Saturday, August 19, 2006

"The biggest land grab, corrupt privatization scheme and taxpayer ripoff in history."

Radnofsky speaks out on Trans-Texas Corridor

Radnofsky addresses hearing in Rockwall

Aug 19, 2006

North Texas e-News
Copyright 2006

Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate Barbara Ann Radnofsky met with concerned citizens, the advanced Project Development Director of the Texas Turnpike Authority Division Dieter Blick, listened to the testimony of Rockwall residents and other speakers, and gave testimony against the Trans Texas Corridor Thursday evening at the Freshman Center August 17 in Rockwall. She remains in Rockwall for two additional days of study, discussions, and receptions for her U.S. Senate campaign, as she reached her 480th campaign trip.

"Rockwall certainly has a big voice for the smallest Texas county, and the impassioned objections of its citizens should be heeded," Radnofsky said.

"Why are we undertaking a project which, if finished in fifty years, will be obsolete, with no studies as to the modes of transportation we'll actually be using at that time? Why are we trying to fund private, massive profits for foreign corporations, paid for by tolls that are charged to the public, on roads that will be tolled forever?

"The reason is not science, technology, traffic congestion, or public need. The reason is generating profit for private companies. Texas lacks the money to finance such a project, and no thinking taxpayer would willingly fund it. TxDOT claims and concedes that Texas lacks the resources, the tools, to fund the estimated 184 billion dollars the project will supposedly cost. The vast majority of the toll money collected will end up in the pockets of foreign corporations.

"Why does Texas lack the money for highways and public transit development, and rail? Why are communities pitted against each other, fighting for scarce federal highway dollars generated by our gas tax dollars?

"The answer: Texas leaders want to fuel private schemes proposed by their big donors and can only justify wasteful private companies reaping huge profits at our expense, charging Texas drivers tolls to pay for private profits if they have an expensive proposal and no money to find it. It's a perfect storm of circumstances, since we Texans donate nearly ten cents of every gas tax dollar from Texas to the rest of the country. Now, TxDOT can rightly claim that Texas is underfinanced for our transporation dollars, giving statewide elected officials a convenient excuse to turn to private financing. The lack of public money has been used to justify a boondoggle project to utilize private industry, to be repaid with money out of the pockets of ordinary Texans.

"My opponent voted for PL 109-59 which left Texas taxpayers as net donors to the rest of the country, funding Alaskan bridges to nowhere, giving Alaskans 1500 dollars per person in transportation money, while Texans received 36 dollars, ranking 49th overall. The same law championed by my opponent also tolls projects in express lanes, tolls on HOV faciltities, and tolls on highways, bridges, and tunnels on our interstate highway system.

"The TTC toll system will not be traditional tolling to pay for the road. Drivers will be automatically billed monthly and their bill payments will forever benefit the private companies profiting from construction and concessions. Communities will be split like an apple cleaved through, and trucks won't need to stop outside the corridor since rest stops and restaurants and the like are all planned inside the zone.

"Texas can't afford it, so the government has sold us down the river to pay tolls and give up our land and fork over existing freeways to the biggest land grab, corrupt privatization scheme and taxpayer ripoff in history," Radnofsky continued.

"In fifty plus years, TTC construction will be reportedly still underway with 2006 era toll-way plans, as mass transit and energy technology prepare for the 22nd century."

© Copyright 2002-2006 by North Texas e-News, llc

© 2006 North Texas e-News: www.ntxe-news.com

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"There is no revolving door in Rick Perry's administration. There is no door at all. There is just a welcome mat. "

Trans-Texas Corridor firm hires ex-Perry aide

Dan Shelley going back to work for Cintra-Zachry.

August 19, 2006

Associated Press
Copyright 2006

DALLAS — Republican Gov. Rick Perry's former liaison to the Legislature is working once again for the Spanish company that won the rights to develop the state's $7 billion Trans-Texas Corridor toll road project.

Lobbyist Dan Shelley worked for the firm as a consultant just before he went to the governor's office, a connection first revealed in 2004.

State officials denied any connection between that circumstance and the decision, three months later, to award Cintra-Zachry the huge highway contract. Now Shelley has left the governor's office, and he and his daughter have large contracts to lobby for the road builder, The Dallas Morning News reported Friday.

This week, Shelley had planned to take four state lawmakers on a four-day, all-expense-paid trip to Canada. But the trip was postponed by the state transportation department after the newspaper asked questions about it.

A call to Shelley seeking comment was returned by Rossanna Salazar, an Austin spokeswoman for Madrid-based Cintra, who said Shelley's contract with the company prohibits him from discussing his work with news reporters. Salazar confirmed that Shelley was helping to arrange the fact-finding trip to visit a Cintra toll road near Toronto.

"Dan Shelley was going to cover those costs" for the lawmakers' expenses, Salazar said. "He would have had to publicly report those costs to the Texas Ethics Commission."

Texas law does not restrict former gubernatorial staffers from lobbying, but Perry has instituted his own rule for former high-level staffers. They can lobby the Legislature and state agencies but are banned from lobbying the governor's office for a year, or until the end of the first legislative session after they've left, whichever is longer.

"Governor Perry has the strongest ethics policy that any Texas governor has ever had," said Kathy Walt, Perry's spokeswoman.

But a spokesman for Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, a Perry opponent in his re-election bid whom Perry's campaign has criticized for alleged unethical conduct, said Perry is the one with the ethics problem.

"There is no revolving door in Rick's administration," Strayhorn spokesman Mark Sanders said. "There is no door at all. There is just a welcome mat. Lobby one minute to get a client a huge contract, go to work for Rick the next minute, and return to the lobby the next minute."

Strayhorn proposes banning lobbying for four years for state officials and employees after they leave government service, Sanders said.


© 2006 Austin American-Statesman: www.statesman.com

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"Perry is the most ethically challenged governor in Texas History"

Strayhorn calls for end to revolving door lobbying

Back-to-Back-to-Back Newspaper Stories Chronicle Ethical Woes

August 18, 2006

Press Release
Strayhorn for Governor
Copyright 2006

(AUSTIN) – Troubling ethical questions surrounding Gov. Rick Perry and his administration continue to be revealed by the media as he has made phony ethical attacks the centerpiece of his campaign, the campaign of Texas Independent Candidate for Governor Carole Keeton Strayhorn said today.

“This is quite possibly the most ethically challenged Governor in Texas history,” said spokesman Mark Sanders. “Rick has made attacking his opponent on phony ethics charges the centerpiece of his campaign. It is becoming clear everyday why.”

Strayhorn, as part of a lobby reform plan with real teeth, is proposing a 4-year ban on any state officials or state employee from lobbying after leaving government service.
  • Today, a major Texas newspaper revealed that the governor’s legislative liaison has once again returned to lobby for the Spanish company that won the rights to develop the multi-billion Trans Texas Corridor – a job he previously had just before the foreign company won the huge contract.
“There is no revolving door in Rick’s administration,” Sanders said. “There is no door at all. There is just a welcome mat. Lobby one minute to get a client a huge contract, go to work for Rick the next minute, and return to the lobby the next minute.”

“Rick tells Texans he has the strongest ethics policy ever while delivering big paydays to his contributors, friends and staff through secret taxpayer-funded deals with a foreign company,” Sanders said. “This is the most blatant abuse of the public trust in the history of Texas, and it represents a disturbing pattern of unethical behavior.”
  • Yesterday, in a story headlined “Perry Big Donors Get Appointments, Government Business” the Dallas Morning News revealed that in exchange for giving at least $25,000 a year to the governor, a handful of super-rich contributors received invitations to private luncheons with the governor, coveted appointments to state boards and commissions, and lucrative business with the state including profitable toll-road contracts and state money to invest.
  • Last week the Austin American-Statesman reminded Texans that the Legislature had to ban campaign contributions to the governor during the 20-day period he can sign or veto bills after Perry accepted $1.2 million as he reviewed bills.
  • Perry has also had ethical lapses when he took $20,000 from Enron and named an Enron official to the Public Utility Commission and when he and his state staff used campaign contributions to fly to the Bahamas for a “working vacation.”
“It’s simple, Rick just protests too much when he tries to make ethics an issue,” Sanders said.

Pol. Ad Pd. For By Friends of Carole Keeton Strayhorn, 1002 Rio Grande, Austin TX 78701, Ken Banks, Treasurer

CONTACT: MARK SANDERS 512-469-9393

© 2006 Strayhorn for Governor: www.carolestrayhorn.com

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Friday, August 18, 2006

Business as usual for Cintra lobbyist, Dan Shelley

Perry's former staffer is back on payroll of toll road developer

8/18/2006

San Antonio Express-News
Copyright 2006

DALLAS — Republican Gov. Rick Perry's former liaison to the Legislature is working once again for the Spanish company that won the rights to develop the state's $7 billion Trans-Texas Corridor toll road project.

Lobbyist Dan Shelley worked for the firm as a consultant just before he went to the governor's office, a connection first revealed in 2004.

State officials denied any connection between that circumstance and the decision, three months later, to award Cintra-Zachry the huge highway contract. Now Shelley has left the governor's office, and he and his daughter have large contracts to lobby for the road builder, the Dallas Morning News reported Friday.

This week, Shelley had planned to take four state lawmakers on a four-day, all-expense-paid trip to Canada. But the trip was abruptly postponed by the state transportation department after the newspaper asked questions about it.

A call to Shelley seeking comment was returned by Rossanna Salazar, an Austin spokeswoman for Madrid-based Cintra, who said Shelley's contract with the company prohibits him from discussing his work with news reporters. Salazar confirmed that Shelley was helping to arrange the fact-finding trip to visit a Cintra toll road near Toronto.

"Dan Shelley was going to cover those costs" for the lawmakers' expenses, Salazar said. "He would have had to publicly report those costs to the Texas Ethics Commission."

Texas law does not restrict former gubernatorial staffers from lobbying, but Perry has instituted his own rule for former high-level staffers. They can lobby the Legislature and state agencies but are banned from lobbying the governor's office for a year, or until the end of the first legislative session after they've left, whichever is longer.

"Gov. Perry has the strongest ethics policy that any Texas governor has ever had," said Kathy Walt, Perry's spokeswoman.

The Canadian trip was to include a visit to Cintra's state-of-the-art Highway 407 Electronic Toll Road. Interviews with Ontario government officials also were scheduled.

The lawmakers were Rep. Mike Krusee, the Round Rock Republican who heads the House Transportation Committee, and three members of the Senate committee that writes the state budget: Democrats Royce West of Dallas and John Whitmire of Houston, along with Republican Kim Brimer of Fort Worth.

Several top employees of the Texas Department of Transportation also were to go on the trip, but the agency was to pay their way. Transportation department officials said they postponed the trip because a more pressing duty arose.

Though the payment of trip expenses for legislators by Cintra would have been legal, companies stand to gain by having lawmakers' undivided attention for several days, said Tom "Smitty" Smith, director of Public Citizen of Texas, a watchdog group. Lawmakers should use their campaign funds for such expenses, Smith said.

"That's preferable from taking money from corporations that stand to make billions in the continuation of this Trans-Texas Corridor project," he said.

Shelley resigned his state job in September and struck a lobbying deal with Cintra worth between $50,000 and $100,000 to work from March through the end of this year. His daughter and lobbying partner, Jennifer Shelley-Rodriguez, will earn between $25,000 and $50,000 from the company over the same period, state records show.

The Trans-Texas Corridor is Perry's vision for a statewide network of toll roads, rail lines and utility lines to improve transportation for the next 50 years. Cintra-Zachry won the development rights in 2004 to the first corridor section, which will parallel Interstate 35.

The corridor has become an issue in the governor's race, as independent candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn has tried to capitalize on opposition from landowners and others to the project.

MySA Sponsored Links

© 2006 San Antonio Express-News: www.mysanantonio.com

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Perry's Transportation Advisor and lobbyist rehired by Spanish Corporation

Trans-Texas firm hires ex-Perry aide

He worked before for company that won bid for transit corridor


August 18, 2006

By PETE SLOVER and TONY HARTZEL
The Dallas Morning News
Copyright 2006

Once again, Gov. Rick Perry's former liaison to the Legislature is working for the Spanish company that won the rights to develop the $7 billion Trans-Texas Corridor.

Lobbyist Dan Shelley worked for the firm as a consultant just before he went to the governor's office, a connection first revealed in 2004. State officials denied any connection between that circumstance and the decision, three months later, to award Cintra the huge highway contract. Now, Mr. Shelley has left the governor's office, and he and his daughter have large contracts to lobby for the road builder.

This week, Mr. Shelley had planned to take four state lawmakers – including two Dallas-area senators – on a four-day, all-expense-paid trip to Canada. But the trip was abruptly postponed after The Dallas Morning News asked questions about it.

A call to Mr. Shelley seeking comment was returned by an Austin spokeswoman for Madrid-based Cintra, who said that Mr. Shelley's contract with the company prohibits him from discussing his work with reporters.

Spokeswoman Rossanna Salazar confirmed that Mr. Shelley was helping to arrange the fact-finding trip to visit a Cintra toll road near Toronto.

"Dan Shelley was going to cover those costs" for the lawmakers' expenses, Ms. Salazar said. "He would have had to publicly report those costs to the Texas Ethics Commission."

Though the payment of trip expenses by Cintra would have been legal, companies stand to gain by having lawmakers' undivided attention for several days, said Tom "Smitty" Smith, director of Public Citizen of Texas, a watchdog group. Lawmakers should use their campaign funds for such expenses, Mr. Smith said.

"That's preferable from taking money from corporations that stand to make billions in the continuation of this Trans-Texas Corridor project," he said.

Mr. Shelley resigned his state job in September and struck a lobbying deal with Cintra worth between $50,000 and $100,000 to work from March through the end of this year. In addition, his daughter and lobbying partner, Jennifer Shelley-Rodriguez, will earn between $25,000 and $50,000 from the company over the same period, state records show.

The Trans-Texas Corridor is Mr. Perry's vision for a statewide network of toll roads, rail lines and utility lines to improve transportation for the next 50 years. Cintra won the development rights in 2004 to the first corridor section that will parallel Interstate 35E.

The corridor has become an issue in his re-election campaign, as rival Carole Keeton Strayhorn has stoked landowners' opposition to the project.

Consultant status

When Mr. Shelley worked for Cintra before, he never registered as a lobbyist. Instead, he worked nine months as an unregulated "consultant" trying to generate business for the company in Texas – a role that included such functions as making introductions and attending meetings with state transportation officials.

At the time, the governor's office said Mr. Shelley was never paid by the company, because his fees were to be based on any deals closed. They said that when he left the firm before the contract was complete, he gave up the right to such fees.

Such contingency arrangements are illegal for lobbyists, but the law does not mention consultants.

The law does not restrict former gubernatorial staffers from lobbying, but Mr. Perry has instituted his own rule for former high-level staffers: They can lobby the Legislature and state agencies but are banned from lobbying the governor's office for a year, or until the end of the first legislative session after they've left, which ever is longer.

That means Mr. Shelley has voluntarily committed not to lobby the governor and his staff until after the Legislature's session next year, said Kathy Walt, the governor's press secretary.

"Governor Perry has the strongest ethics policy that any Texas governor has ever had," she said.

Even with those limits, Mr. Shelley has built a healthy lobby clientele: This year, he reported to the state lobbying work worth between $550,000 and $1.1 million.

The director of a group that tracks money in politics said the case demonstrates that the policy and the laws both need tightening.

"The can't-lobby-the-governor rule is meaningless in the real world," said Craig McDonald, director of Texans for Public Justice. "It's a pie-in-the-sky policy that has absolutely no teeth: Texas needs a law to close the revolving lobby door."

Proposed itinerary

On the Toronto trip, the group would have viewed Cintra's state-of-the-art Highway 407 Electronic Toll Road. Interviews with Ontario government officials also were scheduled.

Among the lawmakers included was Rep. Mike Krusee, the Round Rock Republican who heads the House Transportation Committee. Also invited were three members of the Senate committee that writes the state budget: Democrats Royce West of Dallas and John Whitmire of Houston, along with Republican Kim Brimer of Fort Worth.

The travel plans changed, though, about 24 hours after The News first inquired about the trip. Transportation department officials said they postponed the trip because a more pressing duty arose.

Mr. Brimer said he knew nothing about how the trip came about and if he had, he would have paid for it with campaign funds.

"I don't need a handout," he said.

The other lawmakers did not return calls seeking comment.

Seven top employees of the Texas Department of Transportation were also scheduled to go, though their agency was to pay their way.

"It's to look at what they do [in Toronto] and the lessons learned there so we can come back and do it better in Texas," said transportation department spokeswoman Gaby Garcia, who said state employees have gone to California to review toll roads. "We're not shy about going out and seeing what others are doing."

Pete Slover reported from Austin and Tony Hartzel from Plano.

E-mail pslover@dallasnews.com

and thartzel@dallasnews.com

Dallas Morning News: www.dallasnews.com

For more on Cintra lobbyist Dan Shelley [CLICK HERE]

To search TTC News Archives click HERE

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Gov. Perry's Cronies profit from Trans-Texas Corridor contracts

Trans-Texas Corridor firm hires ex-Perry aide

8/18/06

Associated Press
Copyright 2006

DALLAS - Republican Gov. Rick Perry's former liaison to the Legislature is working once again for the Spanish company that won the rights to develop the state's $7 billion Trans-Texas Corridor toll road project.

Lobbyist Dan Shelley worked for the firm as a consultant just before he went to the governor's office, a connection first revealed in 2004.

State officials denied any connection between that circumstance and the decision, three months later, to award Cintra-Zachry the huge highway contract. Now Shelley has left the governor's office, and he and his daughter have large contracts to lobby for the road builder, The Dallas Morning News reported Friday.

This week, Shelley had planned to take four state lawmakers on a four-day, all-expense-paid trip to Canada. But the trip was abruptly postponed by the state transportation department after the newspaper asked questions about it.

A call to Shelley seeking comment was returned by Rossanna Salazar, an Austin spokeswoman for Madrid-based Cintra, who said Shelley's contract with the company prohibits him from discussing his work with news reporters. Salazar confirmed that Shelley was helping to arrange the fact-finding trip to visit a Cintra toll road near Toronto.

"Dan Shelley was going to cover those costs" for the lawmakers' expenses, Salazar said. "He would have had to publicly report those costs to the Texas Ethics Commission."

Texas law does not restrict former gubernatorial staffers from lobbying, but Perry has instituted his own rule for former high-level staffers. They can lobby the Legislature and state agencies but are banned from lobbying the governor's office for a year, or until the end of the first legislative session after they've left, whichever is longer.

"Gov. Perry has the strongest ethics policy that any Texas governor has ever had," said Kathy Walt, Perry's spokeswoman.

The Canadian trip was to include a visit to Cintra's state-of-the-art Highway 407 Electronic Toll Road. Interviews with Ontario government officials also were scheduled.

Among the lawmakers included were Rep. Mike Krusee, the Round Rock Republican who heads the House Transportation Committee, and three members of the Senate committee that writes the state budget: Democrats Royce West of Dallas and John Whitmire of Houston, along with Republican Kim Brimer of Fort Worth.

Several top employees of the Texas Department of Transportation also were to go on the trip, but the agency was to pay their way. Transportation department officials said they postponed the trip because a more pressing duty arose.

Though the payment of trip expenses for legislators by Cintra would have been legal, companies stand to gain by having lawmakers' undivided attention for several days, said Tom "Smitty" Smith, director of Public Citizen of Texas, a watchdog group. Lawmakers should use their campaign funds for such expenses, Smith said.

"That's preferable from taking money from corporations that stand to make billions in the continuation of this Trans-Texas Corridor project," he said.

Shelley resigned his state job in September and struck a lobbying deal with Cintra worth between $50,000 and $100,000 to work from March through the end of this year. His daughter and lobbying partner, Jennifer Shelley-Rodriguez, will earn between $25,000 and $50,000 from the company over the same period, state records show.

The Trans-Texas Corridor is Perry's vision for a statewide network of toll roads, rail lines and utility lines to improve transportation for the next 50 years. Cintra-Zachry won the development rights in 2004 to the first corridor section, which will parallel Interstate 35.

The corridor has become an issue in the governor's race, as independent candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn has tried to capitalize on opposition from landowners and others to the project.

When Shelley worked for Cintra before, he never registered as a lobbyist. Instead, he worked nine months as an unregulated "consultant" trying to generate business for the company in Texas.

At the time, the governor's office said Shelley was never paid by the company, because his fees were to be based on any deals closed. They said that when he left the firm before the contract was complete, he gave up the right to such fees.

The director of Texans for Public Justice, a group that tracks money in politics, said the Shelley case demonstrates that the policy and the law both need tightening to prevent "the revolving lobby door."

© 2006 The Associated Press: www.ap.org

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"If there were a smell test, we would all need some serious gas masks."

Cintra's Inside Man-Dan Shelley

Cintra consultant turned Governor Perry's legislative aide, turned Cintra lobbyist. It's hard to keep up with who is working for who. Or is it?

8/18/06

CorridorWatch
Copyright 2006

Austin lobbyist Dan Shelley has been one of Governor Perry's aides and Cintra's inside man.

Shelley worked for Cintra making introductions to TxDOT just in time to see them get a winning proposal submitted for the Trans Texas Corridor. Then he worked for Governor Perry just in time to lobby the Legislature to protect and strengthen laws benefiting Cintra. Now he's back working for Cintra again planning all expense paid trips to Canada for TxDOT and Texas law makers.

The Dallas Morning News reports this morning, "Mr. Shelley resigned his state job in September and struck a lobbying deal with Cintra worth between $50,000 and $100,000 to work from March through the end of this year. In addition, his daughter and lobbying partner, Jennifer Shelley-Rodriguez, will earn between $25,000 and $50,000 from the company over the same period, state records show."

The four-day, three-night, trip to Canada would have put key Texas legislators and senior TxDOT officials together with Cintra well out of the view of Texans. CorridorWatch.org has learned that rooms were already booked for the group at the luxurious Le Royal Meridian King Edward Hotel in Toronto.

The Dallas Morning News reported that the lawmakers invited by Cintra included Rep. Mike Krusee, Chairman of the House Transportation Committee and three members of the Senate committee that writes the state budget: Royce West of Dallas, John Whitmire of Houston, and Kim Brimer of Fort Worth. CorridorWatch.org has learned that an invitation was also extended to Sen. John Carona, new Chairman of the Senate Transportation and Homeland Security Committee.

TxDOT had their bags packed too. Here's the list obtained by CorridorWatch.org: Mary Ann Griss (Aide to Chairman Ric Williamson); Steve Simmons (Deputy Director); James Bass (Director of Finance); Amadeo Saenz (Asst Executive Director for Engineering Operations); Jefferson Grimes (Manager State Legislative Affairs); John Munoz (Deputy Director of Finance); and, Jeremiah Kuntz (former policy analyst for Sen. Staples’ Senate Infrastructure Development and Security Committee, and now a TxDOT employee).

And don't forget the TxDOT TTC Citizen's Advisory Committee. While most members of the committee (including Linda Stall of CorridorWatch.org) were apparently unaware about the all-expense-paid trip to Canada, select members were indeed invited. Committee Chairwoman Judy Hawley and previous Chairman Tim Brown were among the four members invited by Cintra according to Tim Brown when asked by Linda Stall at their Committee meeting last Wednesday. Mr. Brown is a Bell County Commissioner and also President of the North America's Super Corridor Coalition (NASCO).

"If there were a smell test, we would all need some serious gas masks," says David Stall, co-founder of CorridorWatch.org.

© 2006 CorridorWatch: www.corridorwatch.org

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Century Council members have lucrative contracts to help build Mr. Perry's multibillion-dollar toll-road initiative.

Perry's top donors get business, appointments

Governor denies connection

August 16, 2006

By WAYNE SLATER
The Dallas Morning News
Copyright 2006

AUSTIN – A handful of super-rich political contributors, giving at least $25,000 a year, will put at least $10 million into Gov. Rick Perry's re-election treasury – forming an elite fundraising corps that the campaign calls the Century Council.

In exchange, donors who pledge to give at least $100,000 get invitations to private luncheons with the governor. And many are beneficiaries of government business, plum appointments and other state largesse.

Three Century Council members have lucrative contracts to help build Mr. Perry's multibillion-dollar toll-road initiative. The state has deposited millions in investment funds operated by three other top-tier givers. And 16 are Perry appointees to coveted boards, including the Parks and Wildlife Commission and state university regent boards.

A Perry campaign spokesman says the donors get no special treatment.

But the number of super-donors dwarfs anything that Mr. Perry's three most recent predecessors had, according to a computer-generated review of contribution records.

Mr. Perry has attracted twice as many $25,000 contributions as fellow Republican George W. Bush did in 1994 or 1998. Mr. Perry has more than five times as many as Democrat Ann Richards had in her 1990 campaign and Republican Bill Clements had in 1986, according to the records.

Advocates of campaign finance reform say the big money is designed to buy access.

"The kinds of people who step up to the plate to give this kind of money tend to be people who want something from government," said Andrew Wheat of Texans for Public Justice, a nonprofit group that tracks campaign contributions.

'They need not give'

Robert Black, a Perry campaign spokesman, denied the charge, saying donors give money because they support his stewardship as governor.

"They believe in his leadership, his vision for the future and where he wants to lead the state," Mr. Black said. "If they have any ulterior motives, they need not give."

Texas law does not limit the size of campaign contributions, and previous governors have relied on big givers to help fuel their election campaigns.

Mr. Perry's rivals also have big-dollar donors, although in far fewer numbers than the governor.

Democratic nominee Chris Bell's biggest contributor is Houston auto dealer Ricardo Weitz, who has provided airplanes for the candidate to use, a contribution worth $171,900.

Hair products executive John McCall of Spicewood tops independent challenger Kinky Friedman's donors with $851,000 in contributions and donated office space.

Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, who is also running for governor as an independent, has among her biggest donors Beaumont lawyer Walter Umphrey, who has given her $500,000, and Houston lawyer John Eddie Williams, who has given $450,000.

Such big-money contributions have become an issue in this year's governor's race. Mr. Perry's campaign has criticized Mrs. Strayhorn for accepting $1.5 million since 2002 from Ryan & Co., a Dallas-based tax-consulting firm that has represented several businesses disputing tax bills from Mrs. Strayhorn's office.

A state auditor's report last year said Mrs. Strayhorn's office had settled tax cases totaling $461 million within a year of receiving contributions from such companies. The audit did not allege wrongdoing but recommended that candidates not accept donations from those with interests before their office.

$25,000 a year and up

Among Mr. Perry's donors, at least 85 are members of the Century Council, who have contributed at least $25,000 a year toward Mr. Perry's re-election since his last campaign in 2002. Some have given much more.

His biggest contributor, Houston homebuilder Bob Perry (no relation), has given more than $700,000 since Rick Perry became governor.

In 2003, the Legislature created a state agency to resolve construction disputes between homebuilders and consumers. The governor appointed the Houston homebuilder's corporate counsel to the agency's governing board.

Mr. Black said there is no connection between contributions and state appointments or contracts.

"These are major donors that have been with the governor for a long time," Mr. Black said.

Corridor players

Three highway contractors benefiting from the Trans-Texas Corridor have been major Perry contributors since the late 1990s.

H.B. Zachry, whose San Antonio construction company is a partner in the project, began giving annual contributions of $10,000 after Mr. Perry was elected lieutenant governor in 1998. After Mr. Perry succeeded Mr. Bush as governor, the contributions grew to at least $25,000 a year.

Two other construction executives whose companies have state contracts as part of Mr. Perry's toll-road initiative – James Dannenbaum and James Pitcock, both of Houston – first gave $25,000 contributions to Mr. Perry when he was lieutenant governor.

The Texas Department of Transportation, which is overseen by Perry appointees, chooses the contractors. And some Perry contributors were unsuccessful bidders on the project.

A review of campaign records indicates that Fluor Enterprises Inc., which headed one consortium whose bid to develop the project was not selected by the state, gave $12,500 to Mr. Perry in 2002. Another unsuccessful consortium included the Houston law firm of Vinson & Elkins, which is among Mr. Perry's $25,000-a-year givers.

Duly appointed?

Appointment to university and agency boards is a traditional way that governors have rewarded donors.

In Mr. Perry's case, three members of the Century Council have been appointed to the Parks and Wildlife Commission, including Houston auto-wholesaler Tom Friedkin.

Mr. Friedkin not only has contributed $200,000 to Mr. Perry's re-election, he loaned his private plane to fly the governor on a political trip in March to speak to a national Republican group meeting in Tennessee.

Other big-dollar appointees include insurance executive Larry Anders and real estate developer J. Frank Miller of Dallas, each giving more than $200,000 and becoming Texas Tech regents under Mr. Perry; Dallas investor Robert Rowling, a $200,000 contributor and University of Texas regent; and former TXU executive Erle Nye, a $150,000 donor and Texas A&M regent.

And some members of the Century Council have benefited from state investments.

The Austin-based University of Texas Investment Management Co. oversees about $16 billion worth of investments for the UT and Texas A&M Systems. The governor appoints the board.

According to state records, the company has invested $99 million with SCF Partners, which was founded by L.E. Simmons of Houston. The state also has invested millions of dollars with the firms headed by James Wilson of Sugar Land and Jeff Sanderfer of Austin.

E-mail wslater@dallasnews.com

BIG MONEY

Donors to Gov. Rick Perry's Century Council, who give at least $25,000 a year, have donated about $10 million to his re-election effort. That means about 40 percent of the $25 million he has raised so far comes from about 85 individuals.

CENTURY COUNCIL MAKEUP
Here's a look at some members of Gov. Rick Perry's Century Council, a group of regular high-dollar donors, and their interest before the state or appointed position:

Contributor Hometown/occupation State interest
Bob Perry Houston homebuilder Employee appointed to agency regulating construction disputes
H.B. Zachry San Antonio highway contractor Partner in Trans-Texas Corridor project
Larry Anders Dallas insurance executive Texas Tech Board of Regents
J. Frank Miller Dallas developer Texas Tech Board of Regents
Robert Rowling Dallas investor University of Texas Board of Regents
Erle Nye Former Dallas utility executive Texas A&M Board of Regents
Tom Friedkin Houston Toyota wholesaler Parks and Wildlife Commission
L.E. Simmons Houston investor Nearly $100 million in state deposits with his investment firm
James Huffines Austin mortgage banker University of Texas Board of Regents
James Leininger San Antonio businessman Governor's support for school vouchers

NOTES: Contributors have given at least $100,000. Donations cover the period from January 2003 to June 30, 2006.

SOURCES: Dallas Morning News research; Texas Ethics Commission


© 2006 The Dallas Morning News Co www.dallasnews.com

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Thursday, August 17, 2006

Propaganda campaign from "Texans for Safe Efficient Transportation" in the works

Toll Supporters Speak Out

Plan aggressive campaign to sell toll road plans


August 17, 2006

By Jim Forsyth
101.9 Radio (San Antonio)
Clear Channel Communications, Inc.
Copyright 2006

Faced with stronger than anticipated opposition to toll road plans, supporters have changed course and will begin mounting a statewide campaign to convince people of the necessity of toll lanes, 1200 WOAI news reported today.

Greater Chamber of Commerce President Joe Krier heads the group, called Texans for Safe Efficient Transportation.

Krier told downtown Rotary that while the idea of paying tolls is unpleasant and unpopular, the three alternatives, doing nothing, higher gasoline taxes, and higher property taxes, are far less pleasant.

"To do all the work we need to do we could have a 56% increase in our property tax rates," Krier said. "Come see me if you want to help lead that charge."

And Krier said the other alternative, a gasoline tax increase, is equally unpleasant.

"We would have to raise the gas tax conservatively by fifty cents a gallon, more aggressively by a dollar 40 cents a gallon," in order to come up with funding to build needed highway infrastructure.

Krier said the problem is one of economics. A combination of inflation, especially on raw materials like petroleum-based asphalt, and better fuel economy vehicles, are cutting into the state's major source for highway funding, the 20 cent a gallon state gasoline tax.

He says fuel efficient vehicles are a major boost to drivers, but when we buy less gasoline, we end up paying less in gasoline tax, and that is cutting the Texas Department of Transportation's maintenance and construction budget to the point where repairs of existing roadways take up a major chunk of that budget.

"You're not going to see a lot of additional free lane construction at the levels we have seen in the past 25 years." Krier said.

The third option, doing nothing, he says would damage the local economy and cost jobs. He says the average San Antonio motorist today spends 42 hours a year stuck in traffic, and that figure will double in the coming decade unless action is taken to build new roads.

Krier credited the Texas Toll Party and other groups for organizing opposition and public debate to the toll road issue, and says his new group will take steps to make sure Texans understand the consequences of rejecting toll proposals.

© 2006 Clear Channel Communications, Inc.: www.softrock1019.com

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More Quid Pro Toll from North Texas Politicians

Perry’s backing of outer loop cheered

Aug. 17, 2006

By GORDON DICKSON
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Copyright 2006

Metroplex leaders say they’re thrilled that Gov. Rick Perry has written a letter endorsing the plan to create an outer loop around Dallas-Fort Worth as part of the Trans-Texas Corridor.

Texas Department of Transportation officials said last week that they were asking the Federal Highway Administration to include the outer loop, which would allow the Trans-Texas — a cross-state toll road — to be incorporated into existing highway plans rather than simply bypassing the Metroplex.

Then, on Tuesday, Perry sent a letter to the transportation department supporting the Metroplex plan, to the delight of Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief. “Our proposed alignment would direct traffic to the center of our region and include an outer loop going east and west around our Metroplex. It will utilize current resources, move traffic to the core and create more direct routes,” Moncrief said in a statement. “We spoke in a united voice, and we were heard.”

Although thousands of people have flooded Trans-Texas hearings to speak against toll roads, North Texas’ elected leaders have said they’ll support Trans-Texas as long as it comes through the Metroplex.

Gordon Dickson, 817-685-3816

gdickson@star-telegram.com

© 2006 Fort Worth Star-Telegram: www.dfw.com

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Hutchison: "A toll road from South Texas to San Antonio, I just don't see the need for that. "

Hutchison swings through area

Senator talks taxes, Iraq, toll roads.

August 17, 2006

By Jason Embry
Austin American-Statesman
Copyright 2006

U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison rolled through Central Texas on a campaign tour Wednesday, lending tangible evidence to the rumor that she's running for re-election this fall.

The Republican senator, of course, announced more than a year ago that she would seek another term Nov. 7. But with a strong electoral track record in a Republican state, she has tried to project the image of a hard-at-work senator more concerned with legislating than campaigning.

"My top priority, and what I will spend most of my time doing, is my job," Hutchison said Wednesday on the second day of a three-day, 16-stop bus tour.

Hutchison is running against Democrat Barbara Ann Radnofsky and Libertarian Scott Lanier Jameson, but she took some jabs at a controversial highway plan being pitched by GOP rival Gov. Rick Perry.

During a morning stop in San Marcos, she used a quick speech to about 60 people to reiterate support for further federal tax cuts and the war in Iraq. Later, on her campaign bus, she said that she wants to look for better ways to stabilize Iraq but that Congress should not set a deadline for troop withdrawal.

"I want withdrawal but only when the conditions are met and our word is kept," she said. "If we set a deadline, first of all, the insurgency would get worse. And they would know there is a time in which they would have complete free reign, and they would be setting up for their civil war."

Radnofsky, a Houston lawyer, said later that Congress should insist on more information from military leaders, even if it keeps that information secret for security purposes, and should insist on a deadline for troop withdrawal.

"Instead, we have created a situation where Iraq sinks even more deeply into civil war," Radnofsky said. "We've created a perfect breeding ground for Iran and other state sponsors of terror."

Hutchison also said she was "very concerned" about the Trans-Texas Corridor, Gov. Rick Perry's vision for a wide swath of rights of way for toll roads, rail lines and pipelines that would run parallel to the state's major highways.

Hutchison, who considered running against Perry before deciding to seek re-election this year, said she thought some parts of the corridor were needed but questioned others.

"A toll road from South Texas to San Antonio, I just don't see the need for that," she said. "And I think the taking of property for that is a very serious matter that should be studied more carefully."

Perry spokeswoman Kathy Walt said that early drawings show the corridor stretching from the bottom of Texas to the top of it, and from east to west, but that no routes have been laid out.

"The Trans-Texas Corridor is a long-term plan that would be realized over several decades as population warrants expansion of it," Walt said.

jembry@statesman.com; 445-3654

© 2006 Austin American-Statesman: www.statesman.com

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U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison "very concerned" about Trans-Texas Corridor

Hutchison voices doubts about part of toll-road plan

She sees no need to expand corridor from South Texas to San Antonio

Aug. 16, 2006

By CLAY ROBISON
Houston Chronicle
Copyright 2006

AUSTIN — U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, apparently trying to distance herself from Gov. Rick Perry on the controversial toll road issue, said Wednesday she was "very concerned" about how Perry's proposed Trans-Texas Corridor would route new highways across the state.

She said bypasses to major, congested freeways, including Interstate 35, are needed, but she said it was unnecessary to build a toll road connecting South Texas to San Antonio.

© 2006 Houston Chronicle: www.chron.com

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Wednesday, August 16, 2006

"It is unthinkable to wipe out acres of farm land so a foreign company can run a Texas highway"

Van Os visits Marlin in bid for AG seat

8/16/06

By Christine Kern
The Marlin Democrat
Copyright 2006

“I spent my career battling on behalf of the little guy,” David Van Os said of his almost 30 year law career. He is preparing to take that experience and knowledge to the Texas Attorney General's office if elected on November 7, 2006.

Van Os, who stopped in Marlin on Wednesday 26, 2006, is opposed to the Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC), big monopoly businesses and big governments who are not “conducting business with the Texas people in mind.”

“Like I said, I'll fight them until hell freezes, and then on the ice, if need be,” Van Os said.

He is making it clear what he thinks about big businesses such as the oil companies by putting up bulletin boards in Dallas and northern Texas, saying “Notice to big oil: I'm coming after you.” Van Os smiled and said that he hopes to let them know that when he comes after him, it will not be a big surprise.

“You are suppose to tell the people what you stand for, and what you are going to do,” he said. “Big companies are preying on people who work for a living.”

He said he recognizes that everyone is effected by the gasoline prices and if “hired on November 7” he would address the concerns by going after the companies.

“The Texas constitutions give the Attorney General tools to do this, and I will use them.”

Along with addressing big business, he also is concerned about Texas Department of Transportation's TTC, which he named “Trans-Texas Monstrosity. He said that no one in Texas, not only those effected by the proposed route is opposed to the idea.

“It's not just here, it's everywhere,” Van Os said.

He quotes the Texas Constitution's Article 4, Section 22, which addresses the role and responsibility of the Attorney General, stating that he has made numerous requests himself for further information regarding the TTC agreement with the Spanish company Cintra-Zachry. Pointing to the law and the Attorney General's responsibilities, he said if he was elected, he would open the records of the investigation he said would have had to be done because Cintra-Zachry is a foreign country.

“It is unthinkable to wipe out acres of farm land so a foreign company can run a Texas highway,” Van Os said. “We need to stand up for Texas's heritage.”

In his private practice, David Van Os & Associates located in San Antonio, Van Os has spent 30 years specializing in constitutional law, labor law and civil rights, all of which he feels has prepared him if elected. Is also a native Texan, and “don't want to live anywhere else.”

“I say what I mean and mean what I say,” he said with a nod.

Van Os is the democrat candidate running for Attorney General.

© 2006 The Marlin Democrat: www.marlindemocrat.com

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"The commission is really focused on Rick Perry's vision."

Perry backs D-FW's corridor route bid

State transit officials to get letter conveying study wishes today


August 16, 2006

By TONY HARTZEL
The Dallas Morning News
Copyright 2006

A plan to bring the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor project closer to the heart of North Texas is getting a boost from Gov. Rick Perry.

Since April, North Texas leaders have prodded state officials to alter their study maps to include a highway route that circles Dallas and Fort Worth. Until now, the state's preferred study area has prominently featured a route that only clips southeast Dallas County.

The local lobbying efforts may have paid off.

Mr. Perry has asked the Texas Department of Transportation to take into consideration North Texas' wishes, department officials said late Tuesday. In a letter to be formally delivered to the Transportation Department today, the governor has asked that area leaders' concerns be reflected in an ongoing study to determine the path for the corridor's new toll roads, rail lines and utility lines.

"That is a victory," said Dallas City Council member Bill Blaydes, who joined many other elected leaders in pushing for the closer route. "It's the right thing to do. When North Texas leaders step up as one body, you've got to sit up and take notice."

The closer route, Mr. Blaydes said, would help spur economic development in more urban areas, including South Dallas.

State leaders want to build the corridor – complete with new toll roads, rail lines and utility lines – to ease congestion on Interstate 35. The road could run from the Red River to the Rio Grande.

With months or years of federal reviews still to come, it's difficult to say whether Mr. Perry's request will change the final decision. A final route could be decided next year. That route would then be subject to lengthy environmental studies.

But getting the route on the board now means less worry later for local leaders.

"This tells me there needs to be a good reason that the North Texas route would not move forward," said Michael Morris, director of transportation for the North Central Texas Council of Governments.

North Texas planners have pushed for a corridor route that would include the future Loop 9 project, which is to run near the Ellis-Dallas county line. That loop would tie into the Trans-Texas Corridor south of Dallas, where motorists could then continue to Austin and other points south.

The department still has a lot to review, and no route has been put ahead of another, said Ric Williamson, chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission. A Loop 9 route could work, but only if rail lines were built in a different location nearby, he said.

"The commission is really focused on Rick Perry's vision. It's more than a passing matter," he said of Mr. Perry's request. "This is a pretty significant event."

E-mail thartzel@dallasnews.com

© 2006 The Dallas Morning News Co www.dallasnews.com

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Sen. Hutchison distances herself from "land-grabbing, triple-taxing community-ruining" idea.

Hutchison wary of corridor plan

8/16/2006

Clay Robison
San Antonio Express-News
Copyright 2006

AUSTIN — U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, apparently trying to distance herself from Gov. Rick Perry on the controversial toll road issue, said Wednesday she was "very concerned" about how Perry's proposed Trans Texas Corridor would route new highways across the state.

She said bypasses to major, congested freeways, including Interstate 35, are needed, but she said it was unnecessary to build a toll road connecting South Texas to San Antonio.

"I just don't see the need for that, and I think the taking of property for that is a very serious matter that needs to be studied carefully," she told reporters after addressing the Texas Association of Counties.

The stretch of Interstate 35 between San Antonio and Laredo is designated as the preferred route for that section of the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor. No decision has been made on whether tolls would be imposed on that section of highway, but Perry spokeswoman Kathy Walt didn't rule out the possibility.

As outlined by the Texas Department of Transportation, toll roads would play an important role in the development of the overall corridor, a cross-state transportation network proposed by Perry to relieve congestion on existing highways.

A transportation corridor a quarter-mile wide, which also would include rail and utility lines, is envisioned.

"Under the governor's leadership, we have a solid solution to the long-term transportation infrastructure needs of this state," Walt said. "We look forward to hearing ideas the senator or anyone else might want to propose in meeting those transportation needs."

A route that would parallel Interstate 35 from north to south across Texas is now the subject of a series of public hearings. Thousands of Texans have shown up to testify against the proposal, and it also has drawn fire from Perry's re-election opponents, especially Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn.

Hutchison's Democratic challenger, Houston attorney Barbara Ann Radnofsky, also has attacked the plan. Calling it a "land-grabbing, triple-taxing community-ruining" idea, Radnofsky planned to testify against it at a public hearing in North Texas tonight.

Most of the opposition is from rural Texans, who don't want to give up their land for right of way or fear their farms and ranches will be harmed by new highways and related development along the corridor route.

"I'm very concerned about the Trans-Texas Corridor," Hutchison said.

She said parts of it are "very necessary" but questioned whether there has been enough public input, despite the series of hearings.

She called for a "whole lot more study of the routes" and said the state needed to make sure it was adequately using existing right of way.

"I'm not saying I'm against another route for bypassing the major, clogged freeways that we have. Interstate 35 is a parking lot," she said. "But I think that going too far outside of the major metropolitan areas is an issue that should be resolved."

clay.robison@chron.com

© 2006 San Antonio Express-News: www.mysanantonio.com

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British-Portuguese consortium partners up for Texas toll roads

Balfour Targets New State-Partnership Market in U.S., Germany

8/16/2005

Bloomberg
Copyright 2006

Balfour Beatty Plc, the U.K.'s biggest construction company, will bid for its first U.S. contracts in partnership with the state, Chief Executive Officer Ian Tyler said today in an interview.

Balfour plans to tender for a Texas highway project with Brisa-Auto Estradas de Portugal SA, the country's biggest toll- road operator, Tyler said. The London-based company is also vying to build and operate a rail link to Oakland Airport in California along with Mitsui & Co. of Tokyo.

Tyler is targeting countries including the U.S. and Germany, where governments are beginning to adopt so-called public-private partnership contracts pioneered in the U.K. Under the agreements, companies carry the risk of costly public-works projects while benefiting from service agreements that may span three decades.

``PPP-style contracts are starting to happen in the U.S. and Germany,'' Tyler said.

The stock rose as much as 16.25 pence, or 4.6 percent, to 368.5 pence and traded at 362 pence as of 2:46 p.m. in London, for a market value of 1.54 billion pounds ($2.91 billion).

Balfour, the U.K.'s market leader in public-private tie-ups, will bid for an 11.5-mile stretch of road in the Dallas area that will cost approximately $525 million to build, according to a statement in June by Portugal's Brisa. Tyler said he doesn't yet know the value or the size of the Oakland rail venture.

A Balfour team in Germany, Europe's biggest economy, is targeting opportunities to build roads and hospitals in partnership with the government, the CEO said. The builder is seeking local partners to bid for the projects.

"The team is active in Germany, but the projects in the market are at a very early stage,'' Tyler said.

The company is also considering a tender for student housing for the National University of Singapore as a government tie-up Tyler said. Still, the greatest growth potential for Balfour is in the U.K., where Tyler estimates that 15 percent of all buildings and roads procured by the government will be built and operated as PFI deals. "Private finance is the way the U.K. and other governments increasingly want to go,'' said Rachael Waring, an analyst at Numis Securities in Liverpool with a "hold'' recommendation on the stock. "As the market leader, this is very good for Balfour.''

Balfour has invested almost 300 million pounds into more than 20 such deals, including contracts to build and maintain nearly 150 schools and the U.K.'s second-biggest hospital in Birmingham.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Sophie Kernon in London at skernon@bloomberg.net.

© 2006 Bloomberg: http://www.bloomberg.com

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Bulverde City Council leery of shadow tolls

Bulverde City Council chooses not to revisit TX 46 expansion

8/16/06

by Crystal Gottfried
Canyon Lake Times Guardian
Copyright 2006

Expanding Texas Highway 46 in Comal County from two to six lanes would include portions of the roadway in New Braunfels east of the Sun Valley Drive intersection all the way through Bulverde just past the U.S. Highway 281 intersection.

During the July 25 Bulverde City county meeting, members rejected the proposal by a vote of 3-1. Councilwoman Pam Cole voted for the pass-through financing agreement with Comal County and the Texas Department of Transportation, and Councilman Mark Mobley was absent.

Mayor Sarah Stevick said that since that meeting, she and city staff were deluged with calls from residents who want to see that the Texas 46 expansion is completed through Bulverde.

“People were angry because council turned it down,” she said.

Council members have stated that they would not approve the project unless they could see what the expansions looked like.

The county’s agreement with TxDOT for the road work means that Bulverde would be required to pay for about $790,000 in right-of-way acquisitions over seven years; the city’s share of the deal.

Stevick said that taxes for city residents would have to increase by about 2.5 cents to meet this obligation.

Although he voted against the project during the last meeting, Mayor Pro Tem Richard Parker asked that it be put back on the agenda for reconsideration at the August 8 city council meeting, when it was again rejected.

Comal County Judge Danny Scheel said that the pass-through financing deal that the county negotiated with the Texas Department of Transportation was as good as the City of Bulverde would get.

“Since the beginning of this project, there has been a group that just won’t believe that this project didn’t include any toll roads, and they continue to push the issue even though we have repeatedly said that we won’t have tolls on our part of this project,” he said in his remarks at commissioners’ court last Thursday. “What we have just witnessed in Bulverde is that one group of people all but guaranteed that their particular stretch of Texas 46 will be a toll road in the future because I feel there will be no alternative way for them to fund that portion of the road other than through tolls.”

Scheel has publicized the benefits of the pass-through financing plan that the county negotiated with TxDOT and spoken highly of this apparent departure from the state’s road construction practices.

According to the draft agreement, the County would loan the state $16 million for the Texas State Highway 46 road improvement projects. All the County would be responsible for is the interest on the $16 million and 10 percent of the cost of right-of-way acquisition and 10 percent of the costs of moving utilities outside the expanded right-of-way property.

The state would be responsible for all engineering and construction work for the project which would be completed in three sections at an estimated $70 million that would be borne through traditional state sources.

The first improvement of the existing roadway section on SH 46 from Old Boerne Rd. to Sun Valley would be to a 3.7 mile, urban four-lane section with continuous left turn lane and storm sewer. The proposed section would require a 150 foot right of way with the additional right of way and utility adjustments to be completed by the county.

The next project consists of a section of SH 46 from RM 2722 to LP 337 which is currently a rural two-lane roadway with continuous left turn lane and drainage ditches.

The proposed improvements would consist of an urban six-lane section for 3.4 miles with continuous left turn lane and storm sewer. The proposed section would require a 150 foot right of way and utility adjustments by the county.

Finally, the existing 12.6 miles of SH 46 from Sun Valley to FM 2722 would be widened, with left turning and passing lanes. No additional right of way property is anticipated for this portion of the highway.

The State will pay the money back to the County over the next four years by reimbursing an amount equal to 10 cents per mile for each vehicle-mile traveled on the highway improvements after each project is substantially completed and open to the public.

Bulverde’s Mayor Stevick told the media last Thursday that she doubted that Texas 46 would ever be tolled in her city.

“I think what the people of Bulverde are looking at is in the future, if it’s done, it will be a TxDOT project, but I don’t see us ever getting to the point of doing it,” she said. “It’s going to have to happen one day, but who’s to say how it will happen? The issue is how much expansion will be needed. The council and the city want a little more to say about how things develop for the six-lane issue and some other problems that were discussed.”

The vote rejecting the agenda item at last Tuesday’s council meeting was 3 to 2 not to reconsider the TxDOT proposed expansion.

Copyright © 2006 Times Guardian.: www.timesguardian.com

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Tuesday, August 15, 2006

"The purpose of the hearings was to solicit public input on the TTC, but now Perry says the purpose was actually something else entirely."

Perry Rejects TTC Opposition

Perry says toll road plans will go forward despite opposition voiced at public hearings

August 15, 2006

By Jim Forsyth
WOAI News Radio
Copyright 2006

Hundreds of people showed up at three dozen public hearings over the past month to speak out on the proposed Trans Texas Corridor, the $175 billion system of toll roads Governor Perry has proposed for Texas.

The vast majority of the people who showed up at the hearings, by one estimate by a ratio of twenty to one, spoke out against the superhighways, claiming they would bisect farms and ranches, would be a giveaway to big construction companies, and would allow private companies, in some cases headquartered out of the country, to determine how much money Texas have to pay to drive.

Now, Governor Perry has spoken out on what he thinks of the public hearing process, and it's not much.

"I happen to think that the great majority of people in the state of Texas who did not go to those hearings, want to see traffic moving, they want to see an end to congestion, and they want hazardous materials kept out of our cities," Perry told 1200 WOAI news.

The purpose of the hearings was to solicit public input on the Trans Texas Corridor, but now Perry says the purpose was actually something else entirely.

"If anyone has a better plan, those hearings were the place to lay them out," Perry said, adding that he didn't hear any 'better plans' specified.

Perry says he remains fully committed to moving forward with the Trans Texas Corridor. The SR-130 Bypass currently under construction from Seguin to Georgetown may become a port of TTC-35, the Trans Texas Corridor route running from Sherman to Laredo.

© 2006 © 2006 Clear Channel Broadcasting, Inc. : radio.woai.com

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"The council and some residents thought we had absolutely no say in the project at all."

Bulverde taking heat for shunning highway project

08/14/2006

Roger Croteau
San Antonio Express-News
Copyright 2006

NEW BRAUNFELS — The Bulverde City Council's decision not to take part in a state project to widen Texas 46 will lead to even worse traffic jams as the road narrows on the outskirts of town, officials said.

And the project will cost the city much more later if it's decided it's needed then, Comal County officials warned.

The City Council last month rejected the Texas Department of Transportation plan to widen Texas 46 to six lanes through the city, with council members saying they wanted assurances that TxDOT would follow the city's wishes on how to design the project.

An effort at last week's council meeting to reconsider the matter was killed in a 3-2 vote.

"I have no reasonable explanation of what their thoughts were in turning down a $20 million project," said County Judge Danny Scheel. "This was a one-of-a-kind deal, in my opinion, a sweetheart deal that will never be repeated."

County Commissioner Jay Millikin said he understands the city's reluctance to raise taxes to fund its share of right of way acquisition.

"But, in fact, it will be a bottleneck," Millikin said. "As you reach the Bulverde city limits, it will be choked down."

Bulverde was asked to provide about $800,000 for right of way and utility relocation costs and would have been responsible for about $1 million in interest payments on a loan to TxDOT that would provide the money to build the project.

But money was not the reason the council rejected the offer, Mayor Sarah Stevick said.

Council members wanted TxDOT to build the road at the width that was proposed but to only stripe four traffic lanes for now and add striping for the final two lanes in the future, when traffic counts warrant that much capacity.

Stevick said six lanes would be "just too big of a highway." There were other design elements the city objected to, as well, she said.

"The council and some residents thought we had absolutely no say in the project at all," Stevick said. "TxDOT said they would work with us, but could not guarantee anything."

Stevick and Councilman Mike Mobley said they think the only way the topic will come back before the council is if TxDOT comes back with a new proposal that alleviates the city's concerns.

TxDOT District Engineer David Casteel said the department will continue environmental and preparatory studies in case Bulverde changes its mind, but will only widen the highway from Loop 337 in New Braunfels to the Bulverde city limit.

He said a bottleneck on Texas 46 around U.S. 281 is a major concern. About 16,000 cars a day use Texas 46 there, and there are about eight wrecks a month.

"To say the least, we are perplexed and mystified by some of their (council's) actions," Casteel said. "We can't let the money sit there waiting for Bulverde. I've got 12 counties, and every county out there has serious needs. We will put that money to work."

As a result, he said, it could take several years for money to be available to widen the highway through Bulverde if the council decides later to pursue a project, and the funding scenario could be less favorable than what is being offered now.

Scheel predicted that any financing to widen Texas 46 in Bulverde later would include tolls. None are in the deal offered now.

Comal County officials persuaded TxDOT to offer a "pass through financing" plan to expedite construction, slated to start next year. The county and cities involved in the project will borrow $16 million to lend to TxDOT. The state will then pay back the principal to the county and cities over a few years, with the local governments paying the interest. The rest of the project's $63 million price tag will be paid by the state.

The New Braunfels City Council and the Comal County Commission voted unanimously to take part in the project.

rcroteau@express-news.net

San Antonio Express-News publish date Aug. 15, 2006

© 2006 San Antonio Express-News: www.mysanantonio.com

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City Council gives a resounding 'thumbs down' to elevated toll lanes.

Toll road idea panned by council

08/15/2006

San Antonio Express-News
Copyright 2006

HELOTES — On the same night the executive director of an agency exploring ways to reduce congestion on Bandera Road discussed those alternatives, the City Council gave a resounding thumbs-down to the most controversial option, elevated toll lanes.

"This is not just detrimental," Councilwoman Linda Boyer-Owens said Thursday as she made a motion to pass a resolution expressing the council's opposition to toll lanes on Bandera Road, or Texas 16, from Loop 410 to Loop 1604.

"It will change the city forever, and in a very harmful way," she said.

Boyer-Owens said Helotes residents expressed those exact sentiments at a recent public hearing on the issue at Marshall High School that drew an estimated 450 people.

"This is what I've heard, without exception, from the citizens of Helotes," she said during the Aug. 10 session.

Councilwoman Alina Matutes-Eckhardt predicted equally dire consequences for Helotes, saying elevated toll lanes would ring the "death knell for the community."

"If this passes, we will just be an underpass," she said.

Mayor Jon Allan called the state Legislature "irresponsible," claiming Helotes and other communities would not be facing these kinds of situations if Texas lawmakers did not move funds from gasoline and other taxes dedicated to road improvements to "fill gaps in other areas."

"This is why we have these problems," he said. "The money is being used for other purposes."

Councilman J.B. Richeson said he was opposed to an alternative that would involve what he called privatization.

"A public infrastructure should be owned by the public, not by private industry," he said. "This is a shortsighted policy."

Richeson was one of four council members who unanimously voted in favor of the resolution, to the applause of a few residents who were still present near the end of the meeting. One councilman, Stuart Birnbaum, was absent from the session.

Several residents also voiced opposition to elevated toll roads at the beginning of the meeting, including David Galvan, who, like Allan, said state funds that should be used for roads and road improvements are not being administered properly.

"It's simply not planned properly," he said. "The money is going somewhere else."

But Terry Brechtel, executive director of the Alamo Regional Mobility Authority, created by Bexar County Commissioners Court in 2004 to develop road-improvement plans for more than 28 miles of state roads between Loop 1604 and Loop 410, told the council that elevated toll lanes are not a given. She said there is no final recommendation on toll lanes.

"We will look at many options," she said.

Brechtel's presentation focused on the Alamo RMA's role in general as well as ways to improve mobility on Bandera Road, with a traffic count ranging from 28,000 to 61,000 vehicles per day, according to a 2004 study.

"We're at the beginning stage of the (study) process," Brechtel said. "No specific recommendation has been made."

Other possible solutions to congestion on Bandera Road include better traffic-light synchronization, intersection improvements, rapid transit and dedicated high-occupancy-vehicle lanes.

The San Antonio Toll Party, Aquifer Guardians in Urban Areas and the Helotes Heritage Association also list replacing intersections and signal lights with roundabouts, converting Bandera Road to a limited-access parkway and reversing traffic in one or more lanes during rush hour as other alternatives.

Brechtel said adding more lanes is another option but is problematic because of right-of- way issues.

She acknowledged that the community is "very, very vocal" in its opposition to toll lanes and said that changes are a long way off.

"This is a very long study process," she said.

Council members who had questions for Brechtel had their own ideas, too. Allan said improving Loop 1604 would help, and he said the study should involve the participation of police and fire officials and city staff members of affected communities.

"The best people who understand the streets are those who drive them," he said.

In addition, Allan said he is concerned that the Texas Department of Transportation won't proceed with any work during the study.

"I worry that they won't make improvements that would help in the short term," he said.

Helotes officials said they also fear that toll roads would facilitate development in the Hill Country, at the expense of their city.

"I don't want to be the access route for all development in the Hill Country," Allan said.

Matutes-Eckhardt said toll roads would be "convenient for other people but kill our community."

"That's why you hear a lot of emotion in people's voices," she said.


© 2006 San Antonio Express-News: www.mysanantonio.com

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Monday, August 14, 2006

Mayor's software company has a $2.6 million contract with the North Texas Tollway Authority.

Mayor leaves toll road panel

August 14, 2006

By WENDY HUNDLEY
The Dallas Morning News
Copyright 2006

After being criticized for possible conflicts of interest, Richardson Mayor Gary Slagel says he will resign from the Dallas Regional Mobility Commission and will move his company out of a city-owned building.

Mr. Slagel says he will make those announcements tonight at the Richardson City Council meeting.

The longtime mayor has come under criticism for possible conflicts of interest in two separate matters involving his software company, CapitalSoft, Inc., which has a $2.6 million contract with the North Texas Tollway Authority.

Mr. Slagel heads a Dallas Regional Mobility Commission task force that has been looking at potential agencies to build and run new North Texas toll roads. He has been accused of using his position to push for his client, NTTA, to oversee future toll roads and not disclosing his business ties to the tollway authority.

At a recent coalition meeting, Mr. Slagel apologized to members who were unaware of his private dealings with the authority. But he said he didn’t use his position to lobby for his client.
“I pushed for a system solution,” he said Monday from his company offices at STARTech Early Ventures. His firm’s location in a business incubator housed in a 27,500-square-foot building owned by the city of Richardson has been the other issue dogging him.

Although Mr. Slagel said he receives no special consideration and pays the same rent as other tenants, his company has received capital venture funding through STARTech Seed Fund and has been housed in STARTech offices since 1999.

But some believe his links to STARTech creates the appearances of a conflict of interest.

Mr. Slagel said Richardson City Attorney Pete Smith advised him that his involvement with the NTTA and STARTech are proper and pose no conflict of interest.

He said he’s taking these steps “so we can move forward and focus on the council’s goals for the city.”

E-mail whundley@dallasnews.com

© 2006 The Dallas Morning News Co www.dallasnews.com

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Rainmakers and Water Lawyers

Water on way to being liquid gold in the state

8/13/2006

Joseph S. Stroud
San Antonio Express-News
Copyright 2006

Twice the number of people. Eighteen percent less water.

That's the kind of future Texas faces if steps aren't taken soon to find new sources of water, according to an early version of the new State Water Plan.

Finding enough to keep taps flowing and sprinklers spraying will be especially challenging along the Interstate 35 corridor as well as in the Dallas and Houston suburbs, the Rio Grande Valley and the Panhandle.

The cost of adding enough water to prevent significant shortages by 2060: $30.7 billion.

The 2007 State Water Plan, released without fanfare by the Texas Water Development Board in an Internet posting last week, finds that major shortages could be widespread as early as 2010 — much sooner than predicted in previous plans.

An increasingly precious resource

The new State Water Plan, issued in draft form on the Internet last week, draws an ominous picture of the future of water in Texas. Among its findings:

The state's total water supply, if no new sources of water are found, will drop from 17.9 million to 14.6 million acre-feet per year by 2060 because of sedimentation in reservoirs and depletion of the state's underground aquifers.

By 2060, demand for water in Texas is projected to increase 27 percent, from almost 17 million acre-feet of water in 2000 to a projected demand of 21.6 million acre-feet.

Of 238 cities that five years ago reported significant water needs by 2020, only 21 have put projects in place that were recommended in the 2002 State Water Plan to meet that demand. Another 12 have projects under construction, while 89 have taken no steps toward building the projects.

Farming as a way of life is headed toward a dramatic transformation. That stress will be felt most severely in the Rio Grande Valley, where farmers stand last in line for water from the river between the U.S. and Mexico during a drought. The plan projects that the Valley's population will more than double by 2060, while water use in the region will rise only 13 percent.

The Ogallala Aquifer, the sprawling underground reservoir that provides 40 percent of all the water used in Texas, continues to disappear, mostly because of irrigated agriculture. In Texas alone, more than 6 million acre-feet, or roughly four times the amount of water in Lake Travis and Canyon Lake combined, is withdrawn from the Ogallala each year.

If no new water supply sources are found, available surface water will decrease 7 percent by 2060, while available groundwater will decline 32 percent. Most of that decline will occur in the Ogallala.

Water on way to being liquid gold in the state

San Antonio is stepping up its efforts to find alternate sources

If the state four years from now experiences a drought like that of the 1950s, the worst on record in Texas, 80 percent of the state's people would be living in water-short areas unless they find new sources, the plan finds.

Anything worse than that kind of drought — and some say global warming makes that a distinct possibility — and the shortages would be greater.

"The demands have definitely gone up," said Bill Mullican, who heads the planning effort at the Texas Water Development Board. "The shortages have gone up. A lot of entities didn't have nearly as much water as they thought they had."

The plan draws a sobering picture of the future of water in Texas. But Texans have a long history of seeing opportunity in scarce commodities. And so even as the state endures a second hot, dry summer, an assortment of lawyers, out-of-state businesses, private interests, water utilities and river authorities are clamoring to answer the question of how a burgeoning population will find water in years to come.

Speaking with power-point confidence at a water law seminar at Texas Tech University back in the spring, Lynn Ray Sherman, a 43-year-old Austin lawyer, framed the conversation around a bundle of sticks.

There's the timber stick, the gravel stick, the coal stick and the oil stick. All are part of the bundle of sticks that go with real estate, he explained.

And who owns them? The landowner, of course.

"Alright, 'Who owns the groundwater stick?' is the question I'm posing here," Sherman said.

"Is it God? Now we don't recognize God's ownership of property in American jurisprudence, much less Texas jurisprudence, alright? So God doesn't own it, with all due respect."

The answer, Sherman finally volunteered, is the landowner. The landowner owns groundwater and can do what he wants with it — up to and including selling or leasing it to people like Lynn Sherman.

Sherman's style of speaking is both fast-talking and folksy. Tall and broad-shouldered, he wears a nice suit, frameless glasses and worn black cowboy boots.

He carries a big brown leather satchel, and his work on water issues has taken him from Mission to Lubbock to El Paso. He is among the state's most knowledgeable water lawyers.

As Sherman spoke, Harvey Everheart sat quietly at a table near the front, his black cowboy hat at his side. Later, when asked what he thought of Sherman's talk, Everheart was blunt: "He's just as full of (expletive) as a Christmas turkey, I promise you."

Everheart is the groundwater district manager of the Mesa Underground Water Conservation District in the Panhandle town of Lamesa. That means he has been designated by the state to regulate the pumping and export of groundwater in his area.

It also means he thinks heavy-handed efforts by the state to bind the hands of local districts will be bad for everyone.

Everheart's district lies over the Ogallala Aquifer, which declines faster than it replenishes. And yet he can lead you to wells where significant rises in the water table have been recorded. To Everheart, whose district isn't much of a target for marketers, that means water issues need to be handled differently from place to place, and he thinks locals can do that best.

"When you start painting with a brush in Mesa Underground Water Conservation District, you better have you one of them little bitty fine brushes, because the big ones, they won't apply correctly," Everheart said.

The question of who owns water hasn't fully been settled in Texas law, but it's the subject of intense debate. Mary Kelly, an Austin attorney with Environmental Defense, put her disagreement with Sherman's position in more genteel terms.

"At its core, water is still a public resource," she said. "Why should people be making total windfall profits?"

Outlook for cities

The current drought, now in its 16th month, has given many Texas communities an unfriendly preview of the challenges that lie ahead.

Mandatory water-use restrictions are in place for 126 communities statewide, according to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Another 71 have voluntary restrictions.

When the Edwards Aquifer dropped below 650 feet above sea level last month, mandatory region-wide water restrictions — including a once-a-week sprinkling schedule — were imposed across the San Antonio segment of the Edwards Aquifer for the first time since 2000.

All of that is occurring with just under 22 million people living in Texas. The new state plan projects that Texas will grow to 45.5 million people by 2060.

"It really begs the question: OK, if we try to do this for 45 million people, what are we going to do with 45 million people when we repeat a drought? That's the real frightening part," said Ron Kaiser, professor of water law and policy at Texas A&M University.

Although many of the state's larger cities will have difficulty finding adequate water supplies, they aren't likely to run out of water. That's because they have plenty of ratepayers, a significant tax base and the ability to borrow money to get more water if they need it — even if the cost is high.

The same cannot be said for much of rural Texas, especially the arid West. The chronic lack of rainfall west of I-35 makes that part of the state particularly vulnerable.

"When you get into small communities, particularly in West Texas, that rely on groundwater, and those groundwater resources are vastly disappearing, I think that's where the stressors are really going to come," Kaiser said.

Some officials familiar with the long-term outlook say the state's future water supply will come from the desalination of brackish groundwater — water from aquifers high in salt content — or even from seawater drawn from the Gulf of Mexico and stripped of salt.

That idea has its skeptics, however.

"It's so energy intensive and it's so costly that you have to really have a supply crisis before you go that way," said Kelly, the Austin environmental lawyer.

Financial commitment

Although some of the shortages have been building for years, the state's commitment to finding new water sources has been lukewarm at best.

In a presentation to the Senate Natural Resources Committee, assembled in Houston last week, Water Development Board Executive Administrator Kevin Ward said it would take $875 million in state appropriations to pay for water needed by 2020 alone. But he noted that neither of the two major programs created to provide state money for water projects has been funded by the Legislature.

The board, in its plan, asked the Legislature to provide $90.1 million immediately for debt service on $929.6 million in bonds "to ensure Texas has enough water for the future."

In 2005, a Senate measure that would have brought in $85.4 million for water projects and other water-related programs failed late in the session.

In his presentation, Ward offered several options for taxes and fees, including a water use fee and a tax on bottled water, that the Legislature could consider to raise the needed money. He said he wasn't endorsing any of the proposals but noted "tax" and "fee" are both three-letter words. The remark drew mild chuckles in a room filled with interested parties.

Although the 2002 water plan put the cost of meeting the state's future water supply needs at $18 billion, the tab has risen considerably. The agency now says $30.7 billon is needed to complete recommended water supply projects.

The increase is attributed to "more growth than projects," and to the fact that new projects have fallen "further behind on implementation." New costs associated with tough new federal drinking water standards have added to the burden.

The new plan recommends construction of 14 major new reservoirs in the state, and says reservoir projects "absolutely must remain a strong and viable tool in our water-development toolbox if the state is to meet its future water supply needs."

That idea has drawn vehement opposition from the environmental community, which views reservoirs as a threat to the state's rivers and streams.

A coveted prize

With most of the state's surface water allocated, and with new laws making it harder to move surface water around, groundwater has become the most coveted prize of recent years.
The state now relies on water from underground for about 60 percent of its water supply, causing significant depletions in several of the state's major aquifers.

Besides the Ogallala, water tables have dropped in the Gulf Coast Aquifer north of Houston, in the Trinity Aquifer along I-35 between Waco and north of Dallas, and at several spots in the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer — the Winter Garden irrigation area north of Laredo, and near Lufkin, Nacogdoches and Tyler, according to the Water Development Board.

Sherman, the Austin lawyer and water marketer, said water levels vary widely in the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer. Some areas are in decline, he said, but water is abundant in other parts.

Efforts to find groundwater are especially intense in counties over the Carrizo east of Interstate 35. Those areas have drawn the attention of water marketers in part because some of the fastest-growing areas along the highway are outgrowing their water supply. Plans for a new Trans-Texas Corridor have only accelerated the interest.

In some rural counties where water remains plentiful, including Milam and Burleson east of Austin, it's hard to find a landowner who hasn't been approached by someone hoping to buy or lease their water rights.

Some landowners welcome the attention, seeing it as a bonanza. The water may be worth more than the crops they can raise on the land. Others are skeptical, and see the attention as an effort to fleece them.

Building pipelines is expensive, so the prospect of moving water long distances so far has slowed the gold rush.

Andy Sansom, executive director of the River Systems Institute at Texas State University, said the scarcity of water between San Marcos and Austin is the only thing preventing a Wal-Mart at every exit. Sansom and others find it fascinating no one has brokered a major water deal there yet.

That may be because customers — from the general public to the communities and utilities that serve them — aren't willing to pay a premium price for the water just yet. It's the customers, after all, who ultimately determine what the water is worth.

"The average person turns on the tap and there's the water, and doesn't know where it comes from — and for all intents and purposes doesn't care as long as the tap works," said Gabriel Eckstein, associate law professor at Texas Tech University.

That slows the transition toward more judicious use, he said.

"If the value was here today, I think the transformation would be much quicker. If people as a society valued groundwater more realistically, I think they would be more prone to think toward the future, especially in this part of the country where it's a non-recharging aquifer."

He was referring to the Ogallala, the aquifer that lies beneath much of the Texas Panhandle. According to the Water Development Board, declines of as much as 40 feet in 10 years have been recorded. That's mainly due to farm irrigation, by far the biggest user of groundwater.

The questions most Texans have yet to consider range from lifestyle choices to more philosophical matters, Eckstein said.

"What industries should we have here, could we have here, as opposed to what we actually use?" he asked. "How much water are we leaving for our children and grandchildren? Should we put all our money into technology, or put all our hopes into technology, that it will find new sources of water?"

'Boxing a shadow'

Another point of contention is transparency. Unlike surface water, the state requires no record of people who buy and sell groundwater rights. This allows landowners to sell or lease water rights without their neighbors knowing, but it also allows marketers to buy up thousands of acres before anyone knows what hit them.

"These guys aren't filing their leases, so you don't know what they have, what the terms are or anything else," said John Burke of Aqua Water Supply Corp., a nonprofit water supplier established in Bastrop in the 1970s to provide water at low cost to rural areas east of Austin. "It's kind of like you're dancing with the wind or boxing a shadow. You know it's out there but you can't quite get your hand on what they're doing."

A proposal to ask the Water Development Board to track the marketing of groundwater failed in the 2005 legislative session.

Exports of groundwater don't become public until the marketer goes to a groundwater district for an export permit — and that's if there is a groundwater district.

The state has 89 groundwater districts, but 110 of the state's 254 counties have no district — either because local voters rejected them or none was ever proposed. Some areas don't have enough water to warrant having a district.

Most groundwater districts are able to slow but not stop water exports. Whether that is good or bad is another subject of some debate.

"The groundwater district can regulate pumping, which can keep anybody from over-pumping or pumping too much," said Burke. "But they can't keep a water marketer from coming in and, if they go by the rules, from pumping water and exporting it."

Sherman, the Austin lawyer, and other marketers think some groundwater districts throw up arbitrary obstacles that squelch the free market.

But every groundwater district is different. Some are intent on keeping water in the area; others want to see it sold for profit. Some have plenty of money; others don't.

When a dispute arises over exporting groundwater, the battleground moves to the courts. Burke said that often means districts are overmatched financially.

Some communities aren't interested in adding a new layer of government, so they reject the idea of a district altogether. In 1990, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality designated Comal County as part of a Priority Groundwater Management Area because of runaway growth.

The agency said the county, one of the fastest growing in the state, needed a groundwater district because water was going to be a critical resource within 25 years.

But voters in two-thirds of Comal have twice rejected that idea. The other third of the county lies over the Edwards Aquifer and is protected.

Some local officials say that leaves the area over the sensitive Trinity Aquifer more vulnerable to overdevelopment.

"We're just sitting here fat, dumb and happy and have no idea what's going on underneath two-thirds of our county," said Comal County Commissioner Jay Millikin.

Kaiser, the A&M water law and policy expert, said the state eventually will have to loosen its rules for moving water around. That may hurt some rural Texans, but their loss will be trumped by the political pressure to bring water to everyone who needs it, he said.

The larger question, though, is whether the state has fully considered the implications of choices being made in the open water market. If Texas stays on the path it's on, Kaiser envisions a city stretching from San Antonio to Dallas, five miles wide on either side of the interstate.

"You really go back to how big should Texas be," he said. "We've just assumed, 'OK, we'll have 40 million people.' OK, let's go out and try and find the water for 40 million people.

"Everyone wants the water for the growth machine. And I think you've got to step back and say, 'Whoops, wait a minute: Maybe we shouldn't be that big.'"

jstroud@express-news.net
Database Editor Kelly Guckian contributed to this report.

© 2006 San Antonio Express-News: www.mysanantonio.com

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