You are currently browsing the monthly archive for October, 2008.
for a complete set of pictures, please visit our Photobucket site: 2008 UHS Homecoming
• by Juan O. Sanchez
La Voz has obtained a third list containing more information on the transfer of water from Uvalde permits to entities in and around San Antonio.The list contains 144 permits showing water transfers as water is sold from previous owners to individuals, water speculators, or water systems such as San Antonio Water System (SAWS). The list also shows the amount sold by from individual permits.
As noted by the list, there are various individuals, water speculators, and entities that are very active in the purchase and sale of water.
For instance, R.B. Willoughby is involved in 23 transactions either buying or selling water; SAWS is involved in 46 transactions; Jason Garrett is involved in 14 transactions; Aqua Capital Management LP is involved in 11 transactions; S.A. Real Estate LLLP is involved in 10 transactions; Gregory M. Saathoff and wife Jean Saathhoff are involved in seven transactions; and Laguna Water LTD II is involved in five transactions. These transactions account for 116 of the 144 permits on the list.
According to the document, the total amount of water sold and transferred from Uvalde permits to San Antonio and surrounding communities and entities is 22,179.435 acre feet. This is slightly higher than the 21,872.504 cited in the previous issue due to the fact that the previous list was obtained earlier in the year, while the current list was obtained last week.
An aspect of the water issue that was incorrectly reported in the last edition of La Voz was that the water had only been sold but not transferred due to a lack of a water pipeline. After visiting with an individual knowledgeable in water permit issues, what became clear is that the water has in fact been sold and transferred.
The sale, in effect, allows the entities located in the eastern part of the Edwards Aquifer to pump out the water. Due to the water level in the eastern part of the aquifer being typically lower, the amount pumped is limited by the flow of the streams under protection by the Endangered Species Act. Thus, water restrictions associated with drought management play a part in the total water pumped in the eastern part of the aquifer.
However, as La Voz has pointed out, the issue of water speculation is driven by avarice, and it is this voracity that may eventually have an effect on the amount of water that is allowed to be transferred, and thus pumped out in the eastern part of the aquifer.
As was previously pointed out in the previous edition, the money to be made through the sale of water may eventually fuel the lobbyists on behalf of water speculators.
Two things may occur: First, the possibility of enough pressure being placed on the legislature to change the law and allow for the building of a water pipeline to physically transfer the water. The second scenario, which may be more likely, would once again involve lobbyists pressuring the legislature, but the objective would be to change the amount of water that must stay with the land.
Currently, one-half of the water must stay with the land, but pressure may be brought to bear to change the percent from 50:50 to 60:40, or even 75:25. In other words instead of the required one to one acre-foot, the legislature may be pressured to change this to ¾ acre-foot staying with the land and 1¼ acre-foot being allowed to be transferred. Alternatively, it could be change to half an acre-foot staying with the land and 1½ acre-feet being allowed to be transferred.
Whatever the scenario, the possibility of either occurring is a very real threat, driven by avarice of landowners and the ignorance and/or apathy of the public.
- Novelist Bowie Ibarra works on a draft of his latest book.
• by Louie Neira
Uvalde native and author Bowie V. Ibarra is putting together a clothing line to coincide with the release of his Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) themed book, “Pit Fighters: Baptism by Fire“. The book takes place in and around south and central Texas, including the mythical town of “San Uvalde”.
My name is Gilbert Martinez I live at La Quinta Apartments. I am an ex-Union Pacific Rail Road Conductor. I am a disabled veteran.
On Aug. 15, 2008 on the Day of the Assumption of our Mother Mary, I celebrated my twenty-first anniversary as a third order Franciscan.
Approximately two years ago (Nov. 2006), I started to rent at “said” apartments. I soon found out that the apartment where I was living, had several things wrong with it: namely, the A/C was not working at all the electric stove that was provided had four burners of which only one was working!
The toilet that was provided did not flush properly, the water did not come out of the rim as to flush the toilet and completely rinse the bowl. I literally had to stand over the toilet and with the toilet brush; I would push the toilet paper down toward the middle of the toilet to completely rinse the bowl out.
I filed a complaint to Ms. Lupe Flores (the apartment manager) as soon as I found out about the problems. She then waited several months to fix the A/C because Ms. Flores stated that there was a lack of funds to fix everyone’s A/C or to repair any other items broken at this time.
She still has not fixed the other items that I had requested to be fixed and she either forgotten or does not care to fix them. About one year later, the A/C did not work again and I brought it to her attention. It had been hot, so I went to the custodian’s house and asked him if he knew that my A/C was out.
His mother, who lives with him, answered the door. I asked for him and when he came to the door I asked, “Did you know my A/C is not working? He said, “No, I was not told about it and for your information, I can’t look at your A/C until Ms. Flores gives me a work order without it my hands are tied.” Mr. Allen was very polite and I left both of them at the doorway.
The very next day Mr. Allen told Ms. Flores that I had been to his apartment twice, pounding at his door and threatened to call a lawyer and that I was verbally yelling at him. This is not true. This did not happen and is a bunch of lies.
On May 20, 2008, around 9am, I called Southwest Housing Compliance and complained to them that my apartment needed repairs. I talked to Maria Briseno and she told me to call Legal Aid. I went to the nearest Legal Aid office and told them about the conditions here at the apartments.
The Southwest Housing Compliance notified Ms. Flores that I would be filing a complaint. By the time I got home later that day around 6:30pm, inside my apartment on the sofa was an envelope with all the complaints.
On May 21 Ms. Flores said she was angry at me and she had made several complaints, one of which she stated that my apartment did not pass inspection back in April of this year. I’m assuming the reason she waited a month to tell me was that she was angry and wanted a reason to evict me.
On May 27, she inspected only my apartment in retaliation. In the year and a half of renting, I have always passed inspection. I have to hire someone to clean because I cannot do it by myself. That month was the only month I did not pass inspection. I’m assuming the apartment didn’t pass inspection is because she was upset with me.
She sent the custodian to check the A/C unit. Three days later, she had to install a capacitor in the unit, for it to work. I again asked them to fix the problems that had not been fixed since I had started renting. Three days later on May 25, she fixed the burners and the toilet – which was almost two years later!
I asked several tenants if they were being treated as I was or did they have any things that needed to be fixed. After talking to several tenants, they too explained to me that they had several repairs needed in their apartment, but were afraid to ask to get them fixed. They were afraid they would be evicted from their apartments.
After talking to the tenants, I washed my clothes at the laundry mat. To my amazement Ms. Lupe Flores and her two custodians walked in, confronted me, and said, “Why do you hate me so much?” I told her, “I don’t hate you. If you would just fix things in a timely manner, it would be a better place. But you don’t.”
She then told me “If you don’t like it here, there are no locks to exit the apartments.”
I asked her, “Are you asking me to leave?” Her response was, “No”. They left me, but I feel she is using intimidation tactics to try to get rid of me.
On Sept. 14, I paid my neighbors $20 to clean my apartment in preparation for the inspection scheduled for Sept. 16. They set the chairs on top of my kitchen table so they could sweep and mop the floor. Later that evening on the night of the 14th, when the floors were dry I sat the chairs on the floor.
On the night of the 15th, I was tiding up the table when I noticed dirt on the floor behind the table, I moved the chairs from the table and I saw dirt under the table and chair legs. The next day, a witness told me he saw the maintenance man coming down the ramp from my apartment the day before. I assume someone who has keys went in my apartment and threw dirt in my kitchen so that I would fail the inspection. Just another tactic to make me look like a bad tenant.
On Sept. 19, Mr. Allen left a note in my apartment door while I was in my next-door neighbor’s apartment. When I saw him coming down the ramp I asked him, “Are you looking for me?” He did not talk to me, he just pointed to the door for me to look at the note. On Sept. 22, Mr. Allen gave me another note to see Ms. Flores at the office.
She stated that Mr. Allen had stated that I had asked him, “What the hell are you doing in my apartment?” I told Ms. Flores that statement was not true. She then told me that she had ten or eleven violations against me. I responded, “Put them in writing.”
She responded, “Are you threatening me? When she said that statement, I knew she was up to something. So, I told her again to put them in writing and I walked out of her office. As I was walking out she yelled at me, “Come back here I’m not done talking to you.”
I looked for a friend to come back with me so that we could see all the violations that were against me. Upon our arrival the police were there, taking Ms. Flores reports that I had threatened her. At that point, she told me that she would be giving me an eviction notice and that she would not take my rent money either.
At this time, I have been threatened with many false allegations in an attempt to keep me quiet and out of the way in order to continue to take advantage of people who won’t speak out against their scandalous actions.
I am saying this to seek justice not only on my behalf, but for the other residents of La Quinta Apartments who are afraid to speak up. While I can’t speak for them, I know they have also endured several incidents of negligence similar to my own while living at the apartments.
I will now be looking into contacting the Better Business Bureau, HUD, and any other agency and/or organization that will help me correct this situation.
The residents at the apartments fear they will be evicted if they make waves. I, however, have nothing to lose and I will stand up for what is right against people who would seek to take advantage of those in similar situations.
Gilbert Martinez
Uvalde
To the Editor,
I agree with most of the comments made by Juan Sanchez in the Oct 11 issue of La Voz. I completely agree with his assessment of the job, or the lack of doing the job, by the County Chair. To do absolutely nothing to aid the candidates for all offices on the ballot is inexcusable. Read the rest of this entry »
ANYONE FOR DOMINOES?
If you like playing dominoes, be very careful.
Play the game as simple as possible without WISHING for any special favors. You might get your wish and then wish you had never started the game. Take our present financial fiasco as an example. Read the rest of this entry »
• by Juan Sanchez
Based on water permit lists obtained earlier this year, there has been an extensive amount of Uvalde County water from the Edwards Aquifer sold to San Antonio.
Obtained were two lists; one showing Uvalde Co. irrigation permits, and the second a list of transfers of groundwater withdrawal rights from Uvalde Co. (2000 to present).
Read the rest of this entry »
• by Tonia Ollerton
The Apache tell a story about Coyote and the Bluebirds. Coyote admired the lovely blue that they are and wanted to be blue himself. He asked the Bluebirds how they came to be that way and they said they had a dance and ritual they performed to make themselves blue. Coyote asked them to teach him so he could be blue. The bluebirds laughed and said no. Read the rest of this entry »
The Failure of the Uvalde Co. Demo. Chair
October 14, 2008 in Commentaries | Tags: John Dodson | Leave a comment
• by Juan Sanchez
I have begun to believe that Uvalde County Democratic Chair, Pat Dodson, is secretly working for the Republican Party. Read the rest of this entry »