Texas is the state where Republican

and conservative politics predominate,

and it is the site of what could be the
bloodiest political battle between big
business and grassroots people. Te U.S.
Chamber of Commerce and the Texas
Future Business Alliance have made
their opposition to grass conservatives,
specifcally the Tea Party, very clear.
Te U.S. Chamber says they want no
more fools nominated for ofce by the
Republicans. Te fools they refer to
are Tea Party candidates. To back up
their stand, they have been using a $50
million bank account in eforts to defeat
Tea Party conservative candidates in the
primaries.
In Texas, Te Texas Future Business
Alliance has sent out mailers and pro-
vided support on behalf of GOP candi-
dates who support water infrastructure
development, highway construction and
education spending. In other words they
are businesses that live of of big govern-
ment projects.
One business insider has told the
Dallas Morning News, its part of the
same trend youre seeing nationally. A
lot of the business community is tired
of people who dont want to govern.
Te Business Alliances spokesman Da-
vid Polyansky, said the business alliance
aims to recognize leaders dedicated to
keeping Texas as the best state in the na-
tion for business development and job
growth.
What these business leaders con-
tinue to ignore, they need to grass-
roots conservative to win. Grassroots
conservative want less regulation and
greater market freedom which would
benefit business.
The election of Ted Cruz as U.S. Sen-
ator, couple with the recent primary
victory by Dan Patrick for Lieutenant
Governor, as well as the victories by
several Tea Party backed state senato-
rial candidates appears to have set the
stage of nasty platform fight in Fort
Worth at the GOP state convention this
week.
The battle over the Texas Solution
platform which the GOP Establishment
supports and the Tea Party opposes.
Grassroots Tea Party leaders view it the
Texas Solution as a cheap labor plat-
form masquerading as guest worker
program and Hispanic Outreach. They
accurately point out high unemploy-
ment and under-employment rate in
the U.S., the huge number people on
welfare, continued lack of border en-
forcement and punishment of em-
ployers who hire illegal aliens, and the
Obama administrations willingness to
play politics with federal immigration
laws.
So how will this battle play out? One
Latino restaurant owner in San Anto-
nio who claims to be a conservative Re-
publican, has already endorsed Leticia
Van De Putte, the Democrat candidate
for Lt. Governor because he dislikes
Patricks immigration position.
Its very curious to me how big busi-
ness can ally themselves with liberals
and big government. Their position
on cheap labor should not be surpris-
ing to grassroots conservatives. Busi-
ness groups have backed gay friendly
legislation, affirmative action, abortion
health care coverage, common core,
and always big spending items.
A perfect example is how last year
in May 2013, David Zachry, CEO of
the San Antonio-based construction
firm Zachry Corp. and big chamber
supporter, pressed state lawmakers,
including Leticia Van De Putte, to cir-
cumvent a bills limits on the construc-
tion of hotels in a redeveloped San An-
tonios HemisFair Park. The legislation
granted the city authority to reconfig-
ure public land, without seeking voter
approval.
I guess some business folks believe
government and business seem can
work best when they just ignore and
remove those messy little grassroots
people from the process.
Te wheels of government are reputed
to move rather slowly, and we all moan
and groan about it because things arent
happening fast enough to suit us.
Every now and then, however, those
wheels reach NASCAR speeds and
we moan and groan about it because its
happening too fast for us.
A case in point would be the recent
maneuvering by the City of Gonzales
and Gonzales Economic Development
Corp. to purchase Jon Harris old Tacti-
cal Paintball property near Harwood for
use as an industrial park.
Te details on how it all went down are
noted in our news story on the subject,
but heres a quick summary of events:
A locator company representing an-
other company which was looking to lo-
cate a facility somewhere in Texas (we as-
sume Central Texas) was directed by the
Governors Ofce on Economic Devel-
opment to Gonzales and, apparently,
several other municipalities. Te locator
informed Gonzales Economic Develop-
ment Corp. what kind of property it was
looking for, and that the company it was
representing required anonymity as a
condition of negotiations.
GEDC located that kind of property,
in the form of the old paintball range
a few miles outside city limits. GEDC
informed the locator, which then ex-
plained it had a specifc timeline associ-
ated with the project and that timeline
called for much faster action than the
GEDCs legal requirement of giving 60
days notice before purchasing property.
GEDC approached the City of Gon-
zales about the issue, because state law
gives the city the ability to purchase
property outside city limits for econom-
ic development with no notice whatso-
ever and under terms very favorable for
businesses such as the one in question.
GEDC proposed the city buy the prop-
erty, then GEDC would buy it from the
city in due course in accordance with its
60-day requirement.
City Council recognized that there is
only one economic presence in Gonzales
County along Interstate 10 that being
the Shell station just outside Waelder.
Even if the company in question did not
take the property, Council recognized
that eventually some business would,
and the property would no doubt con-
tribute to the citys revenues.
With the City on board, GEDC
authorized an ofer (incentivization of
Confdential Project AG-47) to the loca-
tor company to pass along to its client.
Tat ofer was not accepted; the details
of that ofer are thus exempt from public
disclosure.
Te City now owns the land, and
GEDC is in its 60-day process to pur-
chase it.
Everything involved in all of the ac-
tions are 100 percent above-board and
meet the letter of the law.
Like some others in the community,
my curiosity radar went of while cover-
ing the meetings during which the proj-
ect was discussed and approved.
Of particular curiosity was when the
GEDC board approved the incentiviza-
tion of Confdential Project AG-47,
because GEDCs recent history has been
to be very up-front about incentivization
deals: they want people to know busi-
ness is liking the climate here.
Unfortunately the confdential nature
of the request from the business locator
wasnt made as clear as it could have been
and we guys in the news media didnt
ask the right questions which could have
enabled an answer to help clear things
up before now.
Tats water under the bridge.
Property owners in the area sur-
rounding the land purchase certainly
have cause to be concerned. Te city has
said it has no plans to annex any other
areas to make the purchase contiguous
to current city limits but thats now.
Other ofers, other growth, could change
that.
Some have complained that there was
not enough opportunity for the public to
have input, that folks didnt have enough
information on what was going on to
come to an informed opinion on it.
Part of the quickness on the part of
some folks to question the transparency
of this all, no doubt, stems from the fact
that a prior city manager was known
for a lack of transparency, prone to do-
ing things on his own without seeking
Councils guidance (or, in some cases,
without telling them at all). From this
writers perspective, the local leaders
we have elected to make these decisions
have resolved that issue.
Tats part of the nature in operat-
ing as a republican form of govenrment
versus operating as a true democracy.
Sometimes, you just have to trust the
people youve elected to make the right
call.
The Cannon
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Page A4
In Our View
Big Business attacks Tea Party
In Our View
Time for a ban
on texting, driving
Sometimes, you have to trust those you elect
THE GONZALES CANNON (USPS 001-390)
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THE GONZALES CANNON
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
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Letters to the Editor
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2014
Dances with
Chihuahuas
Dave
Mundy
General
Manager
El Conservador
George Rodriguez is a San Antonio resident. He is the
former President of the San Antonio Tea Party, and
is now Executive Director of the South Texas Politi-
cal Alliance.
George
Rodriguez
You cannot legislate common sense any more
than you can legislate morality. The time has
come, however, to support legislation which will
at least raise awareness and, perhaps, help peo-
ple come to their senses.
Advances in communications technology con-
tinue to expand our ability to communicate with
others. Unfortunately, those advances have cre-
ated a monstrous danger on our roads and high-
ways.
There have been some attempts in the past to
introduce statewide legislation to ban the use of
cell phones and hand-held devices while driving.
It is time for the state Legislature and local gov-
ernments to seriously consider enacting such a
statute.
The Texas Department of Transportations latest
fgures indicate that one in four crashes involves
driver distraction. Drivers who use cell phones in
their vehicles have a higher risk of collision than
drivers who dont, whether holding the phone or
using a hands-free device.
State law does provide for such a prohibition
in school zones, and some municipalities around
Texas have enacted local ordinances prohibiting
cell phone/handheld device use while driving.
There is insufcient data to indicate whether
these local ordinances have had a major impact
on the habits of drivers, but at the very least they
have raised awareness of the danger of distracted
driving.
Several recent tragedies and near-tragedies lo-
cally have been linked directly to texting while
driving. Especially given the increase in trafc
volume in Gonzales and surrounding counties as-
sociated with heavy industrial equipment, it has
become vital for all drivers to give their full atten-
tion to the road.
This is especially crucial for younger and less-ex-
perienced drivers who are, unfortunately, the
people most likely to be using hand-held technol-
ogy while driving.
Even among very experienced drivers, it takes
only fractions of a second for a vehicle moving
at high speed to go of-course as a result of dis-
tracted driving.
Current state law targets those younger drivers:
Drivers with learners permits are prohibited from
using handheld cell phones in the frst six months
of driving, and drivers under the age of 18 are pro-
hibited from using any wireless communications
device.
Beyond enacting statutes, we urge readers to
take matters into their own hands as well. Do not
text or hold phone conversations with anyone you
know is driving. It can wait.
Drivers: we urge you to drive now and talk later.
If you must make a phone call, pull over and stop.
Otherwise, wait until you reach your destination
to use the phone.