Archive for April 4th, 2009

In the Fort Worth of my dreams, the people have a greater voice, and are able to speak out on matters which truly concern them and which citywide government is not interested in — issues such as where our children can play, how they get to school, and how we can have safe bikeways. The way they will get this voice is through giving our Fort Worth neighborhood associations increased responsibilities. In myFort Worth Utopia, in 50 years the city is divided into 100 different Regions, each of which has a governing board.  They make decisions about transportation, about schools, about building permits.

Local parents and taxpayers can have a voice on subjects touching our local school and only our local school. They can discuss how our children get to school and work on getting better school bus service and safer walking routes to alleviate the feeling that everyone has to drive their children to school every day.

They can work in a team with other regions in their area, with which they share a middle and high school, to determine directions of these schools.

They can allocate tax money (collected by the city at large) for some local improvement projects such as bike trails, parks, and local clubs and organizations. Tax money for these projects would be allocated on a per-resident basis. Each neighborhood should have a website to give information about local news to the residents.

What could this type of management mean here in my own neighborhood of South Hills, for example?

1. The bike trail that comes off the Trinity Trail would get a tunnel under the Granbury/Trail Lake overpass, and would continue all the way up Westcreek to the 30 freeway.

2. We could agitate for repairs on Kellis Pool, which is far too small and run down for the current need.

3. We would have the opportunity to determine whether we want new building projects. There would be no unwelcome construction of McMansions or apartments without the approval of the local board.

4. We could ask why there seems to be no provision to clean up our local creekbed. 

5. When the city wants to raise the property tax rate, we could send our region’s leadership to protest, if necessary. At the same time, we could look at funding of our roads and schools here locally and decide if the tax rates are reasonable.  As it stands, when the government asks to raise taxes, we have no real frame of reference as to whether the raise is needed. Having a more local wing of government would give us an idea of where our tax money goes, even as the lions share may still go downtown, to Austin, or to Washington. 

6. We’d be able to get to know our neighbors. Maybe we could even have a neighborhood event such as a barbecue, a music festival, or a 4th of July parade.

It’s true we have neighborhood associations now, but their function is mostly neighborhood-watch-type stuff and I’ve never been invited to attend an election or told when our group meets.  The good thing is this can all improve. What do you think?  Are you satisfied with the status quo? Does the idea of an additional, hyper-local, board of government bother you?