Friday, May 9, 2008

Fort Worth mayor Mike Moncrief pushes ethics way back

By Steve-O of West and Clear

Some people watch NASCAR, I watch City Hall. That’s not a judgment of the sport, it just fits into my schedule a little better. And it moves a lot slower.

Otherwise, they are a lot alike – the competition, the intrigue, the spectacle, the fiery crashes. Like NASCAR, a lot of interesting stuff happens in the pits, and if you aren’t watching, you might miss it.

Unlike NASCAR, it’s harder to identify who the sponsors are. Mike Moncrief doesn’t wear the logos of the people who pay his way like Dale Junior or Jimmie Johnson do.

This much we do know: if Mayor Mikey were a NASCAR driver, his number would be No. 1. And his sponsorship would include Chesapeake Energy, XTO, Devon and Range Resources, among others.

No. 1 because Mike is all about Mike. And we know Mike’s sponsors because of information from the Mayor’s financial disclosure appeared in the Startlegram yesterday. The minimum value of his lease or royalty agreements with 55 oil and gas companies, including major players in the Barnett Shale such as Chesapeake Energy, XTO, Devon and Range Resources came to $633,000. Nineteen of those deals were worth more than $25,000 in calendar year 2007. Oh, and then there’s the small matter of the XTO stock owned by Moncrief’s wife. Those shares – between 500 and 999 of ‘em – are valued between $32,370 and $64,675 at Wednesday’s closing price of $64.74.

How much do his holdings really amount to? We don’t know because the Mayor ain’t talking. He’s released the bare minimum amount of information, and he’s not obligated to release more.

But just with that bit of information, two statewide ethics experts told the Star-Telegram what I have been saying for months – at the very least, the appearance of impropriety exists and Mayor Mikey shouldn’t vote on any natural gas drilling issues.

But here’s where it gets funny – the city attorney’s office released a statement saying that no conflict of interest exists. Go back to being the head cheerleader for the gas drilling industry, Mr. Mayor.

As the kids say with their koo-koo instant messaging shorthand, WTF?

Well, just like in NASCAR, the best stuff is happening in the pits. I’ve said before that I like my autocrats bloviating and obvious, like Tom Craddick. Mayor Mike’s machinations are subtle like a short story in the New Yorker. He knows how to work people behind the scenes.

In spite of the whitewash on the ethics report, people tell me that City Attorney Sarah Fullenwider is actually an ethical, stand-up person. They say that there is nothing untoward going on here. When I push, the worst they can say is she’s cowed by Mayor Mike. Becaude it always comes back to Mayor Mike.

“The Mayor plays it really hard,” one says. “He’s very direct about what he wants.”

And what does he want? He wants everyone on the bus. No dissent, no disagreement, no rocking the boat. Lots of unanimous votes and no staff members causing him problems about ethics.

So when I ask what’s going on with Sarah Fullenwider, that what a lot of it comes back to. She’s gonna do what Mike wants. Sarah’s on the bus.

Can you hold that against her? Maybe, maybe not. After all, she’s free to get off the bus at any time if she doesn’t agree with what she’s doing. But she’d also be free to pack a cardboard box with her things and look for another line of work. And I don’t imagine that being the one to tell Mike he’s got an ethics problem would do much for her shot at a glowing job reference.

That’s how Mike rolls. If you’re on the bus, life is good. If you’re not, life can be, um … not good.

But what about the rest of us? You know, citizens. What about those of us who would like to have a gas drilling task force that represents our interests. Instead, we get a task force that is packed with industry fatcats, toadies and sycophants, hand-picked by a guy who has north of 600 grand in oil and gas holdings?

Well, we ain’t on the bus. What do you expect?

What about the city gas well inspectors? Some will tell you privately that they want to enforce the gas drilling ordinance, but there are so many loopholes that it effectively leaves them unable to enforce the ordinance even if they find violations? Of course, they still need to get their inspection rate much closer to 100 percent.

Those bruthas definitely ain’t on the bus.

But when it comes to the gas industry in Texas, accusing people of questionable ethics is like handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500. As Channel 8’s Brett Shipp reminded us again last night, “our” representatives on the Texas Railroad Commission take millions from the industries they are supposed to regulate. This is just business as usual.

And business is obviously very, very good.

Just ask Mike.

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• Environmental Issues > Barnett Shale
• Politics and Government > City Government > Fort Worth

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