Behind closed doors...

Is the Fort Worth Way.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram tells you how murky that can be at City Hall.

Today, the council is scheduled to receive a closed-session briefing from city attorneys about how to fill vacancies. The process, as outlined in the charter, is not all that complicated: Except under limited circumstances that don't apply right now, new members must be chosen through elections held in those districts where there are vacancies, either on the next scheduled election day (next May) or on a special date approved by the governor.

But the game of politics is never simple.

Take today's meeting, for example. The council can hold closed meetings only under certain circumstances specified in the Texas Open Meetings Act.

Today's agenda calls for an executive session to get the advice of attorneys about "pending or contemplated litigation or other matters that are exempt from public disclosure" under state bar rules or the open meetings act. There is no such pending or contemplated litigation about council vacancies, and no other reason seems to apply but bar rules that call for unfettered, privileged communication between attorneys and their clients.

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Where do you think you're going?

Kathleen Hicks, the same Fort Worth council person who had Judge license plates on her Porsche, even though she's not one, is now running for District 33. (Does she still have the plates? WHO knows, we couldn't find a follow up in the "news").  Sal Espino, who has had his own share of misjudgements, may run too.

Remember what happened last time this race was ran?  Brimer sued Wendy Davis to try and keep her from running. He lost the lawsuit, and the race.

Here we go again.


City staffers have remained tight-lipped about how the council process will work, possibly because the last time it happened there was a lawsuit.

Ah, the Fort Worth Way. 

Read the latest in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

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Oakhurst being runover

By TXDOT, the City of Fort Worth and the gas drillers.

Sounds like a bad joke, but it's true.  Just another day in paradise.

WHO is in charge??

Read about it in the Fort Worth Weekly.

Residents in the Oakhurst neighborhood feel like they’re living a scene out of Cool Hand Luke — “What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate.” They say a disconnect between city officials, the Texas Department of Transportation, and Chesapeake Energy is causing the planned expansion of I-35 to encroach on their historic area just northeast of downtown.

The city approved a drilling permit at the northwest corner of I-35 and Northside Drive several years ago, and Chesapeake built its pad site in the path of the proposed expansion of that traffic-clogged highway. So TxDOT recently altered its longtanding plans, moving the project to the east (neighborhood) side of the freeway, to avoid 10 wellheads on the west side of I-35.

The reason the state agency is favoring the drillers over the neighborhood? Existence of the wells means that the cost of expanding the freeway on the west side may have vastly increased.

TxDOT project manager John Tillinghast said he didn’t know why city officials allowed Chesapeake to build wellheads in the highway’s path.

“We never were informed by the City of Fort Worth that this property owner wanted to develop the property,” he said. “We’ve never encountered this before.”

Oakhurst resident David Collyer said it’s just another example of the gas industry’s influence at city hall.

“The city is going to let Chesapeake have first rights, even if they have to run the highway closer to the neighborhood,” he said. “Chesapeake has got the city council in their back pocket.”

“That never came up,” Espino said. “It was my understanding that the highway would be widened away from the neighborhood. No one from city staff or TxDOT brought this up.”

“This is the reality of having drilling in your city and how it affects your land-use plans,” Bradbury said.

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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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Oh say can YOU see?

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram Editorial board has jumped on the Fort Worth City Councilman Sal Espino story.

Problem is, there are MANY Tarrant County politicians with MANY stories to be told.  YOU'd be amazed what you can find, if you just look.  So, WHY is no one looking?

Kudos again to WFAA for bringing the story to light.  Wonder what else they can find? 

In a May 25 e-mail, Espino didn't just complain that the judge had treated his wife "quite rudely and contrary to the normal judicial demeanor standards." He said he would put on the next council meeting agenda the subject of a sunset review for the municipal courts and "other inefficient departments." He also hinted that he might ask for an internal audit of the courts. He apologized the next day.

WFAA/Channel 8 brought Espino's huffing to light in a Thursday night report, during which he said that as a council member he has "a right to make sure departments operate at optimal efficiency."

Right? Probably not. Duty? Certainly. But griping at city employees over his spouse's poor treatment? Not the best form -- or the most objective way of exercising an elected representative's authority.

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Fort Worth Double Standard

During the elections, you might remember a candidate (running against an incumbent) had a run in with some Fort Worth Bike Cops.  The local paper told you all about it, the incumbent even commented on it.  WHY didn't we see the incumbent's run in with the Fort Worth police/courts in the local paper?  Seems Sal Espino's wife was pulled over in 2009, she was then late to court in 2010, it caused some waves in Cowtown, but you never heard any of that.  WHY?  Did you hear Sal sent a letter saying he was going to get an audit and a sunset review for the department involved?  Yeah, us either.  Wonder WHY the "news" didn't mention any of that.

Watch the report on WFAA.com. 

Let's see - she was speeding, she was late to court, she may or may not, depending on WHO you believe, have said, "Do you know who my husband is?"  And the court needs to be audited??

WHY would the media not tell you this last year?  Prior to the election?

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