Watauga Waves

The budget for Watauga did not pass through the council as it always has before.

Three new council members are being blamed by the old council members.  Three new council members are being thanked by the citizens.  Be sure and read the comment.  It gives you a side the "news" forgot to.  The side of the people that the council is elected to represent.

Read about it in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Wednesday night's vote was 4-3 in favor of the budget, but a two-thirds majority was required for passage.

It was the first time a proposed budget has been rejected in Watauga, city officials said.

"I wish we could have reached a better level of consensus in the previous [budget] workshops," Clements said.

"My only objection was to the tax increase. Overall, I agreed with the budget, except for hiring new people."

Mayor Harry Jeffries said he was disappointed in the council.

"We've had enough work sessions for people to ask questions, and they weren't asked," he said. "I have three people who don't want to raise taxes. I don't want to raise taxes, and the other councilmen don't want to raise taxes. But you come to a point where you look at the loss in [total] property valuation and something has to happen to make that up.

"Either you cut services or you raise taxes."

Watauga has lost considerable taxable property value in the last several years. Between 2010 and 2011, the total property value in Watauga dropped about $10.2 million.

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What now?

What happens when your plan to supply water for millions of people hinges on suing your neighboring state, and you lose?

Ask the Tarrant Regional Water District.
Ask them how much that cost YOU.

Read about it in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

The Tarrant Regional Water District suffered another blow in its lengthy legal battle to obtain water from Oklahoma on Wednesday as the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that has the little-known Red River Compact protects the Sooner State from any claims on its surface water.

"It's disappointing," said Tarrant Regional's General Manager Jim Oliver who said the water district will continue to explore its options. The water district could ask for a rehearing before the 10th Circuit, file a writ with the Supreme Court or simply accept the court's decision.

In its ruling, the 10th Circuit said "we hold that the Red River Compact insulates Oklahoma water statutes" from a legal challenge.

At the same time, the district sued the Oklahoma Water Resources Board and the Oklahoma Water Conservation Storage Commission to keep its permit applications from being dismissed while the matter was in court.

In July 2010, an Oklahoma federal judge dismissed the lawsuit, but the water district appealed the case to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.

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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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