star-telegram.com: Editorials

Voter void

Tue, 13 May 2008 04:39 CDT

There's voter apathy, and then there's extreme voter apathy. Tarrant County has a raging case of the latter.

Countywide, only one of every 20 registered voters eligible to cast ballots in Saturday's elections did so.

Elections were held for city council seats, school board posts, city and school bond programs involving hundreds of millions of dollars in proposed expenditures, Tarrant County College District board positions, slots on the Tarrant Regional Water District board and various special issues.

But most county residents apparently either were unaware of the elections or simply didn't care enough to vote.

Only 43,574, or 5.1 percent, of 852,525 eligible voters bothered, even though there were nine days (April 28-May 6) prior to Saturday in which voters could cast early ballots. Put another way, 808,951 eligible voters did not cast a ballot.

That kind of turnout bodes ill for democracy and strong local governance.

Failure-to-vote excuses such as "I forgot," "My daughter had a dance recital," "The fish were really biting" and "I drank a little too much on Friday night" are not acceptable. Residents had 12 hours on Saturday in which to find a few minutes to vote.

The Fort Worth city bond election produced a microscopic 3.55 percent turnout, with only 11,585 residents bothering to vote.

That's despite the fact that $150 million in largely transportation-related improvements were at stake, and a citywide survey showed that better roads and reduced traffic congestion are a top priority. The bond package won with approval from 68.5 percent of voters.

One might have thought that the turnout would have been spiked by the fact that the bond package included $10.2 million for three bridges for the controversial Trinity Uptown project -- a $576 million flood control and economic redevelopment project near north downtown.

Some voters said they would oppose the bond package merely because it included the bridge funding. But less than 1 percent of registered voters turned out in some precincts.

Big bucks were at stake in school bond elections. In the Eagle Mountain-Saginaw district in northwest Tarrant County, voters approved a $394 million bond program. But only 5.5 percent of eligible district voters cast ballots, even though some also were eligible to vote in Fort Worth's city bond election.

In contrast, some jurisdictions rang up much more respectable turnout percentages. The small, affluent town of Westlake in north Tarrant County recorded a 39.l percent turnout.

Dalworthington Gardens notched a 23.55 percent turnout. Pantego had 23.2 percent; Westworth Village, 19 percent; and Southlake, 14.7 percent.

But all in all, an epidemic of apathy reigned throughout most of Tarrant County.

As Fort Worth City Secretary Marty Hendrix put it Monday, "It's sad -- just so sad."

That about sums it up, doesn't it?

Click on ...

Tue, 13 May 2008 04:39 CDT

Arlington city officials have made it significantly easier for the residents to follow what happens at City Hall by making broadcasts of meetings available online.

The Web site now offers access to City Council meetings live and through an archive that dates back to Jan. 8. Plans call for the archive to include 18 months of meetings.

And here's the part that is really cool, at least for people who are serious about this sort of thing and want to check out what the council has done on a particular issue: The archive database is searchable by key word. In addition, the recorded version of each meeting is displayed along with the published agenda, and clicking on an individual agenda item allows the viewer to go directly to the council's discussion of that item.

The meetings of the Arlington Planning and Zoning Commission and the Tarrant County Commissioners Court are available online as they are broadcast and rebroadcast on the government-access cable Channel 16.

The move toward making government meetings available online is slowly gathering steam and is a major advancement in public access to information. Arlington has taken that move to a new and important level by providing the ability to search a database of council actions.

It's just as important to compliment government officials when they do something right as it is to point out when they do something wrong. In this case, Arlington city officials have done something that is very right.

GOVERNMENT TV

For Webcasts of meetings, check out these sites:

Tarrant County Commissioners Court:

http://tinyurl.com/44rv33

Arlington City Council and Planning and Zoning

Commission: www.ci.arlington.tx.us/broadcast/index.html

Message sent

Mon, 12 May 2008 04:37 CDT

Bedford business analyst Joe Hudson's victory in the District 2 race for the Tarrant County College Board of Trustees sends the message to other members of the board that, at least as far as voters in Northeast Tarrant County are concerned, spending has gotten out of hand.

District 2 encompasses Richland Hills, Bedford, Grapevine, Colleyville, Southlake, Westlake and parts of Hurst and Euless.

Hudson rode to victory on the back of hefty campaign contributions from businessman Larry Meeker and a message criticizing spending on TCC's planned multimillion-dollar, 38-acre campus in downtown Fort Worth.

Retired economist Jerry Pikulinski carried much the same message and enjoyed similar contributions from Meeker in his race for the Arlington-based District 3 seat, but he was defeated by incumbent Kristin Vandergriff.

Construction of the downtown campus, expensive and beset with complications as it is, is unlikely to be halted by Hudson's election. Work already is too far along to turn back -- at least not without more cost than that kind of reversal probably would be worth. Still, the message on spending is loud and clear.

The board will be doing some significant reorganization as a result of the election: The District 2 seat opened up because longtime President J. Ardis Bell stepped down.

But even with a new president, the mission shouldn't change: making a solid college education affordable for Tarrant County residents, providing targeted job training for employers and ensuring that taxpayer money is spent wisely.

Shake up

Mon, 12 May 2008 04:37 CDT

No matter how the voting went Saturday, the Fort Worth school board was in for a shake-up.

Except that the shaking isn't finished.

The 8,000 or so voters who cast ballots for president were closely divided between banker Ray Dickerson, 63, and trustee Chris Hatch, 61, a CPA, to replace Bill Koehler, who stepped down after a four-year term. A third candidate, William Winnett, got just enough votes to force a June 14 runoff between the other two.

The Star-Telegram Editorial Board had recommended Dickerson largely because his experience managing a successful financial operation would be beneficial is overseeing the 80,000-student district, especially as it undertakes a $593.7-million bond program that voters approved last November.

But Hatch has four years of board service representing District 6 in southwest Fort Worth and chairs the district's audit committee.

Koehler brought order and coherence to board meetings and a better focus on making sure the district's mission drives the budget and not the other way around. The district will continue to need that kind of leadership.

Voters in District 1 overwhelmingly chose former principal Carlos Vasquez, 40, over incumbent Camille Rodriguez, 40.

Let's hope it was for his experience as an educator and passion for improving achievement -- and not for his claims that the students of the district were better off under ex-Superintendent Thomas Tocco than under current Superintendent Melody Johnson.

Some of the gains during Tocco's 10-year tenure were illusory, and the district fell behind in key ways while millions of dollars were lost through waste, fraud and mismanagement that went undetected for too long.

The district still faces a challenge to see more students through to graduation.

But the bond program is designed to improve facilities and technology districtwide to help instruction.

Administrators continue to refine a comprehensive new curriculum that was introduced this year. And a pilot teacher incentive pay program is designed to attract and reward better teachers for some of the district's most struggling schools, including Diamond Hill-Jarvis High School in District 1.

There are serious commitments of time, effort and money behind these efforts to boost achievement. And the board will need to monitor them closely to make sure the investments produce positive results.

Vasquez has promised to be outspoken. That can be beneficial to proper oversight. But it's important for all trustees to recognize that they have a responsibility to help move the district forward -- not just for one section of town, but for all children.

Bring on the debate

Mon, 12 May 2008 04:37 CDT

It's great news that there will be runoffs in two Arlington City Council races.

This will be an opportunity for some honest-to-goodness debate about important city issues. The runoff candidates will have to move beyond platitudes like "I have the kind of experience the council needs" and say what they want to do to solve real problems.

Bring it on.

The June 14 runoff will pair District 6 candidates Robert Shepard and Vera McKissic. For the District 7 seat, the candidates are Michael Glaspie and Jimmy Bennett. Both positions are elected at-large by all city voters.

Let's hear some concrete proposals from these folks -- and some arguments from opposing camps -- about the challenges that Arlington faces:

Crime and gang activity. The council has made budget revisions that include hiring 13 more police patrol officers, but isn't there more that can be done? Arlington youths and their parents are crying out for activities and opportunities that will fight the gang problem, but voters turned down a sales tax that would have paid for some of those changes.

Arlington school district trustees and administrators are facing these problems head-on. The runoff debate is an ideal time for ideas on how the city can join in.

The November bond election. The council and the city staff have done a lot of planning for this election, but now is the time for runoff candidates to say whether they think this planning is headed in the right direction. Streets, parks and drainage are on the list.

Empty buildings. There is discussion among some council members about ways to require owners of long-vacant buildings to take actions that would remove neighborhood blight. What ideas do the runoff candidates offer?

The list of things to talk about is limited only by the creativity and desire of the candidates themselves.

A runoff might be nice

Mon, 12 May 2008 04:37 CDT

It's a shame that the two races for seats on the Arlington school board will not see runoffs.

State law allows school board members to be elected on a plurality of votes, so Peter Baron will take the Place 2 seat in Arlington with 46.1 percent of the votes cast in Saturday's election. Bowie Hogg wins Place 6 with 44.6 percent.

Saying that a runoff would be a good idea is not meant as a slight against either candidate.

But the Place 2 school board race had three candidates, and the Place 6 race had four. Wouldn't the school district benefit just as much as the city from a healthy debate and runoff among the top two finishers in each race?

Alisa Simmons in Place 2 had a credible showing with 34 percent of the vote. Simmons, who is black, was running to replace Michael Glaspie, who was the only black member of the board. Her outright elimination from further consideration means that there will now be no black trustee in a district whose student population is 24 percent black.

That does not set a good example for Arlington students.

Petro-panic

Sat, 10 May 2008 04:41 CDT

Just slip out the back, Jack

Make a new plan, Stan

You don't need to be coy, Roy

Just get yourself free

Hop on the bus, Gus

You don't need to discuss much

Just drop off the key, Lee

And get yourself free.

-- 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover, Paul Simon

If there are 50 ways to leave your lover, there must be even more ways to reduce the impact of record gasoline prices that have been eating Americans' pocketbooks alive.

Like Stan, you might need a new plan.

You could car-pool with a neighbor. Or you could organize your weekend errands, making multiple stops in a single trip from home. If you're considering switching jobs, you could give heavy priority to shortening your work commute.

Like Gus, you might hop on the bus. More North Texans are taking public transit with local gas prices exceeding $3.50 a gallon.

If Lee really wants to get himself free from oppressive fuel bills, he could drop off the key to his old gas-gulping vehicle and trade it in for a more fuel-efficient model.

Roy shouldn't be coy if he's not being fairly compensated for using his own car on the job. He needs to tell his boss up front that the company mileage rate needs boosting.

Jack could slip out the back of the line of gridlocked, gas-wasting vehicles on the freeway and trim his fuel bill if he alters the timing of his work commute, or starts telecommuting from home.

It's already happening

Millions of Americans are taking steps to shave their fuel bills, whether by planning a vacation closer to home, walking to a nearby convenience store or avoiding gas-gobbling jackrabbit starts when a traffic light turns green.

This year, tens of millions of Americans will change jobs, move or buy a new vehicle. Many can realize appreciable fuel savings by finding a job closer to home or buying a car that gets 30 miles per gallon instead of 20.

Americans already are scaling back on fuel consumption, even though the U.S. population and number of vehicles are growing annually. The U.S. Energy Information Administration predicts that record oil prices will cut demand for petroleum products this year by 330,000 barrels a day. While U.S. sales of big SUVs and pickups have markedly declined this year, sales of many small cars have risen by double-digit percentages. Ford's domestic SUV sales plunged 36 percent in April, but sales of the compact Ford Focus jumped 44 percent.

The nitty-gritty

Sat, 10 May 2008 04:38 CDT

North Texas residents can earn their Concerned Citizen Merit Badge today.

In local elections across the region, voters will decide candidates and issues that directly affect their lives, from the amount of money in their wallets to how long it takes to commute to work.

History says that turnout among registered voters will be disappointing. That's a shame, because the decisions made today will determine future property tax rates, road repairs and construction; whether there's an adequate supply of water for an area growing explosively; how well children are educated; and higher education opportunities for those unable to attend a four-year university.

Voting for president is light work for the electorate -- lots of passion and excitement. Staying engaged in the nitty-gritty of local politics is the heavy lifting.

The Tarrant County Elections Department lists 34 political subdivisions contracting with it for services today. Voters can see sample ballots and access other information -- such as voting locations -- at the Elections Department Web site ( www.tarrantcounty.com/eVote).

The Star-Telegram Editorial Board interviews candidates, researches issues and makes recommendations in selected races. Please consider that information as one more source as you make your own independent decision.

People will be elected today. Bond proposals will pass or fail. Be part of the process -- vote. Delegating that decision-making to others is un-American.

Editorial Board recommendations in today's balloting include:

Tarrant Regional Water District Board:

Victor Henderson, Hal S. Sparks III and Jack Stevens

Fort Worth municipal bond election: Approve

Tarrant County College

District 2: Conrad Heede

District 3: Kristin Vandergriff

Fort Worth school board

President: Ray Dickerson

District 1: Camille Rodriguez

Mansfield mayor: David Cook

Bedford charter changes: Approve all propositions

Roanoke home-rule charter: Approve

Is it caws for alarm?

Sat, 10 May 2008 04:38 CDT

News item: Japan is feeling increasingly besieged by crows, whose numbers have risen significantly since the 1990s, according to a Wednesday report in The New York Times. The birds have caused problems with their droppings, their aggressive ways and their damage to utility infrastructure.

Should you be off to Tokyo,

Be on your guard for Mr. Crow --

Japan, it seems, is quite the spot

For black-winged scavengers to squat.

It's bad enough they leave their mess

All over parks and schoolyards -- yes,

But that's not all: This motley crew

Will snatch the ducklings from the zoo!

(And if you golf, a crow may buzz

Your head -- and why? Well, just because.)

The bigger issue on the table

Is that of fiber-optic cable

And power lines. These feathered sneaks

Will all too often stick their beaks

Into the wires or build a nest

In places that aren't quite the best

For that. And then, next thing you know:

Short circuit, blackout, toasted crow.

Perhaps we and the Japanese

Not a bridge too far

Fri, 09 May 2008 04:34 CDT

Some disgruntled Fort Worth residents are so opposed to the Trinity Uptown project that they are advocating rejecting a proposed $150 million bond program for desperately needed road improvements.

A mere 7 percent, or $10.2 million, of the bond package would help pay for three new bridges to be built on the north edge of downtown as part of Uptown, an urban revitalization and flood control project. The bridges are a crucial component of the project, which would provide enhanced river recreational activities and be an economic stimulus for attractive redevelopment of a drab area just north of downtown.

Another $12 million of bond money would go for building a new West Seventh Street bridge that would replace the current 95-year-old, structurally unsound bridge. No one we're aware of is upset about that.

If the Uptown opponents prevail in Saturday's bond election, the entire $150 million bond package goes down in defeat. In polling from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., residents will cast a straight "for" or "against" vote on the entire package, which is virtually all transportation-related. City officials say it would not require a property tax rate increase.

Defeat of the bond program would mean continued delays of new and expanded arterial roads of four to six lanes in fast-growing, increasingly traffic-choked areas of Fort Worth. The problem is especially severe in the Alliance area and other parts of far north Fort Worth where explosive residential and commercial development has overwhelmed an undersized road system.

The heart of the bond program is an $81 million allocation for arterial roads and $33 million for rebuilding residential streets that are so deteriorated that they no longer can be merely patched up or resurfaced. They need a total overhaul.

A defeated bond program would be a victory for gridlock and potholes. Is that what Uptown opponents want?

If you're a Fort Worth resident, what do you want? More gridlock, potholes and unsafe driving conditions? Or do you want more, better and safer roads with faster traffic flows?

The Star-Telegram Editorial Board enthusiastically recommends a "For" vote in Saturday's bond election.

THE SPENDING PLAN

Arterial roads: $81 million

Neighborhood streets: $33 million

Bridges: $22.2 million

Traffic signals/school flashers: $5 million

Transportation grant matching money: $3.3 million

2 percent public art program: $3 million

Intersection improvements: $2.5 million

Online: www.fortworthgov.org