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We continue to be hard at work here at Save Jones State Forest, and wanted to share a few updates with you. First, rumors online last night seem to indicate that Senator Creighton is changing course on SB1964. We hope the Senator has heard from the thousands of constituents who demands he pull Senate Bill 1964 and protect Jones State Forest from future development. To date he has yet to confirm with our organization any change in plans. We will stay vigilant until Senator Creighton publicly announces his intentions and kills SB1964 in its current form. Second, TAMU has responded to our request that they attend our community meeting this Sunday. Vice Chancellor Tommy Williams, who is our former State Senator, thanked us for the invitation. He noted that the intent of the legislation "was to open up for discussion the purpose of finding a higher and better education use for a small tract..." Well, apparently the State Senator... Ops, sorry... The Vice Chancellor does not count a community meeting with over 200 people from the area a place to have such an open discussion. No, Tommy Williams thinks the best place for such a discussion is to have it take place in Austin within the State Senate. Nothing like a built in home field advantage for a political insider who is a lobbyist for a school an hour away from where the impact would be felt.  Now it is more important than ever to join our community meeting this Sunday. Hundreds of local citizens will come out to let their voices be heard. Multiple media organization have already confirmed as have many other community groups and local officials.
Let your voice be heard.
3 Comments
TMG
4/7/2017 10:48:37 am
The vibe I get from the letter is that TAMU is not going to back down from their plans. In their mind, the land is not being used to its potential. TAMU is not in the business of conserving or protecting land and habitat.
HF
4/7/2017 03:41:24 pm
This discussion should include preparing to make these objections heard at any hearing the Senate Higher Education Committee schedules for the bill. That's where the "discussion" will take place.
Scott
4/7/2017 05:15:32 pm
Should be interesting to see how Creighton's original version of SB 1964 crawls from the slime and evolves through the Senate Committee to stand upright. It is worth noting that Brandon "The Developer" Creighton has one of the worst ratings in the Senate from Texas Environmentalists (25%). The committee chair has a good rating, at 65%. Other committee members range from 88% to 25%. We should remain vigilant. Leave a Reply. |