Artists needed for "World's Largest Joint"

From NORML.org :

Saturday, October 25th 2008. With your help, along with a group of artists, we are hoping to produce a major art and media event called "A Celebration of Freedom." We plan to construct a sculpture titled,"America's Largest Joint" on the plaza along with a Marijuana-inspired mural. All of the mainstream and art-centric media will be invited and there will be live Internet coverage. NORML Foundation will provide entertainment,information about marijuana prohibition and convene a preview press party.We are anticipating a lot of media attention, and a large audience both onFreedom Plaza, and on the Internet. This will be followed by a private exhibition and silent auction of related works of art in a nearby venue. NORML is concerned that the important policy issue of Congress adopting alternatives to marijuana prohibition may not receive enough media attention in the run-up to this historic presidential election and therefore are hoping to accomplish this before November 4th. The purpose of this social justice activism production in downtown Washington, DC is to focus attention on the issue of reforming marijuana laws. In order to ensure a successful venture, we must get commitments from potential sponsors and volunteers by the first week in August.If you would like to be one of the exhibited artists on display or wouldlike more information on being a sponsor, please contact sabrina@norml.org

http://www.norml.org/

Ft. Worth's Water Going to the Birds

As you can see by looking at the actual street in the picture w/the birds, we have had just about every inch of road repaired due to water main breaks. The last one broke this past Friday afternoon and still to this hour continues to leak and water the birds. Why aren't our elected officials held accountable for this type if poor management of our tax dollars? Because enough of us don't speak up and too much of the time, we don't know who we are really voting for and what type of leader they are, if at all, when we go to the polls.

Your tax dollars still going down the water drains in East Ft. Worth

Last night, Saturday night, about 10pm, above was what I saw. Another water main had broken about 40 feet south of the one that broke Friday afternoon. I called 911 to report it and the operator sounded like there were many calls about water spewing from fire hydrants. As of today, Sunday, the water is still leaking from the corroded water pipes that our City Government has failed to maintain properly. (Which is exactly what can, and does happen with gas pipelines.) Please help me hold our City Government, especially the elected ones, accountable for their actions and non-actions on issues such as properly funding the maintenance of our water system.

Do you have these water problems in YOUR neighborhood?

I bet that in my neighborhood here in East Ft. Worth, over the past year, I have personally witnessed about 10 of the scenes that you see above. My question is; does this happen all over town? Is this more prevalent in non-affluent neighborhoods? If so, why? If not, then what is the problem? Why are our tax dollars going down the water drains? To me, the bottom line source of the problem would be our City Government not appropriating the funds to do the upkeep on our water system here in Ft. Worth. Then comes the question of "why?" Why weren't enough funds allocated for prevention of such pipe corrosion and waste of such large amounts of our city water, and tax dollars to pay for labor to do the emergency repair, and when was the issue before Council last, next to the last time and next to the next to last time!? These pictures were from Friday afternoon noon around 6pm. Today, Saturday, the FW Water Dept is going up and down our streets saying our water will be off, etc. All of this preventable, if only our government officials were doing their jobs well.

IMO, these are the things that a city council person should have to answer to at Neighborhood Association meetings and things that a Neighborhood Association should be interested in finding out for their members. I would think any well meaning council person would be the first to want to talk about it being that they are the ones who should know the answers to such issues. "City" Council, "City" Government, "City" Hall, "City" water, "City" dollars........you get the point. Right? I mean, really, does it take all that much? No, it shouldn't! This is not rocket science and residents in the neighborhood DO care about issues such as this!

Why I say and do what I say and do

I've been voicing my opinion lately about neighborhood politics, specifically about West Meadowbrook Neighborhood politics. Occasionally, I go to http://www.star-telegram.com/ and check out the headlines and comment on "What do you think?" section that the Telegram has attached to certain articles. Today, I commented on the article titled "Fort Worth residents stepping up pipeline fight." http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/771551.html . My comment was:


It is wrong to use neighborhood residences and streets for Intense Industrial and dangerous uses and it shouldn't take the voters to come out in force before a City Councilperson starts having "discussions" and "meetings" about this type of thing. I thought the purpose of electing a City Council person was to have a "watchdog" and strong voice for the District and neighborhoods without the residents having to do all of the work, first. Also what good are Neighborhood Associations if they don't find out or care how the majority of the membership feels about an issue, if the membership even knows about the issues that affect our neighborhood, and act accordingly? And people wonder why East Ft. Worth is crime ridden, code violation ridden and having to fight to keep dangerous pipelines and drill sites out of our front yards. Take a look at the leadership of a few of the Neighborhood Associations, City Council reps, and local politics and you'll know why we have the problems and issues that we have in East Ft. Worth.
Posted by: Suzette

As I was reading thru the comments today, I came across the one below:

SUZETTE! You have no idea how hard the leaders or West Meadowbrook Neighborhood Assoc. Have been and ARE working on this issue as well as many others for the betterment of the eastside. Also the leadership was put into place via elections to do the jobs for the membership. By doing so we have given them the power to work on our behafe without needing to bring every item before the membership for approval. That is what election are about. If you feel you can do any better there are elections held each year, usually near year end. I would ask, what have you done to make your neighborhood a better place? I have read other comment writen by you and all I every see that you do is put everyone down for doing what they feel is best. It may not meet your level of approval but it is better then putting someone down at every turn.
Posted by: Jan

I know that if you didn't really understand me or know me personally, you may come to think like Jan does above and I understand that; however, if one reads my blog or my comments on other blogsites such as http://www.westandclear.com/ or http://www.thewhitedsepulchre.blogspot.com/ or http://www.fortworthology.com/ , you may get the feeling that Jan has --that "all I ever do is put everyone down." Let me explain myself.

First of all, I believe in the following ideals (with much passion!):

1. meaning what you say and saying what you mean
2. honesty
3. accountability

I think I can say that those three topics are paramount to who I am as a person at my core.
With that in mind, let me respond to Jan. Jan is probably correct, I don't really know what the leaders of West Meadowbrook are doing or "how hard the leaders are working for the betterment of the Eastside." I can tell you that no one works harder than Mike Phipps! All I can tell you is I do not ever hear from Wanda Conlin (Director of City Affairs for WMNA) or Don Boren (President of WMNA and Wanda's husband) via email on anything concerning the betterment of the Eastside. Granted, I'm not a second year member, however, even when I was a member, I didn't get any sort of correspondence from them and neither does any ordinary member (someone new or outside of the power circle, Advisory Council of WMNA). All of us who live and/or work in WMNA boundaries should KNOW how hard the leaders of WMNA are working and we don't. Jan is exactly correct, IMO.

Secondly, yes, I understand the reason for "elections." First though, guess who was the Chairperson of the Elections Committee last election of WMNA President? None other than Wanda Conlin's son, Jim Conlin. In the elections, did WMNA put forth the names that were nominated and give those nominees a chance to sit before the WMNA meeting and tell the membership WHY they think they should be elected, what their plans/ideas were for the hood? No.

Thirdly, no not every item should be brought before membership, however, certainly the important ones like dangerous pipelines coming thru the front yards and houses of the residents should be a major point of discussion at WMNA meetings! As far as putting people down for doing what they think is best -- hell, Hitler thought he was doing what was best -- does that mean no one should not have put him down for it? I think not. Mayor Moncrief probably thinks what he is doing is for the best, does that mean we shouldn't put him down if we feel compelled to do so? No. I believe that "the leaders" (Don Boren, Wanda Conlin, Louis McBee) of WMNA are way too closed minded, they do not want to listen to a differing opinion on anything that "they think is best," they carry City political baggage from decades back on their cuffs, and I'm sick of it. I feel it is hurting the neighborhood, I think it is holding the Eastside back from progressing to a better Eastside and I think it's time for new leadership, new blood, new ways of communicating with people (members especially), new level of accountability for our council rep, Kathleen Hicks, that they are in bed with, IMO, etc. Do I think Wanda Conlin or Don Boren and their family are bad people personally? No. I just don't agree with the way the lead the Neighborhood Association and I voice this opinion. I am not scared of doing so like many others. They don't own any part of me, my business, etc., and I have every right to speak my opinion, politically correct or politically incorrect -- the form and way I choose to do it is my choice, no one elses. When Kathleen Hicks calls Wanda Conlin and says, "don't come down to City Hall for a certain issue and Wanda Conlin calls people and asked them to not go down to City Hall because Kathleen thinks it's best if we wait" and we don't all fall into place behind Kathleen and Wanda and allow them to dictate what we do and Wanda snubs you from that day forward because you didn't "follow orders" that's wrong! Plain wrong! It's all the hipocritical ways of conducting business that Wanda, Don and Louis McBee accuse the Mayor & Danny Scarth of conducting business, it's personal political baggage from way back and it is hurting West Meadowbrook Neighborhood, IMO!
Thanks for reading.

Lucky Tubb coming to Ft. Worth

This nephew of Ernest Tubb has an awesome band and his music is like no other. I saw him at the Boerne Beer Fest, Oktoberfest or something along those lines and his was the heaviest, fast paced toe tapping band I've ever heard. Even if you don't like country music, you'll probably appreciate his uniqueness, talent, voice, band, retro outfits, attitude, etc. He will be playing at the Aardvark in Ft. Worth August 22nd. Hope to see some of you there.

http://www.luckytubb.com/ http://www.the-aardvark.com/august_2008.html

Chesapeake's propaganda & West Meadowbrook's Neighborhood politics

So if you live on the Eastside and you happen to be on the email list of various eastside neighborhood activists, you get emails saying there is an important meeting tonight concerning Chesapeake's High Impact Well they want to put in our neighborhood as well as a pipeline. You get there and, IMO, there is no "meeting." It is a poster show of propaganda that Chesapeake has put together and you walk from poster to poster and ask questions of a paid mouthpiece for Chesapeake. That, IMO, is NOT a meeting!! Very disappointing. On the bright side, there were cameras and microphones there. Oh and our City Council person, Kathleen Hicks, was there to get a head count. Not to do any leadership stuff, but just there to see which side she should pander to according to the numbers.

I saw Wanda Conlin there, she is the "Director of City Affairs" for West Meadowbrook Neighborhood Association. WMNA, has large titles for a bunch of bullshit work!! The Treasurer, Mike Phipps and Gigi Goesling do the work for our neighborhood, Wanda Conlin and her hubby, Don Boren (President of West Meadowbrook Neighborhood Assoc) are the puppets for Kathleen Hicks and the ones who do all of the "important backroom deal making." YUK YUK YUK!!

What exactly is the point of a Neighborhood Association if the leaders don't communicate with the members? Take votes on positions of the issues at hand, etc. IMO, there is no point. It's all abuse of power. It's sickening.

I asked Wanda Conlin tonight if WMNA was opposing the Scott Ave well site and if so what had her and her husband Don Boren done on behalf of WMNA to voice their opposition...she said "Suzette, we have written the City Council and Mayor -- leave me alone." RED FLAG RED FLAG.....anytime someone doesn't want to answer my questions, alarms go off in my head.

WMNA's leadership is for the birds, IMO which is why I am not a second year member!!

"Petty Politics" in East Ft. Worth

So some our really caring neighborhood activists like Mike Phipps, Don Young and Jerri Horton are really up in arms about Chesapeake considering gas drilling on the eastside, neighborhood street of Scott Ave. (Beach St. & I30) and I agree, we don't need all those heavy industrial trucks tearing up our neighborhood streets that we pay for out of our hard earned tax dollars! Funny thing is, Don Boren & Wanda Conlin (married couple in charge of the Neighborhood Association and Neighborhood Newspaper) hold the following positions:

Don Boren, President of West Meadowbrook Neighborhood Association
Wanda Conlin - editor/publisher/owner of "Greater Meadowbrook News"

Neither are no where to be found on the issue of gas drilling on Scott Ave in the neighborhood (Chesapeake tearing up our neighborhood streets and disturbing Tandy Hills Park), why? My guess would be Chesapeake has bought many expensive ads in the "Greater Meadowbrook News" (Wanda, Don and family paid) paper that Don & Wanda own, produce and distribute throughout Meadowbrook Neighborhoods. Our Councilperson, Kathleen Hicks loves Don & Wanda, in fact, Kathleen calls Wanda, "Mama Wanda." Sickening, Disgusting and causes me and many others to turn away from WMNA (West Meadowbrook Neighborhood Assoc.)...politics at its' best!! YUK!! YUK!! YUK!!

Why are City Council members paid $25K/year?

I don't understand the job of a City Council member in Ft. Worth. I mean, come on, they make $25,000 per year off us taxpayers. That is not a salary for a full time job, that's part time salary, IMO, if that!! So, what is the purpose of a City Council person? How many hours per week are they suppose to work for the voters? Are they just there as a pawn for a hidden group of people w/in their District, how much of it is strictly about money, in other words did some Corporation "put" them there thru thousands of dollars for campaigning? I'd love to have a neighborhood activist named Mike Phipps run for Council in District 8, but hell, who can live on $25K per year? Only the rich? Only the well connected and paid by perks people? Kids of politicians, who? And who exactly do they represent?

The Whited Sepulchre - "Why I'm Liberal"

This blogger, the Whited Sepulchre (http://www.thewhitedsepulchre.blogspot.com/) has a fabo post titled "Why I'm Liberal," lots of great links for this continued educational, exciting (?) election season in our country of America. We are a country right?

" I think people have the right to do what they want with their property and lives, but the second they affect my property and life, I have the right (and we have a collective right) to put limits on them through legislation or just a good old-fashioned ass-whuppin. I think we need to educate people that the everyday things they do are destroying our environment,..." Pete Wann

http://thewhitedsepulchre.blogspot.com/2008/07/why-im-liberal-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh.html

Exactly, Pete, I could not agree more, except for the "ass whuppin," I'm not up for that but "putting limits on them legislatively" and more education....I'm in and agree with you wholeheartedly which is refreshing to me. It's nice to find passion and agreeability, IMO.

So when you are one of the local drug addicts, prostitutes, drug dealers, pimps, or lazy free loaders, and you camp on my property, or our collectively tax paid property, when you trash it, when you dis-respect it, when you commit crimes on it, I have the right, we have the right to put limits on you. I agree with Pete Wann on the claim that people who affect our property and lives should be limited (http://www.westandclear.com/ http://www.cowtownchronicles.com/ ). However, I think Pete was referring to Energy Companies trashing the land and I'm referring to the pimps & hoes -- still the complaint is the same.

Street Outreach by the non-profits. Where is it?

I have always thought that there was not enough street outreach for the homeless in Ft. Worth. Where are the messages that your life doesn't have to be this way. Where are the messages that say, "You can do better, You can change the direction of your Life, You don't have to live like this," etc. While sitting in a meeting the other day, I asked Beckie Wach, Director of Operations, The Salvation Army, if they had info for GEDS, AA Groups and all the things we were discussing in the meeting available for people to see on the bullentin boards at the Salvation Army. Becky seemed irritated that I would ask such question and said Yes there was info posted. After the meeting, I went to the Salvation Army and took the above pictures of their bulletin areas. IMO, this was a false statement by Ms. Wach. She told me a lie. I suppose one could argue this point, I mean there is some info on the board; however, it's not the kind I was talking about and it sure didn't include the groups and services we were discussing in the meeting. Beckie Wach gets paid her salary whether the neighborhood is clean or regardless of how many drunks they help off of the streets. Same for the Executives, Managers, Supervisors, case workers at MHMR. Those are jobs and it's a business just like the for profits plus the large ones are bureaucracies full of mis-managed jobs and workers.

Homeless Tom, part II

Remember Tom from an earlier post? So he comes up to me the other day (in the afternoon blazing hot sun) and asked if he could mow the grass which was about 12" high (against City Code). I have to respect Tom because he has always been one of the "good guys" in our homeless population who has always been willing to "work" for the dollars. I've never seen or heard of him hurting anyone, he has never just come up and ask for money. This particular day, he didn't look well -- said he had just got out of the hospital the day before (still had bandaids on his arms). I said, "Tom you can't mow grass in the heat of the day, especially in the condition you are in, you may have a heat stroke and die." Tom says, "Oh, I'll be ok." I said, "Tom if you don't change your choices, you are going to die." He says, "Yhea that's what my doctor told me." We batted around those words for a while and I got the impression that indeed Tom may be ready to create a healthier, "better" more safe life for himself. He said he had been going to Billy Gregory (Detox place) every morning and "there is never any beds available". A shot of adrenaline hit me inside and that's about all it took for me to get on the trail of tracking down some services and sounding some bells in the beaurocratic offices of such agencies and people around town who claim they are doing their jobs (at the taxpayer's expense, I might add). I asked Tom to check with me every single day because I am unable to get in touch with him any other way. Tom fullfilled this request, everyday he came by like I had asked. That honesty and dedication to at least be as good as his word spoke millions to me. I sent out emails asking for help getting a bed in detox. One late afternoon during this time, Tom came up to my door drunk as hell, could not walk straight, hung on to poles trying to leave my sidewalk, saying he was ready to change his life "right now". It was about 5 - 5:30pm, I knew there was no way he could get in Billy Gregory Detox Center right then. I told him to sit down in the shade, gave him a coke and made phone calls and sent urgent emails for help with Tom. It came down to two choices for Tom:

1. Let me take him over the North Ft. Worth where there is a 24/7 AA meeting place. (NON of these in EAST FT. WORTH -- NOT EVEN AT THE SALVATION ARMY WHOSE ORIGINAL MISSION WAS TO "rehabilitate alcoholics."!)
2. Call an ambulance.

He choose the ambulance because he said he had "heard everything they would be saying at the AA meeting and he had tried that way).

I called the ambulance, they could/would not take him to hospital because he didn't meet the criteria to be taken. I was leaving to go home so Tom had to walk away to his camp to go sleep. It was bothering/worrisome to me, it wasn't a good feeling for me to leave work that day. A few hours later, I was going to work again and saw Tom walking the streets, I stopped and we talked for a mintue. He seemed better, less intoxicated and ok for then.

Long story short, it took someone knowing who to contact to get Tom some attention, otherwise he was just a number and "a nobody" in the circles of the Ft. Worth's Homeless mess because Tom, like many, has no one who offers encouragement/support/care/concern for him. (opportunity for CFW). This is where it gets expensive to truly "help" the homeless individuals who desire better for themselves. It takes people to personally care or be able to make the person think they care. It's called mentoring, counseling and various other nice words. It's basically "the human connection" that people need out here. There is not enough, if any, street outreach. The agencies are not real big on "street outreach" as I have found when asking about it in various meetings with some of the non-profits.