What’s it Worth to Save Dalworthington?

The politics of water can be … er … pretty dry stuff, unless of course you’re talking about the Tarrant Regional Water District, in which case it can be infuriating as well. But one Fort Worth suburb is challenging the TRWD for hosting the most dramatic public spats over water.

Last year a group of folks in Dalworthington Gardens banded together to try to keep gas drillers from sucking dry the town’s tiny, beloved lake. Since its formation, the Pappy Elkins Restoration Group has been sharply critical of Dalworthington Gardens Mayor Michael Tedder and the entire city council, whom the critics believe have been complicit in allowing XTO to run roughshod over the town and its drilling ordinance. The group has also accused its city government of being secretive, combative, and acting like the drillers’ lapdogs –– basically everything former Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief embodied but with fewer buildings in town named after their families.

One of the group’s most vocal members, Steve Flowers, has decided to run for city council against incumbent Ed Motley, though it sounds more like he’s running against Tedder.

“I am sick and tired of the common Dalworthington Gardens citizen not being informed,” he told Fort Worth Weekly. “There should be more openness on the part of our mayor in particular.”

Flowers said the city has become dependent on XTO’s royalty revenue to balance the budget, which makes Static wonder what they do with the money from the 14 million speeding tickets the city issues annually. Flowers called the mayor and city council “slaves” to their oil and gas masters.

“The citizens were all under the impression in 2007 [when the drillers arrived] that XTO gas revenues would be used to improve our city,” he said. “This has not happened.”

Flowers owns a small business and lives part of the time in Florida. He said he’s willing to spend more time in town and away from his business if that will help to right the ship.

“This was not an easy decision to make, as I plan on changing my lifestyle to give more time to Dalworthington Gardens,” he said. “The tipping point came when I asked myself, ‘Would I trust the mayor and council to run my business?’ The answer was a resounding no.”

The missing water and misspent royalties aren’t the only concern for residents. In a Weekly story last year (“Drying Up in DWG,” July 9), Flowers and other critics of Tedder and the council recounted numerous problems with XTO’s site and its lack of oversight by the city. For example, the site wasn’t inspected until four years after XTO started drilling. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality determined that the site had been built on an earthen dam. And the drilling site, spewing the usual gas well carcinogens, sits just 200 yards from an elementary school playground.

The election is in May, and two other seats are also up for election. Flowers said he hopes other candidates will emerge to challenge those incumbents as well.