be reimbursed for these expenses under its Agreement with the board of directors of Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone Number Nine, City of Fort Worth, Texas (TRV TIF).  As a result, this Agreement will have no financial impact on the City's general fund or capital improvement funds.

This project is located in COUNCIL DISTRICT 2 and will benefit ALL COUNCIL DISTRICTS.

FISCAL INFORMATION/CERTIFICATION: 
The Financial Management Services Director certifies that this action will have no material effect on City funds.

-------------------------------------

Submitted for City Manager's Office by: Fernando Costa (6122)

Originating Department Head: Randle Harwood (6101)

Additional Information Contact: Mark Rauscher (2446)

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The Latest in Flood Control

A drive-in.  On a river full of feces.

So far the Trinity River Vision flood control pork project has produced a wakeboard park (which flooded), Rockin' on the River (where you float in said feces filled river), a risk free taxpayer funded restaurant in the flood path of said river (built specifically for celebrity chef Tim Love), and a newly created LLC named after said project, purchased the Fort Worth Cats bankrupt baseball team, and now a drive-in theater in Fort Worth.

What does any of that have to do with flood control??    

An article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram actually makes some interesting points.  Not necessarily about the billion dollar, completely taxpayer funded, without a vote, earmarked, eminent domain, nepotism-laden, "flood control" project known as the Trinity River Vision, but interesting, just the same. 

The Tarrant Regional Water District next week will consider entering into a lease with Dallas-based Coyote Theaters for a drive-in theater on vacant land near LaGrave Field.

The drive-in would be there for about 10 years, potentially drawing 300,000 patrons a year to Trinity Uptown. It would also net the water district about $1.7 million in rent, according to information filed with the district.

The drive-in would be called Coyote Theater in Trinity Uptown and would be on part of the 34 acres that the water district bought in 2010 from LaGrave Field owner Carl Bell. The site is near North Calhoun and Northeast Fifth streets, north of downtown Fort Worth.

J.D. Granger, Trinity River development director for the water district, could not be reached for comment Friday. The district is scheduled to consider the proposal Tuesday.

Not much is known about Coyote Theaters, but the Fort Worth site will apparently be its first location. The company does not have a listed phone number.

Coyote Theaters filed incorporation papers with the Texas secretary of state's office Aug. 2 and lists its management as Todd Minnis, Brady Wood, Scott Wilson and Glenn Solomon.

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Fort Worth's Top 15 List

Read Durango's Top 15 list.  Sad, but true. 

Do something about it. 

We won't give you the whole list, because YOU should read the whole post, but here are a few of our favorites.

I don't know if I can come up with 15 reasons Fort Worth is a strange city, but I will try...

1. The downtown park that celebrates Fort Worth's Heritage, and beginnings, is a boarded up, cyclone fence surrounded eyesore.
2. A billion dollars is being spent on a public works project to build a little lake, some canals, an un-needed flood diversion channel and other nonsensical things, in a Boondoggle called the Trinity River Vision that the public has not voted on.
3. The freeway exits to Fort Worth's top tourist attraction, the Fort Worth Stockyards, are un-landscaped, littered, weed infested eyesores.
9. Fort Worth is the world's experimental test tube for urban natural gas shale drilling, with more holes poked than any other city in the world.
12. Fort Worth allows Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats in the Trinity River in which raw sewage is known to flow.

Instead the Fort Worth Star-Telegram has not devoted any ink to doing any investigative reporting of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, the nepotism that gave J.D. Granger the job of running the project, J.D.'s mother Kay's use of earmarks to get federal funds for the project that gave her son a job or any of the other questionable aspects of the TRV Boondoggle that would be questioned by the newspaper in a town with a real newspaper.

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Wanna Wakeboard?

The Cowtown Wakeboard park, part of the Trinity River Vision "flood" control project in Fort Worth, failed to save anyone from flooding today.  Apparently, it couldn't even save itself.

The Trinity River took back the wakeboard park.  And left a sign of just how clean the river is.  Remember that when they invite you to Tube the Trinity during the Rockin' the River events brought to you by the Trinity River Vision Authority and the Tarrant Regional Water District.

With all the flooding footage today, WHY did you not see any of the wakeboard park?  Ask.

While you're at it, ask what it cost YOU and what it's going to cost YOU to repair it.  After all, it's YOUR money.

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Name that Tune

This is from the Associated Press, see if you can tell WHICH city and WHICH project they are referring to -

An ___story skyscraper under construction at _________ will have to stop at seven stories unless the developer can line up more tenants, planners said Monday, adding to problems that have plagued the $___ billion _______ project.

________ Inc. said it is still looking for tenants to fill the first 10 floors of _______, the third-highest building in the planned office complex. Without those leases, the _________ and _______ will not guarantee the financing that _________ needs to finish the building.

Many companies in _______ are reluctant to invest in new offices because of the poor economy, and dozens are negotiating lower rents as five-year leases signed before the housing crash begin to expire. But both _________ and ________ said they are confident the developer can get enough tenants lined up.

"We are currently speaking with a number of potential tenants and remain fully optimistic that we will sign a lease in time to complete the tower as scheduled in 20___," ________, the company's chief executive, said in a written statement.

No, it's not the Trinity River Vision, it's actually the World Trade Center.  The big difference between New York and Texas?  The developers are paying in New York, their Mayor said the city would "not extend any aid to keep it going".  What a novel concept.  What a Mayor.  HOW do we get one of those?

Another difference, when the Port Authority raised its tolls to raise its credit rating, their governors raised the right to look at the "Authority's" finances.  WHO is looking at the Authority's finances here? Remember, it's YOUR money.

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When you're about to lose an election....POSTPONE IT !!!

"A politician thinks of the next election.  A statesman, of the next generation".  James Freeman Clarke

Seems we're not the only ones paying attention.  Check out the Whited Sepulchre concerning the Tarrant Regional Water District voting to extend their terms in office.  WHO does that?  And WHY?

Was the TRWD worried the Trinity River Improvement Partnership had the candidates to send them packing?  Maybe they should worry that TRIP has another year to inform voters.  

Had this happened to any reasonably alert group of voters, the hardware stores would already be sold out of pitchforks and torches.  Good Lord in heaven.  When are we going to wake up ????

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Resolutions?

We were catching up on the incoming emails from the New Year and came across this little gem from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.  As usual, a double edged sword.  The brightest gem and the dullest bulb all in the same box.

This comes from a list of resolutions they listed for others.  One made us applaud, one made us scratch our heads.

The Tarrant Regional Water District and the Trinity River Vision Authority resolve to clearly explain how county residents can tell when J.D. Granger is working on behalf of the water district and when he's working in his capacity as executive director of the TRVA, because it's really confusing to keep it straight.

The Fort Worth council resolves to reach a logical decision about injection wells to dispose of natural gas drilling waste. The current method -- trucking the waste away to be buried in somebody else's back yard -- is not logical.

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Coming soon to a sewer near YOU

If you didn't see the History Channel show, America's Crumbling Infrastructure, you should.

You should also read the article on Yahoo.com, US Cities struggle to control sewer overflows.  

And remember it next time appointed and elected officials want you to Tube the Trinity River.  Thousands of these overflows happen yearly.  When you neglect the infrastructure that is at least a century old and was built for the population of that time, WHAT did you think would happen?

At least some of the rubbish had drifted across Lake Michigan from Milwaukee, a vivid reminder that many cities still flush nasty stuff into streams and lakes during heavy storms, fouling the waters with bacteria and viruses that can make people seriously ill.

Costs are reaching hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars.

She was shocked to learn that federal law lets cities discharge untreated sewage when their plants and storage facilities are flooded.

"It was maddening that they had permission to do this and we had to live with the consequences," Rodwell said.

The ultimate goal is zero overflows, but officials don't expect to get there until about 2035 because it will require being able to handle the kind of flooding that previously happened rarely but is becoming more common.

One partial solution gaining popularity with cities is "green infrastructure" — natural and man-made features that enable more water to soak into the ground instead of washing into storm drains and creeks. Stoner and Giles of EPA instructed field staff last year to incorporate green features into storm water and sewer permits as much as possible.

"Cities have had decades to deal with this problem," Welch said. "We need firm deadlines and we need strong enforcement so it can finally be solved."

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3 LLC's and a Partridge in a Pear Tree

Earlier this year, the Fort Worth Weekly had an article on the dealings of the Haltom City Economic Development Corporation and the LLC it created.  It was smartly titled, A High Priced Can of Worms. 

Today, on Reuters.com there is another telling article about an LLC, this one a Chesapeake affair.  
Seems when the folks in Michigan wanted to collect their signing bonuses they were promised, they couldn't find out WHO to collect from.  WHY?

In fact, the company issuing the rejections wasn't much of a business at all. It was a shell company - a paper-only firm with no real operations - called Northern Michigan Exploration LLC.
Northern has voided hundreds of land deals, and was indeed a facade - a shell company created so that one of America's largest energy companies could conceal its role in the leasing spree, a Reuters investigation has found. Oklahoma-based Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK.N), the nation's second-largest gas driller, was behind the entire operation.

Chesapeake had created one shell company that set up another, Northern Michigan Exploration.

So, WHO will step up to the plate and protect the taxpayers from the newly formed Trinity Vision Partners LLC that just purchased the Fort Worth Cats?  Wouldn't you love to know WHO all is involved in that shell game?

Ask.

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WHO's involved?

WHO bought the Fort Worth Cats?

WHO do you think?

Trinity Vision Partners Llc.  

WHO are THEY??

Read the article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. And check out what the Dallas Observer had to say.  Yeah, Dallas is watching too.

We 'll hold off on saying, we told you so.

Owner Carl Bell has agreed to sell the baseball team to a group led by John Bryant and Byron Pierce, co-founders of United League Baseball. 

The Cats will be the fifth independent team owned by Bryant and Pierce.  Former Texas Rangers President Mike Stone is also part of the ownership group, Trinity Vision Partners Llc., and will be the team's chairman.

Financial terms were not disclosed, although Bell said he did not profit from the sale. The costs of independent teams vary depending on financial conditions, attendance and other factors.LaGrave Reconstruction Co., which Bell runs, still owns LaGrave Field and the surrounding 131/2 acres.

Bell felt that the proper business decision was to split the two entities. Most professional teams are tenants of the stadiums they play in, and the Cats have a 20-year lease at LaGrave.

Observer:

That said, "I really don't care who our landlord is," Stone says. "We have a 20-year lease. We bought the Cats, the property, the right to do business as the Cats, and that's what crucial to us." When it comes to the land, he explains, "It's a complicated process, a complicated transaction. The Tarrant Regional Water District is involved. Carl is involved. Amegy Bank is involved. We're involved. The bottom line is we end up owning the Cats and the right to play ball as the Cats."

Owner rl Bell has agreed to sell the baseball team to a group led by John Bryant and Byron Pierce, co-founders of United League Baseball. The Cats will be the fifth independent team owned by Bryant and Pierce.Former Texas Rangers President Mike Stone is also part of the ownership group, Trinity Vision Partners Llc., and will be the team's chairman.Financial terms were not disclosed, although Bell said he did not profit from the sale. The costs of independent teams vary depending on financial conditions, attendance and other factors.LaGrave Reconstruction Co., which Bell runs, still owns LaGrave Field and the surrounding 131/2 acres.Bell felt that the proper business decision was to split the two entities. Most professional teams are tenants of the stadiums they play in, and the Cats have a 20-year lease at LaGrave.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/12/21/3611839/fort-worth-cats-sold-will-play.html#storylink=omni_popular#storylink=cpy

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WHO controls YOUR water?

It's a tricky question.  For a reason.  There are many water districts in Texas.  Nine times out of ten, they are above the law, as in they don't have to follow any.

There's been a lot of talk about the Tarrant Regional Water District lately, but it hasn't been due to water.  It's all been about the J.D. Granger and Tim Love Woodshed restaurant sweetheart deal on the Trinity River. A million dollar (give or take a few, again, it's just YOUR money) deal.  Don't you wish YOU could go into business for with no start up cost and if it bombs, you lose nothing?  YOU bet you do, cause you've already lost another million.  And counting.  It's a small price to pay for the billion dollar boondoggle known as the Trinity River Vision. 

The TRWD and the Trinity River Vision Authority, under the leadership of JD Granger, Congresswoman Kay Granger's son, heavily promoted Tubing on Trinity or Rocking on the River this summer to the citizens and taxpayers of Tarrant County.  WHY didn't they test the water?  WHY did the citizens have to pay to have it tested?

The project was touted as flood control, so it would receive federal money.  YOU hear that rest of the country?  YOU'RE paying for this too, so there.  We have to ask again, what does a BBQ shack on the river, a wakeboard park and bridges over dry land do for flood control?  YOU should ask.  After all YOU paid for it.

The TRWD should be reaching out to real water planners of the world and getting their act together before Fort Worth runs out of water.  Instead their reaching out and suing our neighbor, Oklahoma for their water.  The same state those gas drillers using all our water hail from. The same fellas that made our water district rich. Hey, here's a thought, why don't you make them bring their own water and take their waste back with them?  Ever wondered why many drill sites are close to the river and the tributaries? Remember, it flows both ways. Water, too.

If all that weren't enough, then there's fracing.  Even if you don't believe it could ever possibly happen, let's just say, what IF just ONE time it does? Remember the coast? What IF the Trinity aquifer is contaminated?  How do YOU fix it?  What happens then?  WHO is responsible?

If all that isn't enough, we came across the article below.  Which brings us back to the original question, WHO controls YOUR water?

I am in Parker County at a hearing where Range Resources has filed a plea to jurisdiction in the water contamination case where EPA had to step in. If the judge grants this motion, it means the Texas Railroad Commission is the final authority in fracking water contamination cases. It means you can’t sue for damages if the Big Gas Mafia fracks up your water. It would be a disaster for all Texas water drinkers. 

Read the rest here. 

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Pulitzers and Pickets

Incoming from a local taxpayer concerning the JD Granger, Tim Love, Trinity River Vision, Tarrant Regional Water District, Woodshed Boondoggle...

I'm boycotting....I hope it fails HUGE...The Business Press should get a Pulitzer for this cover up....
Not only am I boycotting, I'm looking forward to picketing, too.  Every restaurant owner in town should be out there in force. Businesses in Fort Worth need to get a clue.  Don't they know they are next?

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Fort Worth has a new owner

"Time to get to Fort Worth. Tim Love owns this town. It’s a great honky-tonk town."

So. In the world of celebrity chefs, apparently, it is known that Tim Love owns Fort Worth.

This is the best explanation yet as to how it was Tim Love got his sweetheart restaurant deal for his new Woodshed restaurant, courtesy of the generosity of his drinking buddy. J.D. Granger, the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle and the Tarrant Regional Water District.

Read all about it on Durango.

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Leading by example

How much of that $46,000 per child is due to Texas projects asked for by the same Texas Senator asking about fairness?

Remember this?

In a year when U.S. House Republicans have taken a pledge against earmarks, Senator John Cornyn is stepping forward to request $10 million in federal money for Fort Worth's Trinity Vision plan.

The Trinity Vision project is funded entirely with public money and most government bodies are struggling. 

The same Senator WHO has the highest travel expenditures.   

Sound fair to YOU?  Ironic, even?

Cornyn Asks: Are Trillions In Debt “Fair” For Future Generations?

“What’s not fair is that because of his reckless spend-now, pay-later agenda, every child born in America today comes into this world owing $46,000.”

Dec 06 2011

WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, today issued the following statement in advance of President Obama’s speech in Osawatomie, Kansas on economic fairness:

"It's ironic the President would give a major lecture to the American people today on ‘economic fairness.’ What’s not fair is that because of his reckless spend-now, pay-later agenda, every child born in America today comes into this world owing $46,000.

“Rather than give us a lecture on fairness, the President should lead by example and start working with us to create a stronger, better America that lives up to its commitments and doesn’t pass the buck to the next generation.”

Senator Cornyn serves on the Finance, Judiciary, Armed Services and Budget Committees.  He serves as the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee’s Immigration, Refugees and Border Security subcommittee. He served previously as Texas Attorney General, Texas Supreme Court Justice, and Bexar County District Judge.

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And the Winner is...

Ms. Hopkins.  Again.

The Loser?  YOU.

Read Ms. Hopkins latest letter in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.  It's got everything from tragedy to comedy, from the Trinity River to Santa Claus.

Bravo, ma'am.

TRV lease

"I'm shocked, shocked!" that anyone is shocked that J.D. Granger granted a no-bid lease on the might-as-well-be-a-million-dollar Woodshed Smokehouse restaurant that his "fiefdom," the Trinity River Vision, has built. (See: "Eatery deal is debated," Sunday) Remember that's how "Mama's Boy" Granger got his own "no-bid" job? Granger, the Trinity River Vision's executive director, is nepotism's biggest beneficiary since the Borgias.

What does the Tarrant Regional Water District get in this $970,000 sweetheart deal? A mention of the proposed restaurant on a television cooking demonstration. Plus -- in lieu of paying rent -- the Woodshed will "ensure ... a specified number of beers ... on tap" and a promise that cyclists and joggers can use the restroom. Plus, if the Woodshed closes before the end of its lease, "the district would get some $400,000 of restaurant equipment."

Used restaurant equipment should come in handy; water board members can become short-order cooks when our 50-year drought dries up the river. Meanwhile, who's minding the store? It took a Star-Telegram Texas Public Information Act request to find out anything about this boondoggle. There's more going around in the dark than Santa Claus.
-- Guelma B. Hopkins, Fort Worth

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Finally…Real “News”?

Not really, but about as close as you can get around here.  The Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s latest Trinity River Vision editorial makes the point; they should be asking more questions.  And they should have started years ago.

The paper talks about how disappointing the Tim Love Woodshed dealings are as well as suspicions and backroom deals and how the TRVA has a short attention span and spends our money like water, gives good ol’ boys such as JD Granger and Bryan Eppstein all the jobs and contracts they want, then mentions the TRV detractors and basically says (as usual) “On with the show”.  What is the kickback rate for blind support of TRV?

Has the paper read the 70+ comments from THE PEOPLE? The citizens and taxpayers of Tarrant County, otherwise known as “the persistent cadre of TRV detractors”, on their own site?

Some of that persistent cadre helped save Fort Worth taxpayers from buying a hotel.  What did the paper call them then?

If the paper asked more questions, and helped THE PEOPLE of Tarrant County have a say in the TRV process (we’re not talking about the BS meetings from years gone by) maybe they would come out smelling like a rose and be the champion of THE PEOPLE.  Wouldn’t sharing real information increase their sales and reputation?  Or they could simply plod along “reporting” what they are told to and hope they don’t end up like the Dallas paper, having to admit they were misled by their “leaders” and therefore mislead THE PEOPLE on their Trinity River Vision project.  How many readers does that cost YOU?

Fort Worth restaurant deal has folks talking

A hip gathering spot where cyclists, joggers and hikers can grab a tasty meal at a popular Trinity River trailhead sounds like the kind of amenity Fort Worth residents could embrace with enthusiasm.

It's unfortunate that revelations about who owns the Woodshed Smokehouse and how it came into being have some people scratching their heads and murmuring suspicions about "another good ol' boy deal."

It seems that either memories are short at the Trinity River Vision Authority -- or that officials do recall the public backlash over a proposed city-owned hotel and decided to keep the specifics of the Waggoner Trailhead restaurant deal quiet until they were completed.

In late 2002, large crowds showed up to protest at City Hall when Fort Worth proposed financing a convention center hotel by issuing $160 million in debt without getting voter approval. Eventually, more than 15,000 people joined a petition effort spearheaded by downtown hoteliers -- who weren't keen on the notion of competing with a government-owned hotel for convention business -- to force the project to a public vote.

Ultimately, the city's newest downtown hotel was built by a private company, although considerable public dollars were spent on a parking garage to serve both the hotel and the convention center.

The big-picture lesson was that when taxpayer money is to be used for commercial enterprises, the public wants a transparent process and a say in the endeavor.

The public money used to build the $970,000 structure that the Tarrant Regional Water District is leasing to chef/restaurateur Tim Love is a fraction of the amount that triggered the hotel outrage. But it's understandable that other restaurant operators were chafed over the process of setting up a riverfront eatery: the decision on who would receive the lease was made solely by Trinity River Vision Authority Executive Director J.D. Granger.

What's so disappointing is that had this process been handled with more transparency, folks might be cheering the project. Love's "global taqueria" on Riverfront Drive near Rogers Road has been the subject of numerous news reports and blog posts since early summer. The building is architecturally interesting, and the extended craft brew menu should be a draw for athletic types who don't mind a little carb-loading after a run or ride on the adjacent trail.

The persistent cadre of Trinity River Vision detractors probably still would pounce on the idea as conniving. But one would think after the various criticisms of the authority through the years, its officials and water board members would have learned to appreciate the value of being aboveboard with everything connected to this project.

The district hired Granger to manage the agency without advertising the opening or conducting an executive search. Granger selected political consultant Bryan Eppstein to handle PR and minority contracting (not a posted opening), and the water district gave Eppstein's firm a separate contract -- with no competitive bidding -- to represent the agency in Austin during the legislative session.

Under state law, the water district is not required to take competitive bids on professional services. But each time the board chooses to follow the letter of that law, instead of trying openness, it gets slammed in the court of public opinion.

Board member Jim Lane told the Star-Telegram reporter Barry Shlachter that the water board approved the lease. Not exactly, records show.

The board approved the concept of having concessions at the trailhead, according to board minutes. Granger took it from there, giving Land Committee members Hal Sparks and Lane project updates. The final lease was drafted and approved by the board's general counsel.

Trail-side concessions make sense for a community that is working to develop vibrant riverfront amenities. Love has a track record of operating quality eating establishments.

Could have been a win-win. Might still be. But the Trinity River Vision takes another hit.

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