Am I the only one who's noticed some really rotten moves by some wealthy business people and corporations? They're using our government's power to manipulate laws and rulings to make them richer... and the rest of us poorer! We need to join forces to stop these illegal activities!
I've noticed three such manipulations this past year. Supposedly trustworthy representatives -- elected officials and board members -- are sneaking past our protective laws and leaving The People open to exploitation. These heartless charlatans originally promised to protect our interests... but we're learning that many have sold citizen's-interests to the highest bidders.
I will be sharing information from wonderful people who DO care about ALL of the people and have dedicated a large part of their lives to exposing these criminals to the light of day.
In my January 19, 2016 blog, "Does This Sound Un-American To You?," I wrote about fake Municipal Utility Districts (MUDs) which claim they have the right of imminent domain over neighboring lands. The guilty ones I exposed are rich developers who buy a large ranch, over-build the area, then pretend they are a city with the right of eminent domain to steal neighboring lands and the right to tax the entire real city or county to build sewage plants, roads, and whatever else they can squeeze out of the innocent population for their subdivision.
I'm also working with an expert on water safety to expose secret area-water-practices that are harming citizens of Comal County, Texas, and other areas.
Today I will share information about a private business which is sneaking around, trying to use TxDot's right of eminent domain condemnation to build a private toll road so it can charge The People to use a road on their stolen land. Terri Hall is the super-crusader whose warning I will share today. I've been a member of her group for several years, and this woman is good at what she does. She finds the facts and shares them so others can help her stop illegal behavior.
This article appeared on the front page of the July 6, 2016 issue of Canyon Lake Week. Hall is warning the public of yet another attempt at an end-run around our protective laws.
Private Toll Road in Cibolo? Public Input Needed.
He's baaaack...
Crew's private toll company seeks toll road into San AntonioBlacklands toll road operator strikes again in Cibolo!
John Crew, President of Public Werks, Inc., seeking to build a private toll road through Cibolo, TX In recent days, the Alamo city has caught wind of John Crew and his Public Werks, Inc. private toll road company's plans to build a connector from FM 1103 to I-10. Our supporters remember Crew as the guy Texans chased out of East Dallas when he tried to build the Blacklands Tollway from Garland to Greenville. His company had the power of eminent domain then. We stripped it from him last session, but he's back to do some more damage - this time to Cibolo, Texas.Cibolo is a suburb of San Antonio. Congestion-weary commuters sometimes experience 45-minute commutes just to get to the nearby interstate. But rather than make TxDOT do its job and address congestion with our tax dollars, the residents of Cibolo will lose their land to a private, for-profit toll company. While Crew's company cannot directly take the land using eminent domain, he's allowed to have TxDOT do his dirty work for him.
It's still eminent domain for private gain and Texans should NOT tolerate it!
Just as with the Blacklands project, Crew promises he won't use eminent domain, that he'll only resort to that if there are holdouts. Well, guess what? He can remove those obstacles with the mere threat of eminent domain. The way these private firms operate is to give landowners a lowball offer and tell them either accept it or TxDOT will take it using eminent domain and pay you even less! It's real easy to get landowners to sign settlement agreements when you have access to the governmental power to forcibly take someone's land for your own personal profits!
Taxpayers are on the hook for the losses
Just as he did in East Dallas, Crew is also promising the Cibolo City Council that no public money is involved. We're to believe that he and his investors are willing to risk $110-$150 million of their own money for a toll road that basically only serves residents of a small Texas city, and yet there's not one toll project in all of San Antonio that was found to be financially feasible. Something doesn't smell right.Most won't pay the toll except during peak hours and it could devalue residents' property values if the only practical way in and out of the city to jobs in San Antonio will cost them hundreds of dollars every month in tolls.
As open records requests with the Blacklands project revealed, Crew sought a federal taxpayer-backed TIFIA loan and low-interest, tax-exempt bonds, which is also backed by the taxpayer. So we can't trust what he says! He lies!
ACTION ITEM
Every resident of Cibolo needs to tell their Mayor and City Council NO WAY to this private toll road, and FAST! The best way to stop it is to nip it in the bud before Crew secures an agreement with TxDOT and wins a vote of approval at the MPO.Contact the Cibolo City Council here.
They need to hear from the opposition loud and clear that residents DO NOT want this private toll project, they want TxDOT to use some of the $5 billion in new money voters gave them address congestion without new taxes and fees!
MOBILIZE RESIDENTS/LANDOWNERS
If you live in Cibolo and want our help organizing opposition to this project, please contact me
ASAP! The residents impacted by John Crew's Blacklands tollway chased him out of their towns,
so can YOU!"
I don't live in Cibola, but I drive to San Antonio through that area, so I emailed a comment to the City Council this morning: "PRIVATE TOLL ROADS ARE ABSURD! Please fight for your citizens and other Texans. Allowing a business to build a private toll road to help make some rich person or corporation richer on the backs of workers from your town and surrounding area is a rotten idea! These roads are BAD for Texas! We approved a huge highway bond to keep carpetbaggers from coming in and to steal from Texans. Please protect your citizens and others who drive to SA regularly by refusing to approve a private toll road."
I urge others to write as well. The only way we can fight these rotten profit-mongers is to work together for all of The People.
Texans Together for All!!!