Sycamore Creek Bridge

In attempting to get some revitalization going in East Ft. Worth, about 1 mile east of downtown off E. Lancaster Ave (State Hwy 180), I'm hoping to convince Kathleen Hicks (City Councilperson for the area) and Marc Veasey (State Rep) to obtain some money for restoring and beautifying Sycamore Creek Bridge, Sycamore creek bed with some lighting, bike trails that connect to Trinity Trails and a bike lane for East Lancaster. I noticed yesterday, that this bridge was part of the Works Progress Administration of 1935:

( "work program for the unemployed that was created in 1935 under U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. While critics called the WPA an extension of the dole or a device for creating a huge patronage army loyal to the Democratic Party, the stated purpose of the program was to provide useful work for millions of victims of the Great Depression and thus to preserve their skills and self-respect. The economy would in turn be stimulated by the increased purchasing power of the newly employed, whose wages under the program ranged from $15 to $90 per month.")

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/648178/Works-Progress-Administration

The beginning of this request will be today at the Lancaster East Business Association meeting - see post below for details.

Lancaster East Business Association (LEBA)

LEBA's purpose is to promote revitalization and gentrification of the East Lancaster Business Corridor. We are poor and don't have big money backing us or our area of the City so we really need concerned Fortworthians to please attend this important meeting Tuesday, April 29th at 2pm and voice your vision to the City of Ft. Worth planning department who is suppose to be in attendance to listen. Our Association's boundaries are from I35 (really Riverside due to West of 287 being Near Eastside Urban Village) to Beach Street only.

Meeting will be held in the small chapel of the Salvation Army 1855 E. Lancaster just east of Riverside Dr.

All interested people are welcome. Please come share your thoughts & ideas with the City and help us get something going over here just east of the beautiful and energetic downtown Ft. Worth.

A few of my ideas/thoughts are:

1. Beautify Sycamore Creek Bridge and the creek bed to include bike trails that connect to the Trinity Trails.

2. Get rid of the nasty motel/hotels and put in mixed use zoning in those areas.

3. Create bike riding lanes from downtown to at least, Sycamore Creek.

Marijuana should be Legal

With the same sort of restrictions as the drug of alcohol. It sends many young people (black men in high numbers) to jail and prison which puts a enormous burden on the rest of their young lives. It's almost impossible to find a job, rent an apartment, buy a car and the like with a criminal record. That in itself leads to more crime because we all (thanks to simple math) have to have money coming in... if money is going out. For other reasons too, but I'll cut it short.

Please call Animal Control for every suspect case of Dog Abuse

I have Animal Control's phone number programmed in my cell phone so that I can report abuse anytime. Will you do the same? The phone number is 817-392-3737. Messages are checked several times per day. If all else fails, call 911.

December 19, 2007

Neighbor smells foul odor; officials find dead pit bulls
Arlington police found dead dogs either chained up or locked in kennels in the backyard of a 24-year-old man now facing 11 counts of animal cruelty.
Three of the seven dead dogs were pit bull puppies in a crate. Arlington officers also found a bag of dog bones and a dog skull in the back yard of the east Arlington home rented by Christopher J. Clark (right).
Animal services officers also seized five emaciated pit bulls from the home and are trying to get them to rescue groups so they will not have to be euthanized. Three of the dogs were inside the home and two dogs were chained on a short metal chain to trees in the backyard. None of the dogs had food or water.
The investigation began Dec. 8 after a resident reported a bad smell coming from next door.

http://startelegram.typepad.com/crime_time/animal_cruelty/index.html

Pitt Bull Abuse is out of control in Frank Moss' District 5 East Ft. Worth

As usual when driving thru District 5 (South Ft. Worth) around Miller Ave & Ramey, I noticed a gorgeous white Pitt Bull in a backyard tied to a chain. I backed up to take a picture and noticed many Pitts tied to chains throughout the backyard of this house. If you look closely, you can see at least 3-4 dogs in the pictures. I have called Animal Control previously on this address. The problem with people breeding these dogs to sell to more ignorant dog owners for extra money and/or for fighting is totally out of control in District 5 and probably other parts of Ft. Worth. If you care about the well being of dogs, please email the Mayor and all of the council members in this great City of Ft. Worth and let them know that something more must be done about the abuse of Pitt Bulls. Again, I support strict spay & neuter laws, the strictest of enforcement of current Ordinances such as the newly passed no tethering of dogs to stationary objects (trees, cars, pipes, etc.), a watch list for offenders of dog laws, and mandatory educational classes for dog abuse offenders, community service working in Ft. Worth Animal Shelter. I mean if dogs have been taken out of your custody before, you should be on a list for random Animal Control checks every 6 months. Yes, this will cost more of your tax dollars. However at the rate we are going, the dog situation is so out of control that your tax dollars that are spent on Animal Control now, aren't near enough to make a dent in the situation.

mayor@fortworthgov.org , district5@fortworthgov.org , district8@fortworthgov.org, district4@fortworthgov.org, etc.

Where are City Services in East Ft. Worth - Districts 8 & 5?

Now really, what would you do if you saw scenes like this every single day on your side of town and in your neighborhoods? After you have had time consuming & costly forums, meetings, discussions, and all that crap that the City Council members arrange instead of getting the job done of enforcing City Ordinances -- all of the dancing around issues instead of bringing it up in pre-Council meetings that their constituents and neighborhoods are being ignored or that the demand in the City is so great for enforcement of laws that the problem is out of control. Really, what would you do?

I'm tough, I have a Pitt Bull

This dog was running down the street yesterday with an employee from Humane Society of North Texas (much different than City of Ft. Worth Animal Control) trying to rescue her which ended in success. Our Mayors and City Councils have not made Animal Control a priority and allocated the funds to make sure that we have a spay & neuter clinic until now. To this day, no dogs that leave the City's Animal Shelter are spayed/neutered. However, a voucher is given to adopters and they sign a sterilization agreement to have it done w/in period of time. Yhea right, and who checks on that process? Puh-leeze! Evidently construction started on new spay/neuter clinic one month ago and should be complete this coming summer. This City is so full of irresponsible, ignorant dog owners, you just don't realize how bad the problem is unless you live in East Fort Worth or near diverse communities of uneducated, low income residents. Please take the time to email the Mayor and City Council regarding this issue. I am a supporter of making it a law (like progressive Cities are doing) that all dogs 4 months of age be spayed/neutered unless the owner has breeding permit and has passed educational classes on proper, humane care of dogs. Drive deep in the neighborhood of East Ft. Worth and you will see how many pregnant, starving dogs there are running the streets. Mayor and City Council email addresses are: mayor@fortworthgov.org, district2@fortworthgov.org, district3@fortworthgov.org, district4@fortworthgov.org, district5@fortworthgov.org, district6@fortworthgov.org, district7@fortworthgov.org, district8@fortworthtgov.org, district9@fortworthgov.org

http://www.spayusa.org/

http://doglaw.hugpug.com/doglaw_014.html

Erradicating Homelessness in Fort Worth, Texas

I'm not a believer in one size fits all approach (most of the time). So, it is frustrating to see Ft. Worth's Mayor, other City leaders and some non profit orgs. push for PSH (Permanent Supportive Housing) as the top priority in "erradicating" our homeless population here in Cowtown, Texas. So what that we are the "only major City in the U.S." that doesn't have a 10 Yr. Homeless Plan!" Don't let Peer Pressure get to you, Ft. Worth. However, there is a significant homeless population and yes we need a plan of dealing with it, but because we are the only ones w/out one, isn't a good reason to have one, IMO. I really sort of dislike using the word "homeless" because most all of them have homes -- they are located in tax paid or privately owned bushes, easements, tax paid streets, sidewalks, alleys, shelters, programs, vacant buildings, vacant houses, parks, and/or lands.

When I specifically asked, Otis Thornton (City of Fort Worth's Homelessness Coordinator), what the City was doing about a few of the top three "root causes" of Homelessness (as per my non-scientific study): Lack of Job due to Criminal Record & Bothering Childhood Memories such as Irresponsible/Non-nuturing/Non-Involved Parenting which allowed them to stay drunk at 14, or doing drugs at 12, pregnancy at 13-16, high school drop outs, and have been looking for love or a way to ease their pain ever since their childhood. Otis' response was that basically those were poverty issues and the the City of Fort Worth can't solve social poverty issues of our Nation here in Cowtown. The great part is that Otis asked for suggestions, so that was a positive.
Common sense tells me that if we really are planning to erradicate homelessness, or even make it a rare occurence, how can we possibly do it w/out investing in erradicating root causes? IMO, we can't. It's really not rocket science. Is it just me?

Responsible Parenting - Where are Fort Worth's investments?

Leaders in Austin, Texas understand. Fort Worth, Texas doesn't. I know that subsidized housing (permanent supportive housing) will happen in Fort Worth because the buzz around the country is that if you build housing for the "homeless" x-cons & addicts that your tax dollars will be saved (in the short run). However, I haven't found a housing program yet, that has been in existence longer than 5 years and has reduced the budget that a city spends on homelessness. Sure it will look good for the first couple of years because a large percentage of the chronically homeless individuals will go for it, especially in the months of cold weather when their camps are an inconvenience to their lifestyle. Where in the 10 year homeless plan does it show that the Mayor's Advisory Commission on Homelessness (MACH), have allocated funds for programs that address the "root" causes of homelessness, such as irresponsible parenting?

Meadowbrook Middle School (East Ft. Worth) is a Category 4 school (which means if test scores don't go up, the school closes) with mostly minority children. Fortunately the school has an awesome Principal who is turing the school around. However, guess what the #1 problem is for her? Getting parents involved in their children's education.

Talk to any homeless person and ask them what their childhood was like, you will learn that 99% of them had irresponsible, "dead beat" parents.

So, tell me again why the City of Fort Worth is not investing in rewarding responsible parents and holding irresponsible parents accountable as part of their "erradification" plan for homelessness. Tell me again what our County Commissioners are doing about irresponsible parenting.

http://www.responsibleparenting.com/

http://www.fortworthgov.org/PlanningandDevelopment/info/default.aspx?id=48530&linkidentifier=id&itemid=48530