Fort Worth pools; short-term rentals; re-elect Paz; a nuked Senate

Fort Worth pools

I was enthusiastic about the proposed 2018 Fort Worth bond election until I read that new swimming pools aren't included on the proposed projects list.

This omission grieves me greatly.

When I was growing up in Fort Worth, my parents took my sister and me to a lovely neighborhood public pool where we girls frolicked and learned to swim.

Fort Worth owes it to its residents to provide nice, convenient pools to be used for both recreational and safety purposes.

Short-term rentals

I was surprised to read the claim in Sabrina Shaeffer’s Wednesday commentary, “Short-term rentals could turn our communities into commercial zones,” that prohibitions on short-term rentals are needed to protect property rights.

This is a bit like saying that fire fighters are needed to protect fires.

Shaeffer is free to live where she wants, but her property rights don’t extent to telling her neighbors who they can or can’t have stay in their homes. She doesn’t own her neighbors’ property.

SB 451 by state Sen. Kelly Hancock, R-North Richland Hills, is a modest measure that allows localities to regulate noise, parking and other issues that would prevent neighbors of a short-term rental from the using and enjoying their own properties.

The bill only prevents localities from banning short-term rentals or imposing burdensome regulations specifically targeting short-term rentals that don’t apply to other properties.

Texans who value free markets and personal liberty should support this legislation.

Re-elect Paz

Ashley Paz must be re-elected as trustee for District 9 of the Fort Worth ISD. She is a hard worker who gets results.

In the 2013 bond issue, Ashley helped get our beloved Amon Carter-Riverside High School the extra classrooms it badly needed.

She collaborated with Mayor Betsy Price and others to make the outstanding third-grade reading program at Oakhurst Elementary the model for the entire FWISD.

Bonnie Brae Elementary and Daggett Montessori, also in her district, are top-performing and coveted schools for kids.

She worked with Cinto Ramos to make the Diamond Hill elementary, middle and high schools a STEM and robotics program of choice.

As the parent of a Carter-Riverside graduate and a sitting board member of the school’s site-based management team, I applaud Ashley’s hard work and practical solutions for our students, parents and schools. Let’s re-elect Ashley on May 6.

A nuked Senate

Some members of the U.S. Senate have expressed concern that the Nuclear Option used to confirm Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court might damage the effectiveness of the Senate.

It is, indeed, frightening to think that they might be more dysfunctional than they have been.

This story was originally published April 13, 2017 at 5:38 PM with the headline "Fort Worth pools; short-term rentals; re-elect Paz; a nuked Senate."