Mr. Picht’s comments on rail are very unfortunate. “The fun of riding a trolley?” We’re not talking about some creaky old tourist attraction here – we’re talking about creating a serious transit infrastructure for what is a big city that’s only getting bigger. It’s clear that Mr. Picht does not understand the extreme importance of creating an effective rail transit system in controlling traffic, shaping growth, improving air quality, and providing more choice in mobility and living arrangement for the citizens of this city. He seems only concerned about moving *cars* around, rather than how to effectively move *people.* (And news flash – it’s hardly just rail that’s “subsidized.”)

With that sort of 20th century attitude I could not vote for Mr. Picht. This city needs a serious mobility infrastructure and building more roads and highways alone isn’t going to cut it. This sort of thinking for Fort Worth would lead to a future of ever-increasing traffic snarls, ever-decreasing air quality, ever-spreading sprawl, and ever-shrinking appeal for the city. I am no big fan of Mayor Moncrief, but he seems to understand better the importance of multimodal transportation systems to this city. I would gladly vote for him than sign Fort Worth’s future over to a mindset that considers transit a “fun” gag or frivolity.

I agree with Kevin. I am disappointed in Mr. Picht’s idea of a commuter or light rail being a fun trolley. This makes him seem out of touch in my opinion. The commuter/light rail is a big deal for me. It is something that I am excited about and look forward to.

Really? One comment about mass transit is what you are concerned with considering the issues we are facing in Fort Worth? Talk about uninformed…Did you read the sentence leading up to that comment – about if that’s what taxpayers want and they would get a vote. What a refreshing change that would be. Our voices being heard. You could go to city hall and speak and not be glared at or intimidated by your mayor. Is mass transit more important than getting a say in where your tax dollars go? Please look into all the issues before casting your vote, for everyone’s sake.

TXCHICK,

Uninformed? What, exactly, are you basing that on? The fact that I don’t agree that something like gas drilling is the #1 priority for the city?

*Yes,* a comment about mass transit IS what I’m concerned about – it is a critically important part of this city’s future growth and livability and the mindset voiced in the interview is not something I can support. Especially doubly that Mr. Picht jabs rail for being “subsidized” when TxDOT themselves has admitted that roads don’t even come close to paying for themselves. All forms of transportation are subsidized in this country to some degree or another. The belief expressed above indicates to me the same sort of 20th century post-WWII mindset that got us to the current condition of unchecked sprawl, traffic snarls, air quality problems, and other issues surrounding our transportation and living arrangements.

An effective, multimodal transportation system is personally my #1 priority for the city of Fort Worth – we cannot continue to just think about how to move cars. We have to think about how to move *people.* That means light/commuter rail, urban circulators like streetcars, an effective bus system, effective bicycle infrastructure, full and complete pedestrian infrastructure and urban planning, *and* effective roads and our existing highways. I consider this a top priority – moreso than gas drilling or any of the other current issues, to be frank. If we elect somebody with the mindset of the past 50+ years of status-quo solely auto-centric thinking, this city will choke on traffic and air quality issues. And we’ll wind up being less attractive to forward-thinking, innovative businesses and residents.

I’m not a big fan of Mayor Moncrief but I’m also not a fan of voting into office a mindset that would take Fort Worth ten steps back in terms of transportation and planning.

KEVIN,
I didn’t say gas drilling was my #1 priority. It is the #1 priority for those with campaigns financed by the industry and those that are being drilled on, near or under right now (without better controls in place this number will continue to grow significantly). I simply shared my opinion and asked those that had posted to look into all the issues before casting their vote. While I don’t disagree that mass transit is a concern that needs to be addressed I do see public safety as more important. (This does include gas drilling as it has an impact on not only our citizens lives but our air quality and water supply as well). In addition, all are concerned about how government is spending tax dollars, bringing integrirty back to city hall would be a good start for FTW, where we have $1 billion dollars worth of backlog flooding issues, a $50 million dollar budget shortfall, and $5 million “missing” dollars. Having city leaders that understand public safety, trust, and input would be a big step forward for the city and a huge benefit to the residents.

Please, people, read all of what I said. TXCHICK did and apparently understood my message. Okay, maybe the comment about the fun of riding a trolly was a little flip, but the issues are still the same.
We are taliking about maintaining an existing street and highway grid and building a new parkway, and the cost of building a light rail (trolly-like) line downtown and commuter rail on existing track for regional transport, and perhaps funding something more in line with high speed rail elsewhere. We need to compare the cost per lane/passenger mile of road and the cost per passenger mile for rail and decide if we can afford either or all.
I’ve ridden public transportation in Washington DC, Paris, Moscow, Tokyo, and others. In other than DC they built their systems to provide transportation where there was no abundance of automobiles and population centers were more compact regarding mass. Compare those cities to Fort Worth where we have approximately 350 square miles of city with very little concentration of residents in any one location.
Buses are most effective in serving spread out communities and express buses could provide a flexible source of tranportation rivaling rail.
Bottom line is: what will all the alternatives cost and are the taxpayers willing to fund them. Simple, no?

Looking back on Clyde’s original answer on building light rail, it’s clear he’s not a big fan of the idea. In his latest comment it’s clear he also appreciates the complexity of the issue. Fort Worth and Dallas are among the worst cities in the nation for urban sprawl, and fixing the resulting transportation issues is no simple task.

Light rail has a high initial cost and isn’t flexible. Buses at least run on existing streets, and it’s much easier to change a bus route than a rail route. Rail can only fix part of the problem. The one point where agree with Clyde 100% is that there is no simple solution.

Kay,

People ride bicycles in lots of places with weather as extreme, if not more so, than Fort Worth. Tucson, Arizona has far more bicycle ridership than Fort Worth. So does Minneapolis, and plenty of other cities with weather and other environmental challenges. Just because you don’t personally see people using bike racks doesn’t mean nobody rides their bikes in Fort Worth.

You really have no idea if “you bike people” are practicing what we preach or not. In parts of Fort Worth that are more bicycle friendly, such as the Near Southside, there’s plenty of bike activity – a check of the racks on Magnolia most nights bears that out.

As for trains – an effective rail transit system would absolutely keep people in the city and attract *more* residents. Just how loud do you think a light rail line or a streetcar is? Streetcars in particular are very nearly silent – and there obviously *are* neighborhoods that want their presence. Believe it or not, your car isn’t the center of the universe. The fact that Fort Worth is starting to come around to realizing that cities cannot grow forever with just car-based infrastructure is a good step forward for the city.

The subject is complex, but I don’t think light rail is the answer. Fort Worth is not dense (population wise) enough to support the expense. You still have to get in your car to drive to a pick up point, get on the light rail and then after it arrives, how do you get to your finial destination? Are you going to walk the finial 3-5 miles. If your destination is nearby, that is great, but it probably isn’t.
Look at the cost, the time it would take to construct, consider how many roads would have to be damaged and how much eminent domain (taking of private property) would be used. The cost is far to high.
The bicycle issue seems to be a way to get off topic. I never see anyone riding a bicycle as a means of their primary transportation ( I know there a few that do). Do I think those who use a bicycle for their transportation will use the light rail instead? No, I don’t . The bicycle is almost always used for entertainment or as a sport in this city.

I agree with Clyde. I am taxed enough! I want my own paycheck. I want to do with my money what I want. My money is not yours. If the users cannot pay for it, then do not look to my checkbook. If the voters want it. Then make a plan to finance it. Work the plan and then do it. The city government was never established to finance every whim that comes into a citizens mind. None of the issues being discussed should be governments responsibility to finance. Let business come in and make a profit if possible. If it cannot carry itself economically then there are not enough people to support it and therefore there is not enough reason to lay any additional burden on my chechbook. If you want to start an organization and get people to donate to build what ever you want or desire, go for it. You do not have a right to impose your whim to become my obligation. Read the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Live Free or Die. I give my money to support organizations that I believe it. Find others to support your plan if they are willing. But my City government should not take on optional little “Do Daddy” projects that require legalized theft from me.

Typical Democrat response, nothing but a bunch of strawman arguments and ad hom attacks. Nice try Pete.

Hello Pete,
Well, I’m going to give a reply soon… I have to work now, but you shown a few areas where you don’t know what we’re about (us Tarrant Libertarians), some places where you misunderstand the way things have and will always work, and some areas where we can – and can’t – privatize. I’ll say that’s our fault for not bringing you the facts up front.

We work from a standpoint of logic and have a philosophical foundation that is unwavering… And would help the poor of Fort Worth, at least those that want to improve their lot, more than any ‘progressive’ scheme ever hatched.

More later from me… I’ll go point by point down your rant and point out facts, fictions and misconceptions.
John

Pete wow, such anger. All that time typing and you appear to have absolutely no idea what the Libertarian Party is about. I guess just what you have heard from friends.
Sad. There is a difference between a pure Libertarian Philosophy and the Libertarian Party.
I think the best part of your rant would be this:

“You might be able to slowly reign it in, and I’ll agree that there’s certainly a place for that”

There is only one party that can slowly reign in what’s going on, and that’s us.

If we don’t break the DEM/REP two party Monopoly, then we are all screwed.

The LP now is most about just trying to say, hold on there a second, do we really need this or is this just another public work to cost the Tax Payer to benefit developers. Which is usually the case.

You should read up on what the Libertarian Party is really about, and stop getting us confused with Anarchists.

Also, you might want to relax a bit, before you blow a gasket.

Pete, lets make a link to the actual topic in EightOneSeven, so people can go to the direct discussion, because I believe this is getting quite interesting.
I am at work so I dont have the time to get all lengthy here but…
“…the inherent flaws in the Libertarian Utopia I’m automatically branded a Socialist.”
No the reason why you were branded as a socialist isnt because you disagreed with the Libertarian philosophy it is because you are a socialist.
I am not going to, at this moment atleast, discuss the problems with socialism (or democracy for that matter)
but how would you not consider yourself a socialist.
If you believe in
a. taxing a group of individuals for the benefit of another
b. socialized medicine (i could be wrong about your stance on this, so apologies if I am wrong)
c. believe the government needs to run and operate services that should be left to the private sector.

I am not saying there isnt good intentions and I am not even saying the ideas are wrong. I am just saying that is socialism. You can claim it is something else but that is like saying Republicans support the idea of a republic and not a democracy.

Pete,
I think what we should be looking at is this:

We already have a rail system operating just south of downton, running into Dallas. I’ve used it several times.
We already have a bus system. I’ve used it a couple of times.

It’s fun to have a bus or a train all to oneself. Clyde is correct. The buses run erratically, and the trains function as a trolley-ride novelty.

I’ve done the same in places like NYC and Toronto, where public transportation is more fully utilized. In addition to the greater population density, the difference is in zoning. In those cities, people can operate true neighborhood grocery stores, convenience stores, barber shops, etc etc etc.

How much regulatory B.S. would someone have to go through to do the same in a typical Mira Vista etc neighborhood? It’ll never happen. How about in a TCU neighborhood, somewhere on a residential corner. Nope. Zoned residential, regardless of the profit potential or the (ahem) savings to the environment.

How do the current FW City Council members feel about the Southwest Parkway Toll Road project, a possible recipient of another jillion dollars in porkulus funds? Granted, it will allow the minimum wage single moms of Mira Vista to make quicker trips to downtown and back.

How do the current FW City Council members feel about what FW Weekly called The Taj Mahal On The Trinity, Tarrant County Community College’s massive new monument to itself? (Conveniently located in the 18-20 year old Junior College residential hotbed of downtown Fort Worth….) Do you really want to pump more money into that boondoggle?

Or how about the produce market boondoggle that they opened around the downtown rail station? Does anyone ever mention it? Or even remember it? Well, you paid for it.

What’s that empty retail shell on the east side of North Main between downtown and the stockyards? Didn’t we pump a bunch of public money into that thing in the hopes someone could privatize the profit while socializing the risk? You’re still paying for it.

George W. Bush’s Ballpark In Arlington? Anyone still proud of that one?
The taxpayer funded monument to Jerry Jones now rising in Arlington? (Hint of things to come: look how many retailers are dying around the ballpark)

The constitution gives government the right (and responsibility) to build roads. Doesn’t say much about education, retail development, streetcars, ballparks, or farmers markets.
But in east Fort Worth, we have potholes and cracks in the roads that (seriously) make them unsafe for bicyclists and runners.

What is it, exactly, that makes you think they could build and operate a damn subway?

Your friend you’ve never met,

Allen

[quote]the trains function as a trolley-ride novelty. [/quote]

@TWS
Perhaps you need to ride the train at rush hour. I commuted by train every weekday for 2 months from T&P to Union Station (after gas prices dropped below $2) and it is rare to have an empty seat beside you. While I agree with you on many (actually most) of your points, I think your opinion of the trains is based on incomplete information.

Also, I, for one, appreciate the civil tone you exhibited. Name calling and insults belong in the school yard, not in an intelligent debate or exchange of ideas.

OK – back from earning money by working and spreading the wealth around by spending some time at dinner with the wife and -ahhhhh – watching the “The Office” on DVR. So, Pete, I’ll take on your commentary, point by point, to show you the libertarian take on each. Put your thinking cap on:

First of all, we have a philosophy. Unlike most of the other parties or movements, or other ‘isms’, we never change in our belief that: “You own yourself. You own your body, your life, and any property that you obtained without fraud or coersion. Since you don’t own me, or any fraction of me (and I don’t own any portion of you), we both, as individuals, should be able to do with ourselves and our properties as we choose, provided that you don’t interfere in the equal rights of others.” That’s the big one…

We DO believe in government, though. We’re not anarchist and believe that there is a place for government. For example, we believe that government should be in the business of the following: 1) Defending us from foreign attack; 2) Enforcing contracts and laws protecting the innocent from fraud, theft and coersion – like robbery; 3) Some infrastructure. Yes, Post Roads are allowable per the US Constitution, for example, laying the foundation for funding similar modern infrastructure (water, sewer, certain electric/communications commons. So, jumping ahead, that should answer your ‘who’ll maintain the roads that these PRIVATE BUSES would run on?’ question.
================================

“You know, the ones equating government to thinly veiled hostility, taxation to theft..”
—-Generally, governing anyone, even our ‘acceptable version’, in order to provide those services mentioned above must utilize the use either force, or threat of force. Defending ourselves: Force needed, but not in a pre-emptive manner used these days. Enforcing contracts – well, if one side’s not living up to the terms of their contract, then force may be used.
==============================
— Regarding minimum wage. If you think about it on surface levels or or use an appeal to sympathy by creating the ’single mom with no car’ character (yes, I know there are single mom’s with kids)… the minimum wage seems necessary. However, and Pete, I took some economics courses at TCU (isn’t that where you work?) and can tell you that minimum wages HURT the truly needy, creates unemployment – but does help Unions, since that’s what they use as a basis for wage increases. BTW, wage increases mean dues increases means Union bosses’ bonus increases. Don’t believe me? Check out this…. I know it’s a wiki!! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._state_minimum_wages and then compare that to this: http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/state_unemployment/index.html

I didn’t even have to pay tens of thousands of dollars to TCU to figure out that the map above that shows that the highest minimum wages correlate, not closely, but almost perfectly with the states with the highest minimum wages.

Back to, let’s call her Jane Dough, chances are slim that she’s working minimum wage. In fact, a 2000 Bureau of Labor report (best I could do) showed that 3.5% of household heads who worked more than 27 weeks of the year had minimum wage jobs. However, increases in minimum wage rates actually create job LOSSES for minority teens, people who you think might benefit from ‘minimum wages’.

If she didn’t live close enough to bike to work then she could take the privately run bus to work. By the way, I don’t see anything unlibertarian with regards to bikes having ‘claims to the road’, especially if there are bike lanes.
========================================

“While we’re at it — how much more are you willing to pay for water that’s guaranteed to be free of contaminates once we take government out of the “water business”? ”
—– I’m willing to pay market rates. However, since we’d have a contract with the water company who has won their contract by competitive bid for the business with stringent quality standards to maintain the contract, I’d get the highest quality water at the lowest prices. Thousands of communities already enjoy low priced, high quality water in the United States right now via this method.

“Is it fair that I can buy clean water from Whole Foods…”
—-Very GOOD! I guess you’re familiar with John Mackey – the founder of Whole Foods who is also a libertarian.

… “but the aforementioned single mom (who now makes less than $5/hr. because there’s no minimum wage — the free market at work!) can only afford to give her kids water from Haliburton Water & Fried Chicken (Looks like water, smells like mama’s cookin’!)?”
—-Weren’t you the one making the shamey-finger motion to somebody for playing to the ‘libertarian applause lines’? Then I shame you back for shamelessly pushing the “APPLAUSE” sign button that lights up at the Lake Woebegon Civic Center Auditorium by invoking Halliburton, fried chicken and particulate matter in drinking water in the same sentence.

Since you brought up Halliburton, that’s not our type of company either since it relies upon the sponsorship of our government’s pre-emptive wars of aggression to clean up what they paid to blow up. Of course, a little ad-hominem there myself, but we can probaby agree that Halliburton is generally not ‘our kinda place’. If they were simply an oil field services company, that’s one thing…
==============================================

—–Re: your comments of Fire Depts and Police Depts. As a libertarian, I don’t have a problem with a publicly funded Fire Dept. Since our Federal Government’s job one is to protect us from foreign invasion, a parallel can be drawn with the FD on the local level. Paying professionals to keep fire at bay and off my property is OK. Having paid professionals staffing my publicly funded Water Park isn’t. (Yes, there are several CITY Water Parks!!).

Also remember that we agree that enforcing laws protecting the innocent from things like murder, rape, robbery, fraud…. Police are instrumental there. So Cops are fine.
======================================

“Even if guns became so cheap thanks to the lack of regulations and taxes on the manufacturers, how quickly would the arms race in our neighborhoods escalate?”
—-True, the regulations do cause ‘hood arms races to escalate, but not in the way your describing. Due to our country’s century old ‘War on Drugs’, gangs build up their arsenal to defend their profitable turf. We libertarians don’t advocate drug usage obviously, but whenever you prohibit ANYTHING, whether booze, stag films, cigs or drugs; black markets ALWAYS pop up. Due to the very real risk of imprisonment or worse – murder by other dealers and gangs, the prices rise, profits rise and gun shot wounds rise.

If you can invoke Sweden in a later comment, I can invoke Switzerland now. Switzerland has an extremely high gun ownership rate. They also have decriminalized pot and medicalized harder drugs. Guess what their crime rates are. Yep. Low.
====================================

“Here’s the deal, and here’s why Libertarians are A. Stupid and B. Deluded:”
—–I’m not stupid. Again, I graduated from your employer and current school, so I’m probably bright enough to do that. I’m not deluded either.

“You might be able to slowly reign it in, and I’ll agree that there’s certainly a place for that, but human beings have pretty clearly demonstrated over the last 10,000 years that when given the opportunity they will gleefully fuck over anyone and everyone in pursuit of fame, fortune, or a nice piece of fried chicken”
—-There you go with the ‘fried chicken’ again (applause applause). And yes, I’d like to either slowly, or even more quickly, rein it in. Interesting how you used “reign” as in ‘to lord over someone’ vs. ‘rein’ like ‘to rein in a horse to make it go slower’. Just a Marxian slip, I’m sure.

And your ‘bird has flown’ argument basically says, “Since people have been cruel to each other to gain power or riches in the past, there’s NO reason to use reason, justice, unfettered freedom of choice in trade and personal freedom to ensure peace and prosperity for all (100 percent) citizens who would care to take initiative for their own benefit.” Another implication is since warring for profit and citizen’s ‘voting themselves the treasury’ is ‘out of the toothpaste tube – wulp, cain’t do nuttin’ bout that now.

It’s true, we’ve had caesars, pharaohs and tyrants who have terrorized their subjects for power and fortune. Marxist dictators who have killed tens of millions in the name of equality. We’ve had fascist dictators who have killed tens of millions in the name of ‘group unity’. Just because those birds have flown, doesn’t mean I can’t aim to shoot it down – now and in the future.

If you’re comment is more anti-capitalism, than a more macro take…. If a person screws somebody for profit or chicken, if they’ve used coersion, neglect, fraud, or just plain evil and caused harm by polluting, infringing my rights, lowering my home value, scamming me outta my hard earned cash money, then they should PAY TO CLEAN IT UP, PAY ME BACK and pay their debt to society in the pokey… but not lifting weights or watching TV, but by sewing shirts for The Gap or something that makes it less of an incentive to choose crime – AND allows those of lesser means a way to pay back their victims.
======================================

“Democratic (or hell, even a representative Republic) government is the only thing standing between civil society and the fucked theocracies and oppressive oligarchies of the world.”
—-A total democratic process frequently leads to a ‘tyranny of the majority’. Think Jim Crow Laws or why gays can’t marry in California. Representative Republic is much better, but sadly we keep sliding back to the tyranny of the majority. And before this gets thrown out there. We’re still not all that ‘Democratic’ – I KNOW. I mean, ultimately, our current POTUS was put there by an Electoral College and not direct vote.
===============================

“In summary: I would welcome those who wish to “do with their money what they want” to find a place on the planet where they can do just that and go there as soon as is feasible. Let me know how that works out for you.”
— Well, again, I’ll go back to Switzerland as an ‘OK’ idea of a kinda-libertarian place. They know that your right to privacy is a right, after all, and they’re fairly protective of their citizens’ right to privacy. Like I said, every house almost has a gun. That’s libertarian. Keeps crime LOW. How everybody gets their gun is less libertarian. A draft. Everyone is drafted (akin to slavery in my estimation), you go through a several month training camp. Taught how to use your weapon. At the end, you can either re-enlist or not. Either way, you keep your gun. Also, their currency – although not as much recently – has gold to back a measurable portion of it. They didn’t join in the EU fun and as a result, they’ve enjoyed a better economy than their neighbors who’s economies are backed in Euros. You remember what I said about their drug policies. Gays get to marry or not (why is that even a state function??)…. Also, the skiing is awesome.

Here’s the real test. Recently, in Central America, countries who are frustrated with their governments have recently elected numerous officials in Costa Rica AND ELECTED A NEW LIBETARIAN PRESIDENT of Panama!! This will be interesting over the next few years to see if our little petrie dishes to the South will produce some positive results and hopefully kill off the remaining bacteria of socialism.

” I’ll bet you’ll be missing the no-additional-usage charge roads, the nearly free water, gasoline, natural gas, garbage collection, wastewater collection and treatment, education, police services, fire protection, building code enforcement, military protection, etc. etc”
—-With the exception of ‘additional usage charge’ roads, and the fact that water isn’t close to free nor gas… everything else could be provided by government in a libertarian society.
==================================

“If you’d close your mouths and open your brains for more than a minute, you’d realize that you don’t pay ANYWHERE NEAR the actual cost of those services — the REAL cost is spread out across all taxpayers, even those that don’t use them”
—–The actual cost for me to build (or rent time on) a private highway, hire an army, build a sewage pipeline, true it’s beyond my abilities. However, AGAIN – We’re MINI-ARCHISTS not anarchists. But in case you live in Marine Creek and “summer in Haltom City”, then you shouldn’t be paying for those services. Those towns’ citizens pay for their own fire and crime protection. If you’re a Fort Wortherner, and set yourself on fire at a protest in Marine Creek, true you do receive a positive externality if they put you out. If you’re mugged there, Haltom’s Finest should be there to assist you, find the culprit and bring them to justice. Again, an externality even I, a cold hearted Libertarian, could live with.

“The Libertarian ideal sounds great in theory”
… thank you!
============================
“… naievity…”
—–OK, true. Folks have been sucklling on the teats of Uncle Sam (ewww) for so loong, that we all make little piggy noises when a new improved Uncle promises more slop. However, I truly think that we are honest about our beliefs and would not be surprised at all if WHEN we take a cue from our little neighbors to the South, that we find our general tide rising to meet all of the millions of individual boats that are actually levitating against the predictions of shipwrecks thrown out by those who ‘know better’.

“frothy mouthed, Laissez-Faire Capitalism…”
—-True. We haven’t had free markets forever. Since the advent of the ‘Corporation as Individual’, we’ve had governments hand in our affairs causing every bubble and burst…. However, snide commentary aside, it is truly because I care for those who are poor and economically crippled by their government – that I do what I’m doing. Because, I care about those folks, I really want help to get to those who truly need help the most, and I want the help to get to them as quickly, effectively, and efficiently as possible. Putting the ‘invisible reins’ on private charities and throwing our money by the pitchfork-full into the furnaces of ‘multi-million employee bureaucracies’ is the wrong way to do it. I’m going to do everything in my ability to make sure that resources aren’t taken from the productive to reward the unproductive, whether ’slacker’ or General Motors; to make sure that corporate criminals who harm others by neglegance, go to prison for a long time and are disgorged of profits and given to the victims of their crimes (I read ahead about Bhopal); I want people to be able to live their lives as they please and not infringing upon the equal rights of other. I’m going to do it and I’d love any of your readers to send me an email to chair@tarrantlp.org to ask me how.

Like I said, I read below and saw you wrote more… Ugh. I don’t type as fast as you. This ’screed’ took me about an hour and a half to give verifiable and substantive retorts to your strawman/ad-hominem attacks from earlier. So, I likely won’t do much replying back on this post.

Lastly, using coarse language in this forum is your right, but ech… coarse. They call it an F-Bomb for a reason. Like an A-Bomb or H-Bomb, you need to use them judiciously… that’s when people know your serious about something.

OK – so my rant was long and has been awaiting moderation for a while – and I know it’s late too, so plenty o’ slack is cut. But currently, my post regarding my mispelling apparently is showing up, I hit a karma button on my ‘awaiting’ comment and it appeared to work.

Just curious… anything I’m doing wrong?

Clyde has my vote for mayor! He tells it like it is and that’s what I like best about the man.

Goodness – I had to just skim much of these lengthy posts and I guess, the main comment I’d like to make is about the light rail. I’m no expert, but I have read that something of that scale would take at least a decade to become reality. When light rail really becomes THE issue, instead of falling in the Barnett Shale shadow, there will be an uber amount of meetings necessary in planning, designing, and on and on. If that’s the case, I can think of real current issues, like gas drilling safety (not to mention the jillions of gallons of water used to frac without being recycled), higher taxes, voters getting a voice, street/drainage repairs, ethical gov’t conduct…you get my point. As far as light rail goes, with the extensive amount of time it will take to even get this off the ground, we could have voted a handful of different people in and out of the mayor’s office.

I hate to say it, but my mom has been wanting us to ride the TRE for “fun.” We haven’t yet, but I hope to at some point, since I don’t need to ride it for utility transit to/from my job.