March 29, 2012 – Committee to Incorporate Sandy Oaks (CISO) files paperwork with San Antonio regarding the possible release of their ETJ for a 9 square mile area for incorporation. CISO presented a petition of 50 signatures, only 1% of the population in question.
August 2013 – San Antonio denies 9 square miles. CISO requests 4 square miles. San Antonio eventually suggests 2.4 square miles.
August 28, 2013 – Jim Clement tells Express News that incorporating at 2.4 would not give enough commercial revenue for Sandy Oaks to survive.
Nov 21, 2013 – San Antonio denies CISO’s final request to incorporate at 4 square miles and instead offers 2.4 square miles with virtually no commerce. Pedro Orduno tells Express News reporter Eva Ruth Moravec “We’re no fools. We need a commercial tax base.” Moravec reported “He added that the committee wouldn’t seek to incorporate at 2.4 square miles because, without a commercial tax base, the city wouldn’t be economically viable.”
Nov 22, 2013 – Art Martinez de Vara tells Texas Public Radio that residential prices would be “astronomically high” and that incorporating at 2.4 square miles is not feasible.
January 27, 2014 – CISO submits paperwork to Judge Nelson Wolff, to call a vote for incorporation.
April 16, 2014 – CISO mails out postcards to only registered voters about a meeting to discuss incorporation.
April 24, 2014 – CISO holds a public meeting in the WPPOA clubhouse and explains the process of incorporation. CISO also explains what will happen if incorporation goes through, including that CISO would announce the deadline to run for office of Mayor and Aldermen.
April 28, 2014 – Early voting begins, 4 days after CISO’s announcement meeting.
May 10, 2014 – Incorporation vote brings 128 people, less than 11% of the registered voters and less than 4 % of the population. 96 vote in favor, 32 against. City of Sandy Oaks, Texas is created.
First City Election
May 27, 2014 – CISO/SOPAC holds a private meeting in the WPPOA clubhouse where Jim Clement, Pedro Orduno, Earnest Gay, Douglas Tomasini, Joel Ortega and Dale Burmaster all announce their plan to run for office. SOPAC treasurer Charlotte Rabe mentions “If no one else runs, we won’t even have an election.”
June 26, 2014 – Deadline to file to run for city council. CISO Does not announce the deadline to the public as it had promised. David Trembley, Cathleen Recio, and Micki Ball also file to run for aldermen positions.
June 29, 2014 – Jim Clement sets up a meeting for all candidates at the WPPOA clubhouse for July 1, 2014.
July 1, 2014 – Jim Clement cancels meeting and instead announces meeting for July 8. Tremblay, Ball, and Recio meet anyway.
July 8, 2014 – CISO/SOPAC forms a “Meet the candidates for City Council & Mayor” at the WPPOA Clubhouse. 23 people attend. Art Martinez de Vara presents a possible budget based on numbers he and the CISO gathered before incorporation. When asked why the deadline to run for office wasn’t announce, Jim Clement, Vice Chair of CISO and running unopposed for mayor, replied “Why should we have announced it? It’s people’s own responsibility to know.”
July 9, 2014 – Bexar County Commissioner Chico Rodriguez hosts a meeting for candidates to discuss future CDBG grant. Jim Clement, Pedro Orduno, Earnest Gay, Douglas Tomasini, Joel Ortega, and Dale Burmaster (all SOPAC members) all fail to attend.
July 9, 2014 – Sandy Oaks News is created, the official first source of news in Sandy Oaks, Texas.
July 14, 2014 – A second Town-Hall meeting is organized by candidates. Although invited, Jim Clement, Pedro Orduno, Earnest Gay, Douglas Tomasini, Joel Ortega, and Dale Burmaster (all SOPAC members) do not bother to attend.
July 22, 2014 – A third Town-Hall meeting is organized by candidates with 85 people in attendance. Although invited, Jim Clement, Pedro Orduno, Earnest Gay, Douglas Tomasini, Joel Ortega, and Dale Burmaster (all SOPAC members) do not bother to attend.
July 28, 2014 – Pedro Orduno files a Texas Ethics’ Complaint against Cathleen Recio for improper campaign signage. Pedro finally takes down “Vote for Incorporation” signs that have been up illegally for 2 months.
July 29, 2014 – A newspaper called “Sandy Oaks Chronicle” is distributed in Sandy Oaks. It includes a 2 page spread of a “voter’s guide” that purposely includes only SOPAC candidates and lies about reaching out to the others. The newspaper is edited by Emmanuel Delfin and written by Art Martinez de Vara and Pedro Orduno.
August 9, 2014 – 227 people turn out to vote in city council election, 15.9% of the registered voters. Jim Clement, running unopposed, takes only 144 votes (63%). David Tremblay 128, Earnest Gay 122, Douglas Tomasini 118, Joel Ortega 118, and Micki Ball 114.
Last Half of 2014
August 16, 2014 – First City Council meeting. Art Martinez de Vara is hired as City Attorney. City Council creates a vote that will result in an illegal amount of sales taxes.
August 28, 2014 – Second CC meeting.
September 11, 2014 – Third CC meeting.
September 18, 2014 – Jim Clement and Art Martinez De Vara present a budget with a .38 retroactive property tax. City Council accidentally passes it, but then reverses the decision. Clement admits that Martinez de Vara created the budget that would have given Martinez de Vara $36,000 a year and would have taxed the community retroactively back to January 2014.
September 22, 2014 – Jim Clement lies to Jim Forsyth of WOAI, saying that he pushed for a zero cent property tax.
October 2014 – Emanuel Delfin continues to spread disinformation in a newly named newspaper called “Sandy Oaks Gazette.”
October 6, 2014 – Special meeting called to discuss holdover-services with Bexar County. Alderman Micki Ball takes the responsibility of a committee.
October 9, 2014 – 4rth CC
November 4, 2014 – 298 people participate in 3 different votes for sales tax. All 3 pass with 51-65% in favor. The tax creates more sales tax than what is allowed by state law. Mayor Clement is caught outside the polling location lying to voters.
November 13, 2014 – 5th CC: Charlotte Rabe is approved by City Council to be City Clerk on a volunteer basis.
December 11, 2014 – 6th CC: City Council informed that citizens in the community are banned from accessing the Waterwood clubhouse, the same location as City Council meetings.
December 29, 2014 – Jim Clement, as president of WPPOA, sends out an illegal ballot to Waterwood home owners for a vote in January to amend bylaws. The letter states that anyone who does not participated is counted as a “Yes” vote.
First part of 2015
January 8, 2015 – Earnest Gay gives a speech to the Texas Public Policy Foundation; lies about city actions, defends how the city was created, insults the people upset about the creation of the city
January 15, 2015 – WPPOA meeting ends in shouting as home owners express angers. The meeting closes without taking an official vote on the new bylaws and with Clement saying a new meeting would be held later.
February 12, 2015 – Every Member of the City Council is handed an Open Records Request asking how much the city is in debt. No one responds to the request, violating the Public Information Act.
February 26, 2015 – City Council meets to fix the illegal amount of sales taxes. Members claim the city doesn’t own any streets and the Council eliminates the street maintenance tax, disregarding what citizens voted for.
March 4, 2015 – WPPOA board members are given official request to view POA documents. Request is ignored, violating state law.
March 7, 2015 – Aldermen Micki Ball and David Tremblay meet with citizens at the Waterwood Park Clubhouse. Ball refuses to say what the City Attorney Art Martinez de Vara is being paid with public funds saying it is against the law to disclose the information. She also refuses to show evidence of the law, stating that people should “do their own research.”
March 28, 2015 – City Council holds an animal control “hearing”, although Mayor Clement was told to schedule an Animal Control Workshop and a Fireworks Hearing. The hearing to discuss the sale of fireworks was disregarded and forgotten. Besides the 5 Council members who attended, only 6 people showed up to the meeting and no one from the Council advertised the meeting to the community.
April 9, 2015 – Wilson County News becomes the newspaper of record.
April 9, 2015 – City Council accepts agreement with WPPOA to use the WPPOA clubhouse.
April 9, 2015 – Mayor Clement attempts to nominate Art Martinez de Vara to be the City Attorney under a more permanent contract. SOPAC members Tomasini and Gay approve the nomination, but Ball and Tremblay vote against it. Clement refuses to break the tie.
April 27, 2015 – City Council meets to hear Mayor Clement’s nomination for City Attorney. Clement nominates only Martinez de Vara and the Council votes against it. Kassahn and Ortiz law firm is nominated by an Alderman and chosen to be the new City Attorney/s
May 6, 2015 – Good Neighbors, a community group not associated with the city or with the WPPOA, holds its first meeting. The meeting was organized by Catherine Rendahl and BJ Gillespie.
May 14, 2015 – City creates tax exemptions for elderly and disabled.
May 14, 2015 – City Council violates TOMA when Mayor Clement invites a representative from an engineering company to speak to the Council without placing the topic on the agenda. Clement attempts to hide the mistake by having the man speak in the “Citizens to Be Heard” segment, but gives the man more time to speak. Alderman David Tremblay and Alderman Earnest Gay hold a conversation with the representative.
2015 with Earnest Gay in charge
June 11, 2015 – Although the city never did a background check which was required by ordinance, the City Council swears in Jesse Gutierrez as City Marshal.
June 11, 2015 – City Council violates TOMA by taking action on having the City Attorney to draft paperwork for the hiring of Linebarger, Goggan, Blair, & Sampson LLP law firm even though the item is not on the agenda.
July 9, 2015 – Jim Clement resigns as Mayor. City Council decides to allow Mayor Pro Tempore Earnest Gay to lead Council meetings until the November 2015 election for a new mayor.
July 9, 2015 – Earnest Gay announces for Jim Clement that the TCEQ is requiring Clement/WPPOA to get a sample from the barrels of oil found buried in the park.
August 13, 2015 – City Council begins holding meetings 8 miles outside the city limits at the Braunig Lake RV Resort. Possible TOMA violation.
August 13, 2015 – City Council discusses a CAFR audit, an item not on the agenda. TOMA violation.
August 13, 2015 – Alderman Joel Ortega stops showing up to City Council meetings.
August 13, 2015 – City Attorney Kassahn is tasked with finding out who owns the roads.
August 20, 2015 – BJ Gillespie (who becomes Alderman in November) and Alderman Ball attack people for contacting the City Marshal, Jesse Gutierrez, through a letter instead of going through his wife, a non-city employee and friend to Ball and Gillespie.
September 2, 2015 -The City Council violates TOMA by holding a Budget Hearing 8 miles outside of city limits and by moving the location of the meeting to a different building without any notice. The Budget violates Texas law by not having a cover letter, lacking legal language, not having the correct font, not listing outstanding obligations, and other requirements.
September 2, 2015 – City Council cancels the November 2015 election because Ball is running unopposed for mayor and only 3 people are running for 3 alderman seats. Somehow no 2 people are running for the same exact alderman place.
September 10, 2015 – In a public meeting, BJ Gillespie, a candidate for public office, uses violence in an attempt to intimidate someone she doesn’t like.
October 8, 2015 – Heather Leal, wife to the City Marshal, suggests burning down people’s properties at a City Council meeting.
November 12, 2015 – City Council agrees to a contract with Tiger Sanitation for 5 years of exclusive rights to provide trash collection service within the city.
December 15, 2015 – City approves an agreement for the City of Elmendorf to collect captured animals and transport them to Selma.
December 15, 2015 – City bans the sale and storage of fireworks
December 15, 2015 – Jim Clement, still claiming to be president of the WPPOA, threatens to send out another maintenance fee bill to the residents of the Waterwood Subdivision.
Early 2016
January 14, 2016 – Micki Ball swears in Melissa Matehuala as an Alderman without being elected or without being approved by the City Council. Previously the Council had asked for applications from people who wanted the position and Charles Fillinger was the only applicant, but Mayor Ball said his application wasn’t notarized, a requirement that did not exist.
January 14, 2016 – City Council bans the riding of livestock at night because Alderman David Tremblay says people with stereos ride past his house at night.
January 14, 2016 – City Council takes on WPPOA’s CPS bills, violating Texas Local Government Code Chapter 102 because the item was outside the city budget.
January 14, 2016 – City Council, including Aldermen David Tremblay and Douglas Tomasini and Mayor Micki Ball, violates TOMA by discussing the transfer of police vehicles, an item not on the agenda.
February 11, 2016 – City Council bans the shooting of firearms because Alderman David Tremblay claimed he heard people firing automatic weapons on New Years Eve.
February 11, 2016 – Mayor Ball tells the City Council that the city lost the CDBG grant because Bexar County conducted a study that found that only 36% of the community lives below the poverty level.
February 11, 2016 – Mayor Ball uses a public City Council meeting to slander a citizen in a character assassination attempt. She falsely accuses Cathleen Recio of claiming to be a board member and/or City Council member. Possible TOMA violation as item was not on agenda.
March 3, 2016 – First formal communication from the City Government to citizens is sent out in the form of a 2 page newsletter.
March 10, 2016 – City Council holds meeting without announcing the place of the meeting; violates TOMA
March 10, 2016 – City Council conducts a closed session, forcing all audience members out of the room. Mayor Ball then asks City Marshal Jesse Gutierrez to attend the private meeting, though Gutierrez later states he wasn’t sure why they asked him in because he wasn’t needed. The Marshal’s wife, Heather Leal, then goes into the private meeting for a 5 minute period and discusses with City Council members. TOMA violations.
March 10, 2016 – City Council convenes a closed session without first announcing the closed session in a meeting open to the public; violates TOMA.
March 10, 2016 – City Council accepts WPPOA’s illegal offer of transferring the WPPOA park land and assets to the city.
March 19, 2016 – Tiger Sanitation conducts first bulk pickup as part of the new contract with the city, but skips over a large amount of customers. Mayor Ball blames citizens for not being customers or for not being current on payments and attacks people on social media for being upset about the poor service.
March 30, 2016 – City Council holds meeting without announcing the place of the meeting; violates TOMA
March 30, 2016 – Community Book Exchange has its last exchange before shutting down due to lack of involvement. Most books are then taken to an Elmendorf library or donated to the Salvation Army.
April 1, 2016 – City Council violates Texas state law (LGC ch 103) by not having an audit conducted and on file within 180 days of the end of the previous fiscal year.
April 13, 2016 – City Council holds meeting without announcing the place of the meeting; violates TOMA
April 13, 2016 – City Council cancels its regular meeting scheduled for April 14th and instead has a meeting on the 13th. Mayor Ball includes typical items on the agenda such as a “Consent Agenda”, but purposely leaves off the “Citizens to Be Heard” portion that is required to be on the agenda of regular meetings. Audience members express frustrations and Ball calls the Bexar County Sheriff’s Department to bring in a deputy to silence people. City Marshal Jesse Gutierrez, while in civilian dress and without showing a badge, threatens to arrest a woman for speaking and even holds handcuffs in her face.