In The Spirit of Turkey Day

... the FWWeekly offers up it's Turkey Awards, and all the usual suspects are there for (well-deserved) roasting -- Mayor Mikey, Chuck Silcox, and Kay Granger. My personal favorite:

"Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Gas Drillers: The city’s daily newspaper has celebrated gas drilling from the outset of the Barnett Shale phenomenon several years ago. With so many millions at stake, it’s not surprising that Fort Worth city officials have kowtowed to the industry so far. What’s less easily explained is the Star-Telegram’s motivation for cheering on drillers erecting rigs in bustling neighborhoods. Gushing editorials were nauseating enough, but then we got columnist Bud Kennedy’s view that allowing a high-impact gas well in a tree-covered area near a Trinity River hike and bike trail was A-OK, no problema. More than a thousand residents rallied against the permit, trying to convince the company to drop the proposal or at least reduce its impact on the property. But that passionate show of democracy in action was just so much fuss to Kennedy — the company had a legal right to drill, and nothing more needed to be said.

"That column aside, the paper’s coverage has some people wondering how much Barnett Shale money is making its way to the Star-T’s bank account, either through advertisements or from drilling royalties from its properties. The newspaper has practiced boosterism since chief booster Amon G. Carter founded it. But no newspaper worth its salt should act as uncritical apologist for an industry that has thus far shown little concern for the environment or citizens’ safety and quality of life and shown every indication that it’s willing to bully citizens and, in many cases, lie, cheat, and steal to get what it needs. (No, of course those injection wells won’t affect water wells; 300 feet is plenty of clearance from houses and schools; officer, please arrest those legal demonstrators for daring to express their opposition to our arm-twisting.)

"Recently, however, the newspaper has begun offering a little more balance in its coverage and on its blog site devoted to the Barnett. So in the spirit of the day, we give thanks for small wonders."

Someone give Gayle Reaves a hug. Or buy her a beer. Or both.

Star-Telegram News

Allow us to bid farewell to Wes Turner, who is stepping down as publisher of the Startlegram at the end of the year. Although I have A LOT of quibbles with the S-T, I always respected Wes. I liked him a lot personally and thought he tried to do right by his people. I wish him a long and happy retirement.

The McClatchy-ization of the Star-Telegram begins! Gary Wortel, president and publisher of The Sun News in Myrtle Beach, S.C., will succeed Turner. I'm a little surprised that they selected someone from another old Knight Ridder paper. I'm not surprised that no one inside the building at 400 West 7th was selected. This line jumped out at me from the press release announcing the move:

"Gary did a stellar job as publisher in Myrtle Beach, one of the fastest-growing, most attractive markets in the country," said Lynn Dickerson, McClatchy vice president, operations, who oversees 11 McClatchy newspapers in Texas and the South, including the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and The Sun News. "Under Gary’s leadership, The Sun News delivered excellent revenue and profit growth, circulation growth and editorial excellence over the past few years. Weekly Surge, an alternative newsweekly, was started last fall by Gary and his team, and they have been innovative leaders in online traffic and revenue growth," added Dickerson. "Gary is an excellent candidate to lead the Star-Telegram during these challenging times in our industry."

Indications of things to come in Fort Worth? Obviously, something has to give. McClatchy earnings have been in the tank since the Knight Ridder acquisition and the pressure from Wall Street to do something about it will only continue. Online revenue growth will be essential to that solution. And right now there is a lot of room for improvement. I'm also wondering if an alternative newsweekly will also be in the cards. Stay tuned.

Although this here blogger and Bud Kennedy don't see eye-to-eye on every issue, sometimes you just gotta put down the brickbats and say Bonne chance, mon ami. The occasion? Bud's getting hitched. The 52-year-old Kennedy proposed to Shelly Seymour, 47, in Austin on Saturday. It will be the first time jumping the broom for both of 'em. No date is set yet. Congratulations, Bud. Best wishes!

The best and worst of the Star-Telegram on Sunday both came from the op-ed page. The Best: Bob Ray Sanders' excellent defense of Huckleberry Finn as it relates to the recent Birdville controversy. Well done, Bob! The Worst: J.R. Labbe's column on labels in local political races seemed to deplore the use of party affiliation in other knee-jerk labels, but then went to label just about every damn candidate running. Thanks for helping cut through this issue for the voters. In a word, lame.

Bud Kennedy -- Nature Lover

Bud Kennedy, who I believed never met a park that he actually liked, had a nice little valentine to urban gas drilling disguised as a love letter to Tandy Hills Park.

He calls Tandy Hills "our most endangered park. But not because of planned gas wells nearby. The wells will bring inevitable development to adjacent private land around the TV station on Broadcast Hill. But gas wells will also raise public park money to help improve Tandy Hills."

Bud, stretch your memory waaaay back to August when Chesapeake Energy was trying to play Rat Patrol with its seismic testing trucks through the park before community activists got the city to put the kibosh on that.

Then, stretch your memory even farther back, all the way to the year 1989. That's when a master plan for the park was completed. It's not unlike the one that this gas money bought. Except the 1989 one was paid for with taxpayer money.

Bud, we don't need gas money to save this park. If anything, the people in Fort Worth who actually go to parks need to save Tandy Hills from the gas drillers.

Oh, and by the way, MU-2 is still not an industrial designation. Haven't seen that correction yet.

More From Bud

More from Bud Kennedy this morning:

Hi Steven,

Forgive me if I sent this yesterday.

But this is the actual plan already approved 8-0 for an office-industrial park in the Trinity Trees site, long before the current gas well proposal.

This is what will be built if the gas well falls through.

Thanks for your reply, Bud. I hadn't seen that yesterday, but I had heard that reasoning before. In fact, Jim Marshall and Rick Collins addressed that issue in an interview they did on my blog last week. Here's what they said:

"That, too, would have resulted in a tragic loss of this special green space. Often the argument is made that the destruction that Chesapeake is planning is not as bad as what the developer was planning. However, it doesn’t have to be an either/or decision. There exists a third alternative. If you check our Web site you’ll see we have sent a letter to the Mayor and City Council proposing said alternative: Chesapeake decides to move its pad site to the already industrial area a few hundred feet to the north; the developer agrees that putting in its buildings is not the best use of the grove of trees; steps are taken to convert the eight acres to a public park. To make this happen, we need three things from all vested parties (including our city leaders): consent, cooperation and compromise."

The S-T Sees The Signs

I was happy to see the cover story of the Startlegram's business section profiling community advocates Linda Yarbrough and Don Young -- they're the people behind the Just Say No To Urban Gas Drilling signs. I guess Jim Fuquay didn't get the memo from Bud Kennedy.

Sez the S-T: "Some neighborhood association leaders said they regard the signs as significant, numerous or not, because they give visibility to what they regard as a growing backlash against the active leasing and drilling in the Barnett Shale that has moved from rural areas into densely populated communities.

"'I think they work, more than election signs,' said Mike Windsor, a Fort Worth lawyer and member of the Mistletoe Heights Neighborhood Association's gas-drilling committee. 'In an election, you get a lot of information from the newspaper or other places,' he said, while the drilling issue is more localized and depends on people talking to people."

Bud Writes Back

From Bud Kennedy this morning:

Hi Steve,

Thanks very much for your heartfelt note.

However, I disagree.

Zoning is a commitment to the property owner. Changing somebody's zoning is robbery. It's like taking away their property.

I agree that cities occasionally must use such heavy-handed power -- but it should only happen rarely, and only where most of the land has been acquired on the fair market.

As far as waiting -- wait for what? So a small, bossy clique can continue what amounts to a shakedown of two landowners on their own property?

I am not promoting an advantage for the companies. I am defending their equal right to the free, safe, orderly use of their own property.

They are entitled to the same rights you and I have.

I didn't praise Chesapeake. I am not particularly happy with some of the gas drilling companies. But Chesapeake is right on this one.

I agree that greenspace is an issue. But if we're going to devote resources to greenspace, it needs to be to preserve unique natural features such as the Cross Timbers or Tandy Hills, or create greenspace on the edges of the city where tract homes go up for miles without a major greenbelt park.

Developers bring revenue. Revenue builds a city. The money from this well and others will help preserve and build badly needed parks.

Write again or anytime,

Bud

Thanks for writing back. Bud, I agree that revenue builds a city. But where is the shakedown? I don't see where anyone is trying to fleece Chesapeake or Union Pacific out of anything? This is about three permits out of more than 2,100 issued this year.

All I have heard Jim Marshall ask for is the chance to sit down and negotiate a win-win settlement for the people of Fort Worth, Chesapeake, Union Pacific, Colonial and the City. What's the problem? The problem with these three permits is they involve Chesapeake Energy, Union Pacific and Colonial Country Club. These are people who don't like to hear the word no. They are in a hurry to start cashing royalty checks.

You are right about Cross Timbers and Tandy Hills. But why should we expect anything different on those parks if we don't expect Chesapeake to act in good faith with the people of Fort Worth on this one?

Also, my understanding is that this gas drilling revenue isn't going into parks, it's going in to some undefined lockbox for some undefined use at some undefined future date. Seems like a pretty big leap of faith to me.

Bud, I'm sorry that you feel that way. The people of Fort Worth could really use some leadership from the Star-Telegram on this issue. Instead, we get this morning's editorial. I think the newspaper is out of touch with the people of Fort Worth on this one. And they are both going to be losers because of it.

Regards,

Steve

An Open Letter to Bud Kennedy

Dear Bud:

I was a little taken aback by your column this morning ("Here's the clear cut truth: we're better off with gas well," S-T, Sunday Sept. 9, 2007). Bud, you know a lot about this city. You've covered the hell out of it for many years. I have a lot of respect for you as a journalist and your role as part of the institutional memory of this city. I know you love Fort Worth.

But, Bud, you are just flat out wrong on this one.

First, as much as you may want to attack "blog bs" for not mentioning the zoning issue, zoning really is not the issue. You and I both know that. Zoning changes -- like when Arlington took all that land that was zoned residential -- as in, you know, people's homes -- to build Jerry World. So, again, zoning really isn't the issue.

Second, you say we are better off with a gas well. Why is that? There have been three permits filed for this site. What happens if these permits are delayed or denied? Does urban gas drilling come to a screeching halt? No. According to your newspaper this morning, permits issued in the Barnett Shale are up. "According to the Texas Railroad Commission, 2,142 drilling permits were issued this year as of July. That's approaching the 2,519 issued for all of last year." Slowing down the drilling on this one site will not compromise the efforts to find natural gas in the Barnett Shale. It may, however, keep the city from making a terrible mistake.

But I guess what I'm shocked about is why does a newspaper columnist spend so much time and effort protecting the interests of the likes of Chesapeake Energy and Union Pacific? Believe me, they have pretty good marketing departments. They've got budget -- I've seen the full-page ads in your newspaper. I've also seen the billboards. And the commercials. I don't understand why you want to carry the water for these guys, but maybe that's how you feel.

But let me ask you this: What kind of city do you want to live in?

I believe that the people who live in this city and love this city and who don't have a stack of money, an army of lawyers and marketing people or a newspaper column should have a say in answering that question. In spite of all of the billboards that Chesapeake puts up around town, the fact remains that a publicly traded company is in business to build value for its shareholders, not serve the best interests of the people of Fort Worth. When Chesapeake's interests and those of Fort Worth diverge, they will side with profits. I understand that, and Wall Street expects no less.

That's what we have here. Chesapeake has picked profits over the people of Fort Worth. I'd put that on a billboard, but I don't have that kind of money. All I have is this blog.

I believe we can't leave it all in the hands of developers who are more concerned with maximizing profit than making this a better community. The fact is that green space matters -- and I'm talking trees, not money. Green space is as important as good roads, good schools and affordable housing. Look at Austin -- they have Town Lake, Zilker Park and Barton Springs. They have worked hard to preserve their natural environment, and it is a big part of the reason Austin is one of the hottest places to live in the country.

Bud, the reason 400 people show up at a community forum on this grove of trees is they really care. They believe that green space matters. A lot of people in Fort Worth do. It's part of the reason we choose to live here. Chesapeake, Union Pacific, the city and the community can sit down together and find a compromise solution that satisfies all stakeholders. A win-win solution is possible. We can have drilling, and we can have green space.

We really are at a transforming moment in our city. Because of gas drilling, population growth and urban development, the face of Fort Worth is changing, and I think mostly for the better. But I think that we have the right to ask questions and demand the best for our community. I believe we have the right to take some chops at City Hall and corporate giants. I used to believe that's what newspapers did.

Maybe you think that we are naive. Maybe you think we are uninformed. But we are not. Talk to Jim Marshall. I've got his phone number and e-mail if you need it.

Regards,

Steve

If you don't agree with Bud, you can e-mail him. Or if you want to tell me to take a hike, have at it.

It Ain't About the West Side

Last call for Cowtown? Not so fast, sez Bud Kennedy in a Thursday column:

In the first place, any city with a daily cattle drive, a hall of fame for cowgirls and a Top 20 college football team named for a lizard is not in imminent danger of falling off the personality meter.

In the second place, the west side has never been what made Fort Worth funky.

If you want personality, go look on the south side. Look on West Magnolia Avenue or Blue Bonnet Circle, or over in Riverside or in one of the great north side restaurants on North Main Street.

Most of Fort Worth still has the same old spirit. Meanwhile, the west side has some very lucrative real estate deals.