October 5 1012 Special San Angelo City Council Meeting

At the October 5 1012 Special San Angelo City Council Meeting, San Angelo Mayer New explained that the City of San Angelo needs to sell water in order to pay for the running of the water department and to pay for maintenance, upkeep and renewal of the water system’s infrastructure.

Stephen Brown, representing the San Angelo Weather Advisory Board advised against staying in drought level three saying that weather patterns are indicating we entering into an El Nino pattern which will bring our area wetter falls and springs.

Jerry Sea, a San Angelo citizen expressed the concern that the City of San Angelo needs to eradicate invasive plant species which are absorbing large amounts of water before the water can get to our reservoirs.

Another San Angelo resident suggesting returning to drought level 2 instead of drought level 1.

Pam Bladine, implied she spoke for the Chicken Farm Art Center by invoking it’s name. Ms. Bladine accused San Angelo residents who use well water of rubbing it other’s faces by having "well water" signs on their front lawns.

Ms. Bladine erroneously claimed that San Angelo residents who use well water are depleting water from the city’s water supply. Residents of San Angelo who have wells are obtaining water from an aquifer which is completely independent of San Angelo’s water supply.

Ms. Bladine erroneously stated that we live a desert, we do not live in a desert we live in a semi-arid climatic area. Ms. Bladine claimed California has raped the North Western United States by siphoning off water from that area. Facts are that other states such as Nevada have been involved in diverting water to areas which need the water rather than letting the water drain into the Pacific Ocean. Building aqueducts and canals just as the Romans and other civilizations have done.

San Angelo City Council Members Charlotte Farmer, Johnny Silvas and Fredd Adams claimed that most people in San Angelo want to stay in drought level 3 however they offered no proof to support their claim.

Council Member Paul Alexander earlier stated that he had conducted a "Facebook" Poll that showed the majority of respondents favored staying in drought level 3. Mr. Alexander has a reputation in the community of banning citizens who do not agree with him from his "public" Facebook site.

Mr. Alexander did stress that we need to protect businesses and jobs and favored returning to drought level 1.

Council Member Farmer expressed the concern that the San Angelo City Council should not be seen as financially gouging San Angelo citizens by staying in drought level 3. Ironically Ms. Farmer voted to stay in drought level 3 and only changed her vote after accepting that she did not want to face the consequences of defying the written law.

Council Member Farmer did emphasize that we still need to conserve our water supplies.

Through out the meeting City Attorney Lysia Bowling explained numerous times that city council members had no choice under present law but to return the city to drought level 1 since the San Angelo City Water Director had informed council that we now have over 22 months of water reserves. Council Members Charlotte Farmer, Johnny Silvas and Fredd Adams had a very hard time grasping this fact of law.

One observer pointed out: " This city council thinks they do not have to stop at a stop sign even though it is the law."

Now that three Social Democrats/Social Planners; San Angelo City Council Members Charlotte Farmer, Johnny Silvas and Fredd Adams have realized that they could not get their way under present law they have proclaimed they are smarter than previous city councils and that they know better than San Angelo’s citizens. They want to change the law to comply with their own personal opinions.

My opinion is that any change to the ordinance governing drought levels should be put before San Angelo voters in the form of a public referendum to prove the validity of claims made by Council Members Charlotte Farmer, Johnny Silvas, Fredd Adams and Paul Alexander that the citizens of San Angelo want to remain in drought level 3 when we have 22 months of water reserves available to us.

The "Old Farmers Almanac" predicted that we would get a substantial rain storm in September. So let us count our blessings and use the water which has been provided to us to sustain businesses, jobs, lawns, lawns, etc.

A real-estate agent will tell you a house’s value is determined by the square footage and the value of the other houses in the neighborhood. I believe the home buyer sees things differently. I would be less interested in a home with a dead lawn, trees and shrubs.