Kay Granger Sells Fort Worth Down the River, the Trinity River That Is!

Old news? Maybe, but this is an election year and the people of Fort Worth need to be reminded that seven term Congresswoman Kay Granger, the Queen of Pork, spearheaded a project to turn the birth place of the city of Fort Worth into a polluted pond.

Fort Worth was born on the confluence of the West Fork and the Clear Fork of the Trinity River on June 6, 1849. Today the forces of the private sector and government have united to create the Trinity River Vision, a plan to develop 88 miles of the Trinity River and change its course, literally, by redirecting river water via a downtown channel.  The cost of the Central City part of the project is estimated at almost 600 million dollars, much of that billed to the Army Corps of Engineers as flood control. The justification given is the city’s growth since 1965, and a lack of new flood control measures since then.

Fort Worth voters have never voted for this major construction project, and as a matter of fact, have consistently voted against development along the Trinity River throughout the 20^th century.  So far voters have not been asked to pay for these projects. Apparently, the federal government has footed most of the bill, so indirectly, we are all paying for this great boon to the private sector. What interest a taxpayer in Tennessee has in the development of recreational areas along the Trinity eludes me, probably about as much interest as I have in paying for a bridge to nowhere in Alaska. Will we have 3 bridges to nowhere at a cost of 22 million dollars if the federal funds dry up? The private sector is supposed to pay half the costs. So far it is nowhere close to being an equally funded venture, the government paying most of the costs so far. Kay Granger is proud of her pork.

The issue of eminent domain once again rears its ugly head as this non- governmental agency conducts land grabs without adequately compensating the grabees. Headed by JD Granger, son of Pork Queen Kay, he dispenses funds as he sees fit, sometimes without competitive bidding such as the case where chef Tim Love was awarded a contract for a riverbank restaurant called the Woodshed Smokehouse.  According to the TRVA website, “…. massive outreach efforts are targeting North Texas vendors to ensure they have the best shot at winning contracts.” No massive outreach effort was made to open this contract to other restaurants owners or entrepreneurs.

The Trinity River Vision Authority was established as a private corporation by the Tarrant Regional Water District to manage the projects and distribute funds. By creating a private corporation to do this instead of using existing governmental organizations, JD Granger, as Kay’s son, could legally, if not ethically, be hired to manage this project.

The confluence of the West and Clear Forks of the Trinity River should have been declared historical landmark and developed appropriately, not as a recreational area where people can water ski on a polluted pond.