Water District To Pay Lobbyist $1.62 Million

Did you ever wonder why no matter which party we put in power, our taxes just keep rising? This story might provide a clue. This week, the Tarrant Regional Water District will vote to award a $720,000 contract to lobbyist and political consultant Bryan Eppstein's new company, Trinity River Communications.

Also this month, the Trinity River Vision Authority, a non-profit group created by the Tarrant Regional Water District, voted to award the same company a contract for $900,000. The two contracts together total $1,620,000.

The firm will be helping with:

* Intergovernmental relations
* Public relations
* Lobbying
* Community outreach
* Oversight of minority contracting

Eppstein defends the contracts saying he offers the water district "one-stop shopping", because agencies typically hire different firms to handle the different functions listed above. He says, "We've put together a unique scope of services to save taxpayers money. There is immense efficiency in that."

But there are those who disagree. Clyde Picht, who narrowly lost his race for the board, said some of the candidates Eppstein helped to get elected to the board are "just making sure that he gets his slop from the trough."

Picht is referring to board members Jim Lane and Marty Leonard, who both hired Eppstein to run their successful election campaigns. Both board members now support the water district's hiring of Eppstein's company.

Tracey Smith, who also lost a race for the board, said, "I don't know why they have to spend all the money promoting it. They've got a job to do. Just do it."

I have to agree with Smith. I have never thought it made any sense for a governmental agency to hire a lobbyist. We need to get rid of lobbyists, not hire them to do the job we have already elected others to do. If the current board doesn't have the time or skills to do the job, they should resign and let us elect someone who does. That $1.62 million dollars could go a long way in making physical improvements to the water district.

Jim Oliver, general manager of the water district, said, "We are not hiring them to sit around. He is going to earn his money. They are going to be scrambling. He is connected to a lot of state legislators and city councilmen. It is a positive that he can walk into a senator's office in east Texas....I may sit in their reception area for an hour, even if I get in."

If this is true, it is a problem that needs to be made public. Tell the voters and raise a stink if you find a senator that lets lobbyists walk in while he makes government officials and the public wait for hours. Hiring a lobbyist just makes the problem worse.

Were these officials elected to do a job, or to hire lobbyists to do the job for them?