If you’ve heard a scurrying sound lately, you aren’t the only one. There’s a political scrambling to run for cover after the ‘democratic’ fiasco orchestrated by some of our City leaders. It brings to mind that old saying about being ‘a day late and a dollar short.’
Most Water Control Districts such as Esperanza go through an Ordinance process. Instead, the City did it through resolution, which didn’t allow for public hearings. Even with this, Mayor Heckler could have held Town Hall meetings so citizens could ask questions of Council about the development.
Instead, at the first Special Meeting to vote on Esperanza, Mayor Heckler tried to limit the citizen comment portion to 45 minutes and said he was going to ‘randomly’ decide who should speak. Only after objections by Councilman Zeigler, did that change.
Councilwoman Edmondson seemed concerned that advocating for broader participation and information would indicate a distrust of City staff and their lawyer, paid for by Esperanza. While she may have been satisfied with their conclusions, she should have allowed more time to address her constituents’ dissatisfaction.
Councilman Warden (who received over half of his donations from Esperanza related donors), expressed impatience during a January Council meeting, interrupting Councilman Zeigler’s questions and urging to get on with a vote. Now we’ve seen Warden telling the press that he agrees the process could have been more open, and that he has emailed the City Manager and Mayor with suggestions on how to do it better next time.
What of Councilman Dubose? Not only did he vote against a 30-day extension for more public input but he also opposed a miserly 6 more days for citizen review of what the city attorney has called the most complicated agreement in the state.
Last June, a year after his election, and just days after Governor Perry signed the bill for Esperanza’s water district, Dubose received his largest reported contribution- $2000. This was from a member of the family who sold the land for Esperanza.
Whoever fills a politician’s coffers is the best indication of whom they will represent.
At his Open House this week, Mayor Heckler actually claimed that he did not speak in favor of Esperanza at any time. One might argue that the trip he made to Austin with employees of Esperanza to lobby Representative Macias for the development, spoke volumes.
So, if you find some of these folks are suddenly talking about ‘public misperceptions,’ their wanting Boerne to stay small, ‘not being pro-Esperanza’ and the need for more public participation and transparency, caution; it is simply the sound of politicians running for cover. Which reminds me of another old saying: ‘Actions speak louder than words.’
