Just when you think the "news" can't get any worse

They repeat their stories.

Catch the FW Weekly calling out the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.  Again.  You'd think they'd be tired of it by now and actually strive to be a real news source.

From reading the comments, seems it may never happen----

Another commenter asked the obvious question: Why is the Star-Telegram writing about Lake Granbury and the Brazos River Authority when the paper has a hands-off policy on writing anything remotely critical about the Tarrant Regional Water District? “Typical Star-Telegram; report on this, but ignore the water management problem in our own backyard,” LesleyPezley wrote. “The local water board is totally mismanaging Lake Bridgeport. They’ve been allowing millions of gallons to go downstream during a time of drought, and now that lake is at less than 50 percent capacity. I’ve pointed this out in comments on several drought-related stories, but have yet to see a single question asked by the S-T about this. Pitiful excuse for a ‘news’ paper. More like a propaganda rag.”

TxDOT WHAT??

Read the latest unconstitutional scam here.  Seriously, read it, YOU are paying for it.

But that certainly doesn’t give TxDOT permission to sidestep the Texas legislature and write its own rules, violate the Constitution, and obligate Texans to a virtually unlimited number of taxpayer bailouts of toll roads, whether public or private. It’s not only double taxation but also fiscally reckless. This arrogant move by TxDOT demonstrates why state agencies don’t get to appropriate themselves money from the state treasury. The Texas legislature appropriates tax money, and it’s directly accountable to the people who elected them. So bypassing lawmakers makes TxDOT its own defacto taxing entity -- like a king making laws in his own fiefdom.

State officials, especially those charged with oversight over the Texas state budget and enforcement of the Constitution, need to step-in to prevent this un-Constitutional loan guarantee by TxDOT that could be the final nail in the coffin sealing the state’s fiscal cliff on road funding.

Worth a shot...

Sounds like the Fort Worth Star-Telegram is tired of being left out of the Water Board game.  They haven't reported on anything that has taken place since the election.  Sources say it's because newly elected board member and rising star, Mary Kelleher, won't give them an interview.  She recently refused, due to their completely biased and unprofessional reporting on the Tarrant Regional Water District election.  Now they are assigning a new reporter (though he's been entrenched in FW and ST for well over a decade) to cover TRWD.  That should work... 

While his first story may be somewhat of an improvement, the ST has a long way to go to prove they aren't just in business to haul water for their friends on 7th street.

We do have some questions for the fresh, unbiased reporters over at FWST concerning their campaign finance article about the water board.

While it finally admits incumbents, too, received campaign donations, from places like Kay Granger's "campaign fund" (WHAT??), it still never mentions "out of town" money/donors.  Isn't this the very thing the Fort Worth Star-Telegram was harping on the candidates for?

What exactly is the "neighborhood outreach" the incumbents spent money on?  Was this neighborhood in Como?

Have the ST reporters read the IPL pipeline report that the water board produced?

Is HillCo still representing the City of Fort Worth?

If the ST would answer our question, we'd gladly print them. 

Toxic Environment

No we're not talking about the Trinity River, though that's about as toxic as you can get.  We're talking about yet another board in Tarrant County that operates in the "Fort Worth Way" and is an embarrassment to all who it is supposed to represent.  Some of the quotes in the FW Weekly article about the latest Joe Palazzolo lawsuit speak volumes.  Remember that come election time.  WHO put these people in office in the first place??

The "That's the way things are done around here" excuse doesn't fly anymore...things are about to change.

And we now see yet another link as to WHY a certain trustee would want to censure Ann Sutherland.  The same trustee that according to the FWW article, lied during her deposition.  (Did she also call Betty Brink evil?!)

And could Mayor Price have one of her Police escorts return the Weekly's calls.  Inquiring minds want to know what took place at that meeting...

That sound you hear are the dominoes starting to fall...

His saga has taken more left turns than a NASCAR race. The drama started in 2010 when Palazzolo, acting in his role as the school’s diversity program officer, went to administrators with teacher complaints about attendance fraud, disparate treatment of minority students, misappropriation of funds, and the inappropriate behavior of some faculty members. When the administrators chose to cover up the wrongdoings instead of acting on them, he said, he took his grievances to the Texas Education Agency.

Eventually an internal investigation by the district found the majority of Palazzolo’s complaints to be accurate. Additionally, a TEA auditor found that during a six-week period in 2009 the school had reported numerous students present in their classrooms when in fact they were not and fined the district almost $18,000.

Based on the information Palazzolo produced, three administrators and one coach at Heights were pressured into retiring or resigning. But only one person from Heights was fired: Palazzolo.

For blowing the whistle while doing a job the district created for him specifically to report wrongdoing, Palazzolo was punished. He has been demoted, transferred twice, put on administrative leave, then fired, reinstated, fired again, and since then has yo-yoed in and out of courthouses and hearing rooms. The latest turn in the soap opera involves leaked records, busted agreements, and an inevitable return to court.

They want Palazzolo to get what is due him, but they also want their day in court. For them, this trial represents the best shot at getting out to the public the details of what they see as widespread, deeply entrenched problems at the school district: intimidation, cronyism, and corruption.

One quote from an April deposition of school board president Judy Needham exemplifies the kind of testimony that the district’s critics want to see come out.

Palazzolo attorney Jason Smith had asked Needham about reports that Palazzolo’s former boss at Arlington Heights had recommended him for a promotion to another campus. Why recommend a promotion for someone she disliked?

The boss just wanted Palazzolo out of the building, Needham told Smith. “That’s the way things are done around here.”

Ironically, many of its critics feel it is the district that is lying, covering up, bullying, and discriminating.

“I’ve never worked in a place like this … I am in shock,” she said at the time. “It is truly a toxic environment.”

Palazzolo said he thinks the board is trying to bully her into silence. “It’s…disturbing that the board would censure someone that I listed as a witness, apparently in part because they did not like how she would testify,” he said “It’s an insult to the judicial process and makes me worry about the other witnesses I listed who still work for the district and are reporting retaliation.

Several other teachers wrote that Perry often bragged about her friendship with Needham and threatened that the school board trustee would retaliate against anyone who spoke against Perry.

In her deposition in April, Needham said that she had no knowledge of Palazzolo’s involvement in the story. However, in a July 2010 e-mail to then-Superintendent Melody Johnson, Needham referred to Palazzolo and Brink working together on the story.

“Can you believe that evil woman and Joe,” Needham said in the e-mail.

Palazzolo believes that it was no accident that the district struck a deal with a law firm that collects taxes three weeks before he received a letter from the same firm trying to collect a 30-year-old debt from Oklahoma.

In the deposition, Needham admitted visiting the home of Barbara Williams, a partner of the law firm Linebarger, Goggan, Blair, & Sampson — the firm that collects delinquent taxes for the district, Tarrant County, and Fort Worth.

Needham told Smith she could not remember if her visit was before the board voted to award the firm the contract to collect taxes for the district. She and Williams met again, along with Mayor Betsy Price and trustee Tobi Jackson, at Michael’s Restaurant to discuss the contract.

The board hired the firm in October 2010, and the following month Palazzolo received a letter from Linebarger trying to collect the $435 debt owed to the state of Oklahoma. Linebarger claimed the debt, with late fees and penalties, had ballooned to $26,000. Palazzolo claims he paid off the debt long ago. (Linebarger also collects back taxes for Oklahoma.)

In an e-mail to the Weekly, Needham said that the meeting at Michael’s had nothing to do with Palazzolo.

There was absolutely no discussion of ‘going after Joe’ at the luncheon,” she said. “His name was never mentioned.”

Price could not be reached for comment.

Tarrant County Karma Catch Up

Seems folks are starting to ask questions about the way things are done in Tarrant County government offices. Keep asking. The lights are coming on, let the dominoes fall where they may.

It is dated 5 weeks after the May 24, 2012 meeting. So if changes were made to the project, why didn't the county put the job back out for bid or why wasn't there a change order to the original contract?

"That sounds like a pretty major change in the scope of the work?" questioned Becky Oliver.

"On a job this size, that is pretty significant," said Howard. "Most times an actual formal document is prepared and issued, yes."

Records show Howard was also paid another $5,775.00 for a slab added to a private driveway. The driveway raises more questions about work on private property and whether the county is following proper procedures.

"I don't have any control over what goes on inside the county," said Howard. "All I know is that I did my job and I did not do anything wrong."

Last month, Fox 4 reported on another questionable project in Precinct 1.

Fox 4 watched county crews working all day to take down a fence on private property. Commissioner Roy Brooks told Fox 4 it was a recommendation from the Tarrant County District Attorney's office.
"Before we undertook the project, we cleared it with the district attorney's office, they cleared it," said Brooks.

Later Brooks admitted the DA's approval was for another project involving trees but not a fence.

"It borders on the absurd," said David Brooks, an expert on county government.

David Brooks told Fox 4 he did not believe the county could use tax dollars to remove a fence on private property.

Emails show the fence job was set up after the ranch manager contacted supervisor T.C. Webster and asked for the county to consider assisting with fence removal.

"Is this just another example of what is going on in that office?" Oliver asked the former employee.

"Most definitely," said the source. "I don't want my job back. I don't hate the people but what is right is right and what is wrong is wrong. Knowing how bold they are, never being questioned, never being held responsible for their actions."

When government contracts are involved, there are checks and balances in place to help control fraud and ensure taxpayers are getting their money's worth. The documents from this road project have been turned over to law enforcement outside the county. Tarrant County officials are expected to turn over the results of their investigations to commissioners on Tuesday.

A press release was sent to Fox 4 on Monday. The release came from a firm that says it does strategic political communication consulting. The release says Commissioner Brooks is pleased with the project reviews and adds his office will be implementing the auditor's recommendations immediately. Fox 4 asked the county's spokesman why Commissioner Brooks was responding to a third party about the report. The spokesman said he knew nothing about the news release.

Read more: Investigation - Tarrant County Concrete

Fort Worth Fail...again

If you've been keeping up with the Weekly you know residents in Fort Worth have been having problems with city workers doing things on their property without permission and apparently without plans or oversight.

First was the tree they chopped down on private property.

Second was the sidewalk they laid (on private property) across residents driveways, making it illegal to even park at your own house.

Now here's the kicker.  The city has demolished the wrong house.  Oops.

Can someone find out what's going on down there?  Maybe one of the policeman that have been assigned to get Mayor Price aspirin, could look into it.

WHO pays?

That would be YOU.

Read Clyde's editorial in the Fort Worth Business Press.

Between them and the Weekly, FW does have a newspaper after all.