Revitalization & Other Myths

                                                                  by Ron West

        In spite of setting up voting at local school events to stack the deck for the bond election, despite the use of privileged phone lists of students parents for the receipt of unsolicited calls (certainly not made to all voters) and despite the use of school meetings and publications to "sell" the bond issue, two of the BISD bond issues were soundly defeated by the voters.  The promised $.26 tax increase - supposedly justified by the need for "revitalization" of our area has been severely curtailed.   The use of BISD resources to promote this bond issue and skirt the intent of the law is obvious.  Since nothing actually said "vote for" the bonds, they bent the law to their needs.  We are certainly not wanting to teach "ethics" in this school district are we?

        This whole attempt by the current establishment led by Woods, Trevino, Waddell and Hancock under the banner of needed revitalization in the face of flat or declining student enrollment doesn't seem to make any real sense.  How would having the very highest tax rates in Northeast Tarrant County influence anyone to move into our area?  In fact, had this bond issue passed intact, the reverse of "revitalization" called business and citizen flight to other cities with lower taxes might have occurred on a grand scale.

        On the other hand the single issue that was passed by the voters with the following language on the ballot:

"THE ISSUANCE OF $40,315,000 OF BONDS FOR RENOVATING AND EQUIPPING SCHOOL BUILDINGS IN THE
DISTRICT AND LEVYING THE TAX IN PAYMENT THEREOF, INCLUDING THE COSTS OF ANY CREDIT AGREEMENTS

EXECUTED IN CONNECTION WITH THE BONDS."

seems to be beyond the grasp of the local school board and administration.  Apparently, only the schools they want to favor like they did with Walker Creek, will be the recipients of the real benefits of the proceeds of the approval of the technology bonds.  In other words, local "revitalization" by the approval of the technology upgrades will not be for the neediest of the schools in our district so this very uneven interpretation of the wishes of the voters is supposed to encourage folks to move into our area - NOT!  The actual wording on the printed ballot would suggest that the voters approved the money for ALL BISD schools!

        One can but wonder whether our current "in" group that has been in control of our area for the past 10 to 15 years as we voters have slept, really has any understanding or interest in real "revitalization".  Their actions seem to send a different message.  Using NRH as the primary example for a business or citizen considering our area for new homes or new business, how would you deal with the following message we are sending?

    1)    The current local government has increased taxes every year in NRH for the past 12 years and will again increase taxes this year - all by holding the rate.  Revenues have almost tripled over this period and they have announced a plan to continue this increase for at least the next 10 years. 

    2)    The NRH city government does not pre-publish new or changing city ordinances and makes no provision for any citizen or business input prior to the enacting of such new law.

    3)    The city budget for the 2005/2006 fiscal year will be approximately $80 Million.  Not one single member of the City Council nor the Mayor suggested the cutting of even $.10 from the budget.  It is being approved and enacted as presented by the City staff without a single reduction in any area.

    4)    Elected city officials strictly enforce local code ordinances against citizens (on a selective basis) and against business (on a selective basis) but routinely ignore their own ordinances (such as the placement of their political signs) if it serves their purposes.

    5)    Closed meetings, closed city information, walking quorums and the bending of election laws are routine in NRH.

    6)    The local city council is working hard to try to change NRH into a Southlake or Colleyville.   The upscale Hometown addition got a $13 Million new school when reportedly only 24% of the students for the school live in that neighborhood.  The Jack C. Binion school gets almost nothing and has overcrowding.

    7)    NRH routinely uses Certificates of Obligation (bonds without voter approval) to spend money where they do not think they could otherwise get voter approval.

    8)    In NRH dissent or criticism is met with name calling by the Mayor and his cohorts, attempts to silence any opposition and outright threats of retribution. 

    9)    In 1991 an NRH Swat Team using a deliberately false "no knock" warrant, broke down the door of a citizen and killed her son in less than two seconds.  The city SWAT team is being sent to competition at city expense and the city is still defending the wrongful death lawsuit and defending the actions of renegade police officers.  Many citizens are very afraid of current members of our local Police force.

   10)    Tax abatements and reasonable code enforcement is reserved for big business only.  If you are a small business, NRH will step on you.

       If the citizens of the city do not receive any benefit from increased sales tax revenues, why would we want more business in our city?  More business encourages more traffic problems and only allows our local politicians to build more monuments along the borders of our city.

        If a person or business has a property in our city with an existing pole sign, why is any new tenant not allowed to use the sign?  Why doesn't the city try to comply with existing state laws?

        Why does the city encourage litigation by not only paying the city attorney for advisory services but also for all litigation he can manage to stir up or extend?  Since he is so unresponsive to all questions and does not enforce the city charter, why try to do business in this type of city?

        Why are Watauga, Haltom City and Richland Hills buying into these "myths"?  Trevino, by simple use of his office to acquire BISD land for his cement mixing plant, has shown his regard for law and ethics.  His recent "secret" meeting that added Richland High School rebuilding to the recent bond election is one more use of his "influence" for his own personal goals at the expense of the taxpayers.  In a recent letter to the Star Telegram he published a lie about the current city library being "required" to be closed and has refused to correct this factual misrepresentation.  So far, to my own knowledge, Watauga, Haltom City and Richland Hills have all attempted to be more responsive, open and honest with citizens.  This new quad cities concept may lump the evaluation of their locations into that of NRH to their detriment.  Certainly being a clone of Trevino's style of government neither encourages "revitalization" nor trust!

        Revitalization is actually trying to fix problems that have been created by unresponsive, abusive, heavy handed closed local government.  

        You don't fix the problem by raising taxes, making secret deals, closing government and spending more money. 

        You don't fix the problem by mistreating business and citizens.  You don't fix it with heavy handed bureaucracies.   You don't tear down old schools and line the pockets of special interests to attract new residents or businesses.  You don't attract new business with crooked sidewalks and the beautification schemes of JoAnn Johnson at the expense of the new business.

        No, if you look carefully, we were not voting for "revitalization" this past week.  We voted to tell the closed establishment group that we are beginning to wake up and take notice of their actions.  We told them that we wanted reason reintroduced into their runaway spending plans.  We told them that we needed a commitment to do what we approved instead of using their judgment to build the $13 Million Walker Creek Elementary for the whim of Trevino and the Hometown developer as a result of some secret deals.  The money for Walker Creek - $13 Million - was supposed to be for two new elementary schools in areas that needed them.  Instead - we got a monument in an area that doesn't have (and is not designed to have) enough students to fill it. 

      Our area is not Southlake nor Colleyville.  I hope there are others like myself, that do not desire to remake our city in the image of those cities.  Our area will grow and prosper but our current elected officials are doing more to hinder "revitalization" than to truly make it happen.  Unresponsive government does that. 

       Unresponsive heavy handed government creates the very blight that it now wants to tax us more to fix.