Stephen Wright, Nacogdoches Democratic Chair:
Fellow Nacogdoches Democrats,
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday break and enjoyed the company of family and friends. I also trust you were able to get some much-needed rest from our previous busy political season. While there is more where that came from as we look toward the upcoming Christmas Holidays, there are few important things we need to accomplish beforehand, the main one being moving out of our office. We need your help on Saturday! Without further ado, here is the all-important laundry list as we begin to close out this year and prepare ourselves for the 2012 elections:
1) Saturday, Dec. 4th (beginning at 10AM) — We will be meeting at Headquarters (901 E. Main) to move out of our office! We need everyone to come and take a few goodies, lift a few things, and clean a bit. We must be out of the office by December 15th, so this weekend is a good time to get it done. Pizza will be provided for lunch and there may be some informal planning and discussion for 2011 going on as we clean. While it’s not necessary to RSVP to attend, it would be helpful to email me (stephen.wright15@gmail.com) to let me know you’ll be there. Come on out and help fellow Dems put a close to the 2010 election season!
2) Tuesday, November 30th (7PM) — Several groups are hosting a forum at the Recreation Center (1112 North St.) to give public input for the legislative sunset review of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and the Texas Railroad Commission (TRC). These are two needed agencies which should be more active in regulating Texas industries to make sure our citizens have adequate environmental protection. Come out on Tuesday to make your Nacogdoches County voice heard!
3) For those of you in the Southwest Ward, run-off voting for the unexpired term is beginning. Early voting will take place at the Recreation Center (1112 North St.) each day this week from 8-5, as well Monday-Wednesday (Dec. 6-8) of next week from 8-5, and Thursday-Friday (Dec. 9-10) of next week from 7-7. Election day is Tuesday, December 14th and will take place at the Recreation Center from 7-7. David Norton and Mary Ann Derby are the candidates. While we do not endorse candidates in non-partisan elections, I encourage you to educate yourself on the candidates and ask fellow Democrats about their recommendations.
4) Former Congressman Tom Delay was recently convicted of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The conviction stemmed from Delay’s actions in illegally funneling $190,000 to Texas Republican candidates in 2002. While the verdict will be appealed, it was a good reminder that Texans expect our elected officials to follow the law, especially when it comes to clean and fair elections. You can see more here: http://www.statesman.com/news/texas/jury-convicts-tom-delay-in-money-laundering-trial-1072885.html?cxtype=rss_ece_frontpage
On a final note, one of our concerned Democrats penned an excellent letter-to-the-editor which has yet to be published in our Daily Sentinel. The letter is below. As usual, thanks for all of your efforts. I am confident that we can rebound strongly in the 2012 elections and that work begins now. Come help us close the 2010 chapter on Saturday (10AM at Headquarters) and let’s continue in our tireless quest to make out state Democratic blue!
Your Chairman,
Stephen Wright
stephen.wright15@gmail.com
Letter to the Editor, Nacogdoches Daily Sentinel
Re: Sentinel Article November 14, headlined “Christian Claims Win in Beach-front Battle”
State Representative Wayne Christian may not be so happy about his apparent win of extending his property onto the beach when the public discovers that his “win” likely means the loss of citizens’ rights of future access to the beaches of Texas. And ire toward the Texas Supreme Court’s ruling could well include the court.
The Open Beaches Act was originally passed by the Texas Legislature in 1959. The result of this act was that the state established the right of the state to file a lawsuit to
remove structures which “become seaward of the vegetation line as a result of natural processes such as shoreline erosion” [Tex. Nat. Res. Code, Sect. 61.065(a)]. The act further guaranteed the right of the public to access the beaches of Texas.
Christian obviously thinks that he should not have to obey our Open Beaches law because he is a private property owner, and he believes his private property trumps the state’s right to serve its citizens.
Unfortunately, the beaches of Texas are constantly changing. Most of the beaches are losing several feet a year because of wind, waves, and yes, hurricanes. The person who filed the lawsuit cited in the Sentinel article has property on West Galveston Island, which is losing approximately seven (7) feet per year of beach.
The real question is whether the state should abandon 200 years of history protecting the public’s right to access and use of our public beaches, or whether, as the current Supreme Court has ruled (in clear disregard of 200 years of case law), the private property should be allowed to “crawl” onto the beach and into the ocean as the beach erodes. This will allow a succession of “possessors” to own the beach as it erodes. This of course will “disown” the rights of the citizens of this state and of tourists to Texas to access and use the beaches. By the way, Texas beaches are estimated to bring in seven billion seven hundred million dollars ($7,700,000,000) per year to the economy of Texas, as reported by the Texas Shore and Beach Association.
The Houston Chronicle makes an interesting observation: that the case at issue here jeopardizes the public’s right to open beaches “recognized over the past 200 years, and threatens to embroil the state in beach-front litigation for the next 200 years”. Don’t I remember Representative Christian proudly taking credit for the passage of tort reform to limit lawsuits? Or was that tort reform only for lawsuits against moneyed interests, especially big corporations and big spenders that donated to his party?
In the past, sellers of property on or near the coastline in Texas have been required to include in the sales contract a “Disclosure Notice Concerning Legal and Economic Risks of Purchasing Coastal Real Property Near a Beach”. This notice specifically warns that “if you own a structure located on coastal real property near a gulf coast beach, it may come to be located on the public beach because of coastal erosion and storm events, and that owners of structures erected seaward of the vegetation line (or other applicable easement boundary) or that become seaward of the vegetation line as a result of natural processes such as shoreline erosion are subject to a lawsuit by the State of Texas to remove the structures”. The state’s rules also provide for payment to the person who loses the property through erosion of the beach. Christian had to sign off on this notice. If he was that worried about losing beachside property, he shouldn’t have bought it. Never mind that he would be reimbursed for loss. But perhaps Christian thinks he is too important to be limited by the history, laws and rules of Texas.
