May 11, 2006
Big Bucks in
Alpine:
The
Control of $4.8 Million in Public Money
By Jack D. McNamara
"Senate Committee erupts in fight over schools; Six
Republicans boycott meeting" was Saturday's headline in the Austin
American-Statesman.
The dreaded political virus Alpinitis-Marfaitis may have spread to
Austin.
Otherwise the Big Bend political scene seemed peaceful enough. In Ft.
Davis there is only one race, for the school board. In Marfa there is
the unusual phenomenon of three
candidates combining in the
election
intended to impanel a city council. Here we were entertained by the
usual thuggery against candidates' posters and smears.
Attempts to resolve differences and debate the facts were effectively
subverted by—of course —a boycott of candidate forums at Our Lady of
Peace Catholic Church.
The group which loosely coalesced as Visions for Alpine in 2003 has
become Visions for Big Bend and they routinely sponsor
candidates-meet-the-public for campaign statements and questions. Last
week we described the April 27 event. Last Thursday the hoped for
debate in the mayor's and Ward 5 races resulted in another boycott from
both Mayor Mickey Clouse and Ward 5 challenger Diana Ramos Asgeirsson.
Katie Elms-Lawrence showed up as did incumbent Bob Brewer, who has been
an active organizer for the Visions group all along.
Mayor Clouse was represented by the tiresome Linda Bailey Potter of the
Border Hotline. Potter removed all doubt of her political employment by
first reading a statement from Mayor Clouse (the mayor was not properly
invited to the forum) and then immediately started questioning Brewer
concerning his business as a small time contractor, asking if Brewer's work for Rangra was an "ethics"
problem.
Questions were asked and answered and a good time was had by all. Only
later did we begin to realize that we are conducting an election in
which the incumbent mayor and the three challenger city council
candidates have apparently agreed among themselves and have no
intention of meeting the public and answering questions from the
public. We have a campaign by public relations slogans.
This reminds me of what a New Republic magazine columnist, "TRB," said
of the 1972 election. "We are forced to choose between a man who will
say nothing (incumbent Richard Nixon) and a man who says anything,"
(challenger George McGovern). Nixon won every state except
Massachusetts.
Numerous allegations have been made about the Alpine election. We have
checked most of them out and many are indeed true. But we don't have
space to detail the skullduggery this week. We do have one item
however, of considerable interest. The price of politics in Alpine has
gone up, again in Mayor Clouse's favor, as shown by candidates'
financial disclosures we examined Monday.
On Monday morning we went by Alpine City Hall to verify reports we were
hearing of very large political contributions in the Alpine City
Council election. The reports are true in the relative sense that we
seldom see candidates spend more than $500 in municipal elections.
As of Friday, there are unusually large political contributions to
Annabel Holguin ($1,250.00); Mayor Mickey Clouse ($1,350.00); Diana
Asgeirsson ($575.00) and Manuel Payne ($1000.00). Six contributors
account for $3,700.
Even more unusual are those contributing in lesser amounts — 83d
District Attorney Frank Brown; 394th District Court Coordinator Mrs.
Bill Brooks and her husband; former Mayor Paul Weyerts and Border
Patrol Agent David Durant and wife.
The largest contributors are Sul Ross President Vic Morgan, Big Bend
Telephone executive Justin Haynes, and a pair of bankers — Patric S.
Kennedy, Jr. of San Antonio and C. Joseph Keese, Jr. of Pecos
(addresses according to Clouse's report). Both are officers of Trans
Pecos Bank and they have contributed $1,200.00 to Clouse, Payne and
Holguin (Asgeirsson's report closes May 3). Katie Elms-Lawrence
reported contributions of $500.00 and Bob Brewer $179.00.
Both Mike McMillen and Anna Monclova have stated they will not exceed
$500.00; therefore detailed reports are not required.
As a matter of full disclosure we support Katie Elms-Lawrence, Anna
Monclova and Bob Brewer.
Click on www.nimbynews.com for a commentary by Pete Smyke.
Also on Monday we checked the city's ward maps for the umpteenth time.
As of last Saturday, one week before the election, the city's website
displayed the districts established in 1993. The redistricting of 2002
was reflected in some maps on walls around town, but City Secretary
Molly Taylor was compelled to contact Alpine's Austin lawyers to
resolve the difference. The 2002 districting done was under the Gag
Rule so there is no wonder it has been completely confused since early
2002 — the citizens were prohibited from correcting the dysfunctional
staff.
So the unusual thing here in Greater Alpine is the appearance of Big
Bucks. We must not become too critical, however, because money donated
legally to political campaigns for advertising is as important as
journalism — or so the U.S. Supreme Court tells us.
More important we think is the combination of big bucks and silence. We
have encouraged the entrepreneurs to make their case for publicly
subsidized development for several years. Is this it? Will we see a
deluge of advertising from today to Saturday? Parties, pachangas,
barbecues, and booze?
In relative terms it is a small investment. This election is about the
control of $4.8 million. A new majority on the council will have a
great deal of latitude in deciding how those millions will be spent. •
(Also
published by the Big Bend Sentinel of Marfa, Texas May 11, 2006.)
|
Archives