Two weeks before I met Gary Hogan in 2007 I had received a written gas lease offer from a landman in the mail. As a retired chemical engineer and physicist who had served two years on a gas drilling advisory committee for the Philmont Scout Ranch in the Sangre de Cristo mountains of New Mexico, I had many questions, none of which were even suggested in the letter. I sent an email to Chuck Silcox, my Councilman, expressing my concerns and asking his advice.
That evening Chuck called me and talked for two hours. He explained how such a proposal could be treated by the Mayor and Council in such a casual manner. He suggested that I call Gary Hogan and ask him to help. Gary had been Chuck's appointee to the 2006 city gas drilling task force. Gary agreed to speak to my neighborhood association about gas drilling issues.
At a meeting at my neighborhood elementary school both Gary and I spoke, and Chuck attended. As a result, the ill-advised plan to drill our neighborhood was withdrawn and redesigned. The plan had been to drill so close to the school that a typical accident would have blown out all the windows in the school.
Gary has since served on the 2008 gas drilling task force, has spoken at more than a hundred neighborhood meetings, and was asked by Chuck to run for the District 3 Council seat this year.
No other candidate has a grasp of the importance of this issue to the future of Fort Worth. No other candidate will stand up to the Mayor. Vote for Gary Hogan on May 9.
