B and B

Join the Sudan divestment campaign to help save Darfur

Last night, friends invited us to attend a meeting of the San Antonio Interfaith Darfur Coalition, a group working to bring attention to the horrific situation in the Darfur region of western Sudan in north central Africa.

The speaker was Ruth Messinger, president of the American Jewish World Service, who was introduced by a local rabbi as one of the primary two people (along with columnist Nick Kristof of the New York Times) bringing attention to Darfur in the U.S.  Messinger spoke of the genocidal situation, but also about what we can and must do now to help.  And that is "divestment"--ensuring that none of our money goes to support the murderous regime in Khartoum.

Here is an excerpt from a Fort Worth Star-Telegram editorial on February 14 describing the divestment campaign in the Texas legislature:

For state Reps. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, and Phil King, R-Weatherford, to collaborate on a bill in the Texas Legislature, it must be a worthy issue. The continuing genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan meets the criteria.

Bipartisan bills -- SB247/HB667 -- call for the targeted divestment of Texas pension funds in companies that do business with the Sudanese government. If the leaders of the North African nation won't listen to reason, perhaps they'll respond to pressure from those who wish to do business with them.

...

Given that world opinion doesn't seem to matter [to the Sudanese government], the Sudan Divestment Task Force, a project of the Genocide Intervention Network, came up with a different idea: Hit the intransigent leaders in the place that hurts all politicians -- the wallet.

Sens. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, and Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, wrote the bill in the Texas Senate. Rep. Corbin Van Arsdale, R-Houston, worked up the House bill with four joint authors.

Similar legislation has been adopted in six states. Efforts are under way to pass it in 20 others.

For more information on the San Antonio Interfaith Darfur Coalition, see their new blog at saidc.blogspot.com.  For more information of the divestment campaign, wherever you may be, see sudandivestment.org.

San Antonio in the race for 'Tax Capital of America'?

In the Express-News today, Roddy Stinson, a local columnist who loves to hate the San Antonio city government, points to a study by New York City's Independent Budget Office.  The study compares the tax rates in the nation's big cities, and Stinson uses it to suggest that San Antonio's tax rate is abnormally high—the headline on his column is "'Tax Capital of America' race, New York City 1st, Alamo City 4th."  He then offers an anecdote about property taxes allegedly scaring off one person from moving here from Florida.

What Stinson doesn't explicitly mention about this study is that in only included nine cities—those with over a million people. 4th out of nine is rather middle-of-the-pack. Ok, it's still above the median (by one slot), but also unsaid is that state taxes make up 49% of San Antonio's share. 

I should not pick on Stinson too much here because he does raise some good points later in the column:

As I write this column, a legislative group led by a Texas Democrat, San Antonio State Rep. Mike Villarreal, continues its effort to push/pull through the Legislature a bill that would mandate disclosure of property sale prices and thereby move the state and this community toward fair valuations and equitable taxation.

Villarreal and other champions of the middle class made a similar effort in 2005. But they were thwarted by Republican House Speaker Tom Craddick and his middle-class-mauling, wealthy-class-favoring, big-business-hugging GOP henchmen.

(Greatest political mystery of 2007: Why do grass-roots Republicans continue to be silent as church mice on this issue?)

It is nice to see Stinson finally turning some of his ire on the GOP and the GOP-led state government, who so richly deserve it.

Vested rights: "treeless, dynamite-blasted hillsides," and a giant burning mulch pile

Land developers' abuse of "vested rights" has gone on far too long, with the support and encouragement of our state government.  So I am heartened to see that at least one of our state legislators understands the problem. 

From the San Antonio Express-News today (emphasis added):

With a nearly treeless, dynamite-blasted hillside as a backdrop, state Rep. Mike Villarreal said Saturday that he was taking a small step that could have a profound impact on developers who hoist the banner of "vested rights" while paying scant attention to the rights of others.

House Bill 1529, which he introduced in the Legislature in Austin last week, would allow cities to override developers' vested rights if the health and safety of neighbors is threatened or property is damaged.

"San Antonio passed a water ordinance and a tree ordinance and it can't enforce either one because developers changed the law in the Legislature," Villarreal told 40 supporters gathered in front of Toll Brothers Sonoma Verde development on Kyle Seale Parkway just beyond Cedar Creek Golf Course.

"Government is best when it is under local control," Villarreal said, "and this bill will insert specific, targeted language into the law to bring some of that control back to the cities."

Homeowners living next to Sonoma Verde pointed at the development that looks like a rock quarry and then pointed to juniper-covered hills across the street.

"That's the way this used to look," said Mary Schuetze. "They don't care about the trees. They'll be gone as soon as the market drops."

A request for comment was left at Toll Brothers late Friday. It was not returned.

Other nearby homeowners told of dynamite explosions 40 feet from their houses, walls and foundations that were solid for 15 years but suddenly developed cracks, and limestone dust that mixes with rain and dew to cover plants with a concrete cake.

I wish I had known about Rep. Villareal's event beforehand, as I would have added to the number of supporters present.  I have seen this Toll Brothers "development" first-hand, and the visual impact is truly disgusting.  Sadly, the impacts go far beyond the visual for those living nearby.

Carlos Guerra wrote about column late last week about one particular homeowner couple who has been severly affected by the actions of their neighbor.

As they detail the ordeal they have endured since May, Stan and Dorothy Miller's voices are amazingly calm. Perhaps they have accepted that the home of their dreams has been turned into an unending nightmare. Or perhaps they just have tired of the lack of response from government at all levels.

But signs in their yard speak of their frustration: "Toll Bros. bad for neighbors, nature," reads one that lists animals they no longer see. "Noise 12 hours a day, six days a week. Blasting; house damage," reads the other.

...

10 months after Toll Bros.' arrival, the once verdant hills around the Millers' neighborhood have been turned into an eerie moonscape of terraced limestone cliffs that are being covered with tacky brown brick. And on hills flattened — presumably to reduce foundation costs — dozens of densely built MacMansions are being hurriedly built.

"They denuded the whole property; they cleared all the trees, thousands and thousands of them," Stan says. "Then they started mulching the trees, and the air was full of cedar dust.

"And nobody has said a word about the destruction of the habitat of wildlife," he says. "They're gone because their habitat is gone."

It got worse.

It got worse!  Read the rest of Guerra's column to find out how.

Our state government needs to change their way and recognize that "property rights" is not about the alleged rights of land developers to slash and burn and dynamite and bulldoze as they please.

And if your're wondering if there is a connection between the actions of developers to turn vast expanses of Hill Country land into moonscapes and that gigantic burning pile of mulch nearby that is polluting our air and water, you are right on the money.

John Edwards coming to San Antonio, March 7

As I learned a few days ago via the Walker Report, Democratic Presidential candidate John Edwards is coming to town.

Due to the efforts of the Bexar County Democratic Pary Chair Carla Vela, Senator John Edwards will be the first Democratic Presidential candidate to visit Bexar County and will be available to the grassroots of the Party.

The event is Wednesday, March 7th at 5 p.m. at Sunset Station, 1174 E. Commerce just east of IH37. For more information call Madeleine at 210-0962 or cell: 884-3766.

Hopefully I'll be able to be there.

Now, it would also be great if Barack Obama would take a slight detour from his tour to Houston and Austin this week and head on down here.  Then again, there's plenty of time left for him, and the other Democratic candidates, to stop by.  When Howard Dean came to town in August 2003, I thought that was early.

End within sight for the Helotes mulch fire?

As the end of the Great Helotes Mulch Fire finally appears within sight, with the latest, low water, fire-fighting efforts apparently on track to extinguishing the two-month old blaze in the next few weeks, the giant smoking brush pile has gone national—making the Washington Post, page A02:

HELOTES, Tex. -- The smoke comes and goes with the breeze, but some days it blankets Deanna Rodriguez's neighborhood, covering cars in grimy ash and seeping inside homes. Some days, when the wind blows from the south, her house becomes almost uninhabitable.

"We can get the rugs cleaned, the furniture cleaned. My main concern is the kids," she said of her three children. "They're breathing that in."

Rodriguez's neighborhood sits only a few hundred yards from a giant mulch fire that has burned, day and night, in a pasture in this small town west of San Antonio since just after Christmas.

No one knows what caused the fire at the H.L. Zumwalt Tree Disposal's recycling facility eight weeks ago. But, the result is a smoldering pile of ash eight stories tall and hundreds of feet long that gives healthy adults and children headaches, irritated eyes, sore throats and other allergy-like symptoms, and threatens the frail even more.

...

Officials predict it will take at least three more weeks to extinguish the fire. Progress has been slow because the environmental officials in charge of putting out the fire have had to balance air-quality concerns in Helotes with protecting the sole water source for 1.8 million people in the region.

The Dallas Morning-News also has a column on it, with a concise quote from Helotes Mayor Jon Allen:

"You know, this isn't just an isolated incident. It's a symptom. We're just not doing a very good job protecting the environment in Texas."

As columnist Jacquilynn Floyd wrote, "the only really good solution would have been to keep it from happening in the first place, and that horse left the barn a long time ago."

Finally, for any who may have missed it, last Thursday the San Antonio Express-News posted a spectacular photo essay on the Helotes mulch fire. Go to this link, scroll down, and click on the "E-N slide show: The Helotes fire" link. I heartily recommend it.

Unfair attacks on Senator Clinton

No matter how early it may seem, it's Presidential campaign season, and that means Bob Somerby's Daily Howler has once again returned to the top of my must-read list. No one else is as determined to cut through the media misinformation.

His latest efforts have been centered on attacks—primarily by other Democrats—on Senator and candidate for President Hillary Clinton. The attacks, including the latest by the usually excellent New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, suggest that Senator Clinton has not admitted to making a mistake by voting in late 2002 to authorize George W. Bush to use force in Iraq.

Somerby wrote yesterday (emphasis his):

According to Krugman, Clinton has refused to “own up” to her “mistake” in casting that 10/02 vote. His argument will surely affect many readers. But here’s the problem: Krugman never lets readers decide for themselves whether Clinton has really owned up to her error. He never quotes a single thing Clinton has actually said on this subject. Krugman keeps readers barefoot and clueless. They hear his account of what Clinton has said. They don’t hear her actual statements.

Has Clinton “owned up” to her “mistake?” Has she “admit[ted] past error?” For ourselves, we think it’s odd that Clinton won’t use the specific word “mistake” in describing her 10/02 vote. But in our judgment, she has owned up to her mistake—in fact, she did so long ago. Other readers might agree with that assessment—if Krugman would have the decency to tell them what Clinton has actually said.

The history: Clinton cast that awful vote in October 2002. (So did Kerry. So did Edwards.) But omigod! As early as August 2004, she had clearly rethought the vote. On August 29, she appeared on Meet the Press (where she staunchly defended Kerry and Edwards). Here’s part of what she said—well over two years ago:

RUSSERT (8/29/04): Jay Rockefeller, the vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, was on this program a few weeks ago and this is what he said: "...We in Congress would not have authorized that war—we would not have authorized that war—with 75 votes if we knew what we know now." Do you agree with him?

CLINTON: There would not have been a vote, Tim. There would never have been a vote to the Congress presented by the administration. There would have been no basis for it.

All the way back in 8/04, Clinton said there would have been “no basis” for that vote if we’d known there were no WMD. There wouldn’t even have been a vote, she told Russert (also Wolf Blitzer). Since then, she’s continued making that statement, even spelling things out for the very slow by adding the obvious corollary—she herself would have voted “no” if she’d known there were no WMD. Do you mind if we make a simple statement? In our view, Clinton did “say that she was wrong to vote for the Iraq war resolution” when she made that statement to Russert. (When she said she’d have voted the other way if she knew about the WMD.)

This whole pseudo-controversy is ludicrous—perhaps even more so as it is being ginned up by Democrats rather than the typical Republican noise machine. Clinton has admitted error on her 2002 vote and has promised to end the war if she is elected. What more needs to be said?

Yet we have Krugman insinuating that she may possibly as pig-headedly stubborn as Bush, and we have Markos Moulitsas of Daily Kos seconding that and proclaiming that she has already lost any hope of his support because she won't say the precise phrase "I made a mistake."  Plenty of other bloggers inherently suspicious of Senator Clinton are joining in.  They appear unaware that Clinton has been admitting to being incorrect on the Iraq war vote for a year-and-a-half—far longer than John Edwards, who escapes their wrath, has been doing so.

This is insane. If we're going to attack each other, let it at least be over something accurate.

Public hearing on state parks bill, Feb 20

The Texas House committee on Culture, Recreation, and Tourism is holding a public hearing on Rep. Hilderbran's bill to fully fund our state parks system via the sales tax on sporting goods. The meeting is tomorrow, Tuesday, February 20 at 2:00 PM. "Or," as the schedule states "upon final adjourn./recess."

Meanwhile, Hilderbran's bill (HB 6) is up to 118 co-authors in the House, giving it a huge majority of 79%. Its companion in the Senate (SB 252), authored by Sen. Estes is up to 16 co-authors, giving it a slight majority of 17 out of 31—four short of the 2/3 typically required to get bills through the Senate.

Since the Lieutenant Governor, who presides over the state senate, and the Chair of the Finance Committee considering the bill still are not on board, though, our work is far from done. We need to keep the pressure on Lt. Gov Dewhurst and Sen. Ogden, as well as the other state senators, and not give them any excuse to bury this bill.

Ciro's next opponent?

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has put our new congressman, Ciro Rodriguez, on their list of the 29 most endangered Democratic incumbents for 2008.  This means that the DCCC will make sure that Ciro gets plenty of their support in the next election, to ensure that he can hold this seat.

Now, some local Republicans are already thinking about being the one to take him on next time.  From Sunday's Express-News:

County Commissioner Lyle Larson said Friday he's seriously considering running in Congressional District 23 in 2008 — a clear sign that the aftershocks of last summer's court-ordered redistricting didn't end with Democrat Ciro Rodriguez's upset of Republican Henry Bonilla.

Despite Rodriguez's eight percentage point victory, Larson contends the district — which stretches from San Antonio to El Paso — remains winnable for the GOP, especially with the concentration of votes in his North Side stronghold.

"It looks like it's still a Republican district if you get the vote out," said Larson, the lone Republican on the Commissioners Court. "This is one that was lost that never should've been lost to the Democratic Party."

...

Richard Langlois, chairman of the Bexar County Republican Party, blamed the rout [Rodriguez's victory over Henry Bonilla in December] on GOP voters who stayed at home. He also said they'd likely turn out in droves in 2008 to oust Rodriguez.

This district is certainly competitive for the GOP if the right Republican joined the race.  I doubt Larson is that person.  He represents the highly Republican northwest part of Bexar County, Bonilla's old stronghold, and is far less well known.  (For example, I have lived in this area for seven years and know essentially nothing about Larson.)  As Larson is an anglo Republican from the wealthy part of town, I find it extremely doubtful he could gain  significant support in heavily-Latino, economically disadvantaged, south Bexar County.  And Bonilla, as a long-term incumbent, had many advantages that Larson, or another Republican, will not have in 2008.  So, it is unlikely he could do much better than Bonilla could against Ciro Rodriguez, no matter how much northwest Bexar County GOPers would like to oust Rodriguez. 

Still, we should not assume this district is a sure thing for Democrats in 2008.  That attitude, on the part of the GOP, is what helped to spell Bonilla's demise last year.  Fortunately, the DCCC has shown that they, at least, are not going to make that same mistake. 

Join in the Great Backyard Bird Count this weekend

The yearly Great Backyard Bird Count is this weekend, February 16-19.  Anyone can join in.  I know we'll be participating for the fourth time, including the third year in a row.  Here's my post from 2005 and two posts from 2006.

Thanks to Nuthatch at bootstrap analysis for the timely reminder.

Main Plaza makeover begins

It's been over a year since Mayor Phil Hardberger first proposed a makeover of downtown San Antonio's Main Plaza—the open space bordered by the historic San Fernando Cathedral, the Bexar County Courthouse, and the famed Riverwalk. In that time, the original, ambitious, plans have been considerably scaled back—so much so that is has been hard for me to retain my initial enthusiasm for the idea.

Hardberger's original proposal to close all four streets surrounding the square has been changed to close only the two, smaller, north-south streets. Hordes of traffic on Commerce and Market Streets will continue to plow through the area, and no doubt make the new Main Plaza far less pedestrian-friendly, and significantly smaller, than it could have been. That is a big opportunity lost.

Yet the new plan, watered down as it is, still looks to be a dramatic improvement over the current layout of Main Plaza— which is small and completely cut off from rest of the city, including the nearby Riverwalk. For instance, the new plan appears to provide a continuous, well-shaded, pedestrian link from the Riverwalk to the Plaza and on to San Fernando Cathedral.

Groundbreaking was Monday, and the published construction schedule has it all wrapping up in a bit over a year. I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out.