Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Where is the plastic protective sheet for this toxic dump in Rural America?


The big energy companies want us to believe they really "care" about the environment. They don't. If they did, they would spend the money to do their jobs with respect to the people, animals and our environment. They do as little as they have to do, if that! So when I see their billboards trying to pull a fast one on us and make us believe that they are all good by showing pictures of deer, pretty little birds, trees, smiling children, etc., it doesn't work and makes me want to vomit because they are telling a lie. Sure, we need oil & gas....duh; but not at this cost and not at their profit margins.

This is what happens when City Government is allowed to turn a blind eye




You have water main break after water main break after water main break after water main break after water main break. You have big money being spent on quick fixes which includes overtime staff hours, weekend staff hours, etc. Someone in the neighborhood told me they stopped counting at 60 water main breaks. The count is enormous!! And Ft. Worth wonders why we are in such a budget crunch. It's simple. Our government officials are not working for "tha people." They are working for other things such as big money, big developments, big companies, big campaign donors, and who knows what else. Today, I counted two more water main breaks. Picture are above. One picture looks the same as the one a few posts earlier, but it isn't. Same street but further down. I don't see much different in Washington and Ft. Worth. Smaller group of people, but still politicians who stay in the middle of issues, don't stick their necks out too much and don't really care about the average taxpayer.

Monday, September 29, 2008

Surprise surprise...another water main break in Meadowbrook


Water bubbling up from the seams of a previously broken water main. I wouldn't drive over this one....as I couldn't afford the risk of being delayed by my vehicle getting stuck in a sink hole. Business as usual in Meadowbrook. How about your neighborhood? Do you have this many water main breaks? Where is our tax money going from East Ft. Worth? Who is looking out for us up at City Hall? Who has been speaking out for the neighborhoods in East Ft. Worth in the past few years to make sure that East Ft. Worth gets their fair share of the benefits from tax dollars? Where is the money that was suppose to be spent on infrastructure?

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

City Councilman Frank Moss is getting it

OMG I could not believe my eyes when I saw these words:

"City Councilman Frank Moss said Tuesday he wants to make sure the "Pull ’Em Up" campaign reaches parents, not just teenagers and young men.
"We’re going to continue to encourage parental involvement," Moss said in a briefing on the campaign at the City Council meeting Tuesday. "They don’t know it’s hampering their [children’s] opportunities."

http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/929685.html

Parental involvement, parental involvement, parental involvement, parental involvement! I can't say it enough....parental involvement, parental involvement, parental involvement......

KUDOS to Mr. Frank Moss. This is how you keep dollars in the pockets of the people instead of in the pockets of corrupt politicians, this is how you save people from becoming homeless, this is how you "help" the "other Ft. Worth," this is how you lead, this is how you...., this is how you....., this is how you....., this is how you......

CORRECTION on number of Water Main Breaks in Ft. Worth


Below I say the count is 24 for water main breaks in the Meadowbrook neighborhood. That is incorrect. The report from CFW Water Dept counted 22 in past three years on my street alone. If you drive around the neighborhood you can see the black asphalt patches peppered on just about (if not) every single street. Therefore, the number of 24 is probably closer to 100 or more, if one counts the breaks on the surrounding streets as opposed to one street!

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Stats from Ft. Worth Animal Control presented by Ft.Worth Public Health Dept.







For year 2007, Impounded Animals by Council District





Council District 2, Sal Espino 3541 (3rd place prize)
Council District 3, Chuck Silcox 2210
Council District 4, Danny Scarth 2265
Council District 5, Frank Moss 4212 (1st place prize)
Council District 6, Jungus Jordan 2317
Council District 7, Carter Burdette 2642
Council District 8, Kathleen Hicks 3670 (2nd place prize)
Council District 9, Joel Burns 3092

#1 Significant Challenge = Pet Over-Population

Potential Dog Population

An unspayed female dog, her mate and all of their puppies and their puppies' puppies, if none are ever neutered or spayed add up to:
1 year: 16
2 year: 128
3 year: 512
4 year: 2,048
5 year: 12,288
6 year: 67,000

Ft. Worth's Spay/Neuter Clinic suppose to be operational by Oct. 1, 2008

Approximately 2% of all impounded animals have registration tags or any form of id

Current Shelter Capacity = 374 - 450 animals

2007 12 month average = 364 animals

Total cost of field response, impound and 3 day stay 2008 - $94.11

Summary of Challenges: increasing demand for service, low City Ordinance Compliance, Shelter overcrowding, operating cost increases

End of stuff from Public Health Dept and beginning of my 2 cents.

Currently Ft. Worth has no adoption center for people to interact with the pets. Currently Ft. Worth Animal Shelter doubles up with dogs in one run. Currently CFW doesn't have sweeps in East Ft. Worth because there isn't enough money to pay staff to conduct sweep. Currently Ft. Worth has a limit of 3 dogs per household. Currently Ft. Worth has no requirements for spay/neuteuring of "family" pets. (a dog kept out in the backyard or tied up in the front yard with no interaction with any living thing but bugs and birds is no family member IMO!)

What is your Council person saying and/or doing about this disturbing trend and problem here in our beloved City of Ft. Worth? What are you doing about it? Please email the above Council members (firstname.lastname@fortworthgov.org) and let them know that you care about the dogs/cats. Plug Animal Control's phone number in your cell phone and call on every single stray, neglected, abused dog that you see 817-392-3737.

24 Water Main Breaks and Counting in East Ft. Worth


Several posts below I talk about the excessive amounts of water main breaks that I have witnessed in the past three years. (verified by CFW Water Dept.) As of today, here's one more that we can add to the list which I believe makes the count up to 24 breaks and counting. This is what I call poor planning, poor allocating of funding and poor job performance if you are, or have been a part of the Ft. Worth City Council in the past several years. What the heck are y'all thinkin up there at City Hall and who are you accountable to? Maybe if Ms. Kathleen Hicks is reading this blog she can let us know when we are going to get new pipes for our water system out here in the Meadowbrook neighborhoods. By the way, how many of our tax dollars have been spent on emergency repair expenses from water main breaks. That would include overtime staff hours, emergency weekend staff hours, all costs associated with street repairs around water main breaks, etc.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Pimping Pitt Bulls in East Ft. Worth


So many residents in Council Districts 8 & 5 (East Ft. Worth) are pimping their Pitt Bull dogs for "extra money," as one homeless man said yesterday. You can drive the neighborhood streets and every once in a while see a yard sign that reads "Pitt Bull puppies for sale." Why is the Pitt Bull breed so popular? Because it makes one appear tough, cool and untouchable as the rappers are trying to project on their music videos and singing about in their songs and teaching the young kiddos of today. One more waving red flag of the need for us as a community and society to address the need to help at risk children get the very best education possible and add some self esteem building, self responsibility building life skill teachings. We have got to find a way to counter the "normal" way of life that these at risk children see every day if and when they get home from school (if they even went to school!) We have got to find a way to hold parents accountable when they don't assume the responsibility of their children. Otherwise our local, state and federal taxes will continue to rise year after year because the need for more prisons, animal shelters, animal adoption centers, homeless shelters, charity organizations, re-entry services, city jails, and on and on. We have to address the root of problems or will we never make headway in solving them.
I have sent many emails to the Mayor and City Council members explaining the need for solutions to the dog neglect, abuse, strays roaming the neighborhoods on the Eastside. Months ago the Council did pass a no tethering ordinance and they have passed other dog related ordinances. However, those ordinances were way late in coming and the problems were already out of control due to lack of City government acknowledging they existed. The three top Districts in Ft. Worth for animal control calls are District 5 (Frank Moss), District 8 (Kathleen Hicks) & 2 (Sal Espino). It is my understanding that Sal Espino does now have a Responsible Dog Ownership program in District 2.
The dog problems create tension in the neighborhoods, especially the neighborhoods that have a hearty mix of races, income levels, major cultural differences in upbringing and values, etc. I have heard several residents say they would like to move out of the Eastside strictly because of the dog abuse/neglect that they see & hear on a daily basis. Dog abuse/neglect hits on so many fronts such as cruelty, quality of life for the residents (and the dog), public safety, domestic safety, etc. The other day, Animal Control had to call the FWPD to the scene because the irresponsible dog owners were so angry and probably threatening, like they had been to the neighbors, when Animal Control knocked on their door.
It was interesting to see how much our Council rep, Kathleen Hicks cares about dogs and/or the issue of stray dogs in the District at the Neighborhood picnic this summer. The picnic was at the park and low and behold there was a stray dog hanging around, I brought the stray dog to her attention to show her that all the emails we sent to her about the high number of stray dogs roaming around in her District were in fact true and here was an example. Her reply was "Oh Lord," and she kept walking. She didn't no more care about that stray dog or the issue of such than she cares about gas drilling safety.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Another water main break in Meadowbrook




A few posts down, I told you about the problem with water main breaks in my neighborhood. Found another one this evening. If you will look at the pictures closely, you can see that it wasn't that long ago that this very same main burst and has been replaced with new material, including parts of the street. Unfortunately, it didn't hold very long until oops...broke again. I did get a detailed response from CFW verifying that I have indeed witnessed 22 (23 now) water main breaks from my driveway in the past 3 years! Twenty-two?! That's alot to me. The CFW said it was because of the drought in 2005-2006 and explained how much the ground moves, etc.
Sure, that's another product of the "root of the problem." I believe it is because of mislead groups of people (City Council) term after term after term here in our great City of Ft. Worth. If you were really doing a great job of running the "business" of City Government then you would allocate enough funds to keep from WASTING millions of the taxpayer dollars on deferring and placing nothing more than band aids on the important concerns rather than addressing root causes!