Perry Brought Up Sale Of Tarrant County Parklands

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has more on the sale of parkland at Eagle Mountain Lake, this time noting that it was Governor Rick Perry’s office that brought up the sale:

A controversial proposal to sell 400 acres of Tarrant County parkland to the highest bidder enjoyed more behind-the-scenes support from Gov. Rick Perry’s office than previously reported, according to additional documents obtained by the Star-Telegram.

Attorneys from the governor’s office floated the idea with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in late spring, according to the correspondence. Similar documents released last month by the Texas General Land Office also show that Perry’s office contacted them with the controversial proposal.

The disputed property, at Eagle Mountain Lake northwest of Fort Worth, has been the subject of intense interest by residential developers. A spokeswoman for Perry earlier said his staff never made any recommendation regarding the land’s final disposition but was “monitoring” the situation.

But in an e-mail obtained by the Star-Telegram, attorneys in the governor’s office outlined a proposed auction that could have left only one-fourth of the property as green space. Several sites would also have been set aside for natural gas exploration, according to the correspondence.

In a note dated May 30, parks Director Robert Cook reports on phone calls from the governor’s attorneys in which they were requesting that a Parks and Wildlife Department attorney “come down to their office soon and assist in the development of a Request for Proposal for the sale of Eagle Mountain Lake.”

Brian Newby, the governor’s general counsel, said Wednesday that that controversial deal is not on the table. He also said that “technically” it’s now the responsibility of the General Land Office to sign off on the property, although the governor’s office has worked with other agencies and a nonprofit group to facilitate a transaction that could preserve the tract as parkland.

Yet again, more denials from Perry’s office on this story (reported earlier by the Star-Telegram) prove false or, to be kind, misinformed.