If They Asked Me, I Could Write a Book
by Steve-OWhat’s your favorite Mike Moncrief story? Mine is probably a toss up between the Mayor’s lucrative relationships with the gas and oil industry or how he skipped the first public hearing on the gas drilling task force to attend the lighting of Castle Grayskull, er, the Pier 1 Building, um, I mean the Chesapeake Building.
Yep, Mayor Mikey cares. And now, UTA is even writing a book about it. From the press release:
“Could there be a better way to learn about the science of politics than to study the career of a successful practitioner? Allan Saxe, who has taught political science for more than four decades at The University of Texas at Arlington, thought not. So, he designed an unusual curriculum with students engaging in original research to chronicle the political life of Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief.
Eight students, all undergraduates, were involved in the research. They collected an extensive oral history from interviews with Moncrief, as well as former Fort Worth mayors Bob Bolen and Kenneth Barr. After the students’ research was complete, Saxe decided the results called for preservation as a tool for understanding the history of the Fort Worth area, as well as city management, policies and planning. A DVD of the interviews was placed in local community colleges and high school libraries and in UT Arlington Libraries Special Collections.
“Also a book, “Decades of Caring: A Chronicle of the Political Life of Mike Moncrief” is being published by Cengage Learning. The book is divided in two four sections, each co-written by two students. The sections cover Moncrief’s time as a Texas State representative, judge of Tarrant County Commissioners Court, Texas state senator and mayor of Fort Worth.”
Tags: Mike Moncrief
15 Comments, Comments or Pings
cozette
Here’s a book title for you, “Post That Get Removed When They Point Out Fraud on The Part of West and Clear”?
Aug 4th, 2008
Suzette
What is my favorite Mike Moncrief story? Asking him to please get the deep, mesquito birthing potholes repaired in East Ft. Worth and he did. The book sounds like a must read if you live in and care about Ft. Worth. How does that saying go??? ..something like we have to “understand” where we’ve come from in order to progress and not make the same mistakes going forward.
Aug 4th, 2008
ears1foru
Steve-O if you had one ounce of care for Fort Worth that Moncrief has you would take those holier that thou sunglasses off and realize that most of your wonderful Fort Worth blog and its pictures and venues comes from the oil and gas money of Moncriefs, Richardson (Bass’s), Walsh’s etc. that built this town.
My favorite story is watching Mike as Senator sitting for hour upon hour listening to the less fortunate and needy as Chair of Health and Human Services and then hearing the same testimony in Senate Finance and trying to help at each and every turn.
Aug 4th, 2008
Bernie
Cozette: Fraud? Really? Maybe you could point out something in the story that you think is fraudulent.
Suzette: I think we’d all agree, whether you agree with Mike Moncrief on certain issues or not, the book is probably worth reading. Some of the best reads I’ve ever had were books that I didn’t necessarily agree with on every point.
Ears: I moved to Fort Worth during Mr. Moncrief’s last term as State Senator, so I don’t have many first-hand memories of him in the Senate. I’ve heard lots of good things, though. And a lot of good things I’ve heard don’t really jive with my own image of him as mayor. In fact, I think a lot of people probably feel like Senator Moncrief and Mayor Moncrief are two different people. The former Democrat’s association with Republican Power Broker Bryan Eppstein is a pretty good indication of a change in political priorities, too.
Aug 4th, 2008
Pete G
Cozette, this country of ours is truly a remarkable place, where a gal or fella can speak their mind and they might even get a few folks to listen. The Internet is pretty democratic too, and it’s beautiful that you can go blogger.com or wordpress.com or a dozen other services and start your very own website and say whatever you want.
Aug 5th, 2008
ears1foru
Bernie are you still on Wendy Davis’s payroll…which may be a reason you point out Epstein. At least state your conflict, I am not on any politicians payroll.
Aug 5th, 2008
VinnyV
I’m still reading about Mr. Moncrief, but it is fairly clear to me by now that people either love him or hate him. That often goes with the territory in politics it seems, but I suspect the “monster” named Chesapeake and its unpopularity has done more to damage him than anything else.
Personally, I am on the fence with this guy. I do think the shadiness of Chesapeake has possibly rubbed off on him ethically — that’s only my gut-feeling talking though. Money has just been such a great corrupter of men. It may help if he would endorse Wendy, but I don’t know if he has already explicitly done so or if he will do so. Politics are so high-school sometimes.
I do however take offense with the statement that the Moncrief, et al’s oil and gas money has built this town. Mainly because that rather reckless language so eagerly and unfairly discounts the middle and working classes that have always struggled to make the money FOR the wealthy who have in reality given back a relatively small portion of their coffers to this city so that their names may be immortalized on a building and worshiped by those of us that are so easily blinded by wealth that we confuse it for intelligence, righteousness, and good old fashioned hard work.
Aug 6th, 2008
Adam S.
@ ears1foru — Thanks for pointing out who Bernie supports. I especially appreciate how you let everyone know you don’t work for a politician while hiding behind an anonymous user name.
I’m on the fence with Mayor Moncrief myself. Some of the things he said last night at the council meeting in support of the Paschal Neighborhood zoning case made me think very highly of him.
Aug 6th, 2008
Suzette
Adam - funny you mention the comments Moncrief made in support of the Paschal zoning case. The one thing that seemed to get Moncrief going was that “someone” (the developers) sent around a letter stating that if the residents didn’t sign this piece of paper, their property values would drop by 50%. It seemed to be some dirty tricks that the developers were trying to pull on the neighborhood including intimidation, etc. Moncrief gave a mini lecture on the immorality of such tactics, etc. I mentioned to my neighbor “but Chesapeake does the very same thing and he doesn’t say that about them.” My neighbor said “It’s money talking.” I’m on the fence with Moncrief as well. At times he seems like such a great politician who really cares then he’ll say or do something that is contradictory to that thought, so ….. I know he said his relatives that are buried in Greenwood wouldn’t mind of they use the cemetary paths as access roads to the proposed drill site. I thought that was sort of creepy and cold, but maybe that’s just my personal hang up with thinking cemetaries should be sort of quiet, peaceful and comforting….”a resting place.”
Aug 6th, 2008
ears1foru
Adam s. would it help if I put Billy E. instead of ears1foru. I did not point out who Bernie supported I pointed out he was being paid.
Vinnie V. I understand the work of many to make a great town, I was refering to Steve Os pictures and venues stories that come from Bass Hall, Kimball Art, Will Rodgers with Moncrief Building, Walsh complex at TCU etc., etc.
I don’t hear all the screaming about the oil and gas wells out in West Texas that funds most of Public education, telling them to stop so our property and sales taxes can go up. I don’t see Texas Exs and Aggies saying we should cut off UT and A&M excellence funding because pipelines are going thru alot of small towns. It reminds me of alot of folks who say we need this and that just not in my back yard.
Aug 6th, 2008
Ross
There are many things we need (slaughterhouse, paper mill, strip mine) that I don’t want in my backyard. I’ve never understood how a NIMBY position on urban drilling is hypocritical.
Aug 6th, 2008
Steve-O
What’s needed is balance. Certainly Texas has benefited from its oil and gas resources in the past, but as this Austin American-Statesman story points out, it has come with a price. In the future, the quality of life cost won’t be out West, it will be right here in our city. All I am looking for right now is a planned process with at least the same pipeline protections as Southlake and Flower Mound currently have. There are things that the Mayor and the City could do but aren’t. And that is inexcusable.
Aug 6th, 2008
Suzette
§ 121.202. MUNICIPAL AND COUNTY AUTHORITY. (a) A
municipality or a county may not adopt or enforce an ordinance that
establishes a safety standard or practice applicable to a facility
that is regulated under this subchapter, another state law, or a
federal law.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (a) and by Section
121.2025, this subchapter does not reduce, limit, or impair:
(1) a power vested by law in:
(A) a county in relation to a county road; or
(B) a municipality; or
(2) the ability of a municipality to:
(A) adopt an ordinance that establishes
conditions for mapping, inventorying, locating, or relocating
pipelines[0] over, under, along, or across a public street or alley or
private residential area in the boundaries of the municipality; or
(B) establish conditions for mapping or taking an
inventory in an area in a municipality’s extraterritorial
jurisdiction.
http://tlo2.tlc.state.tx.us/cgi-bin/cqcgi?CQ_SESSION_KEY=YOBVYEXMJNIU&CQ_QUERY_HANDLE=124730&CQ_CUR_DOCUMENT=49&CQ_TLO_DOC_TEXT=YES
So….where’s Ft. Worth’s “mapping?” And what do the our City Council members and Mayor mean when they say, “We don’t have any authority/power in this mess…..it’s the State?” Are you telling me that nine (9) of you haven’t bothered to read the law and dispute this nonsense? Naaaahhhh, that can’t be true. And why does it matter if 100% of us signed leases for our mineral rights (Carter Burdette)?” That is an unacceptable argument and don’t try to distract us from the law and point at hand. BTW, I’m really excited about the CREDO rally tomorrow….can you tell?
Aug 6th, 2008
Steve-O
Check out Suzette throwing down with the statutes. Way to bring the wood.
Aug 6th, 2008
Suzette
:). I wanted to bold 2 A-B but didn’t know how…can one of you gentleman be so kind as to do it for me? Not everyone may feel like reading. Thanks W&C for ALL you do!
Aug 6th, 2008
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