People are now starting to call them the “Outsiders” because Micki Ball, Cathleen Recio, and David Tremblay are the only candidates outside of the Sandy Oaks Political Action Committee (SOPAC). On July 14, 2014, the three organized a 2nd meeting for the community for people to meet those running for city offices.
The divide between SOPAC and the Outsiders was apparent at the meeting because none of the SOPAC members showed up. Jim Clement, running for mayor, and Pedro Orduno, Joel Ortega, Dale Burmaster, Douglas Tomasini, and Earnest Gay, running for aldermen, did not attend. Recio claimed she reached out and invited them.
SOPAC members had good reason not to go to the meeting, as most people present focused less on the upcoming election and more on the incorporation vote last May. Many people are still just now learning that the Waterwood area has become a city.
“If I had known it was about us I would have gone and voted” said Bill Barker. “But I thought ‘vote to incorporate Sandy Oaks’ meant Sandy Oaks, not Waterwood.” Waterwood, which now comprises most of the City of Sandy Oaks, is 2.5 miles away from the community known as Sandy Oaks.
The lead group that pushed for incorporation was the Committee to Incorporate Sandy Oaks (CISO). It was lead by Pedro Orduno and Jim Clement, who also created SOPAC. But since they did not attend the meeting, they could not answer the outrage from the attendees.
What made the meeting worse was that it could not be held in the Waterwood clubhouse because the clubhouse was not officially rented ahead of time. Instead, candidates and attendees had to stand outside in the Texas heat while trying to find common ground. This made tempers flare even more.
The meeting started off with people not just demanding answers, but yelling in frustration that they had been incorporated into a city. Much of the early discussion was ruined by the yelling, but as the more outspoken began to tire out, others were able to make their voices heard.
Candidate David Tremblay began going up to people to talk to them one on one. At one point he said “Whatever happens, we need to take responsibility and do what we can.”
As more common ground was found, members of the audience began speaking to the group about how they felt that the Waterwood Property Owner’s Association (WPPOA) had fallen into disfavor. Most of the concern was about how the 2 key leaders of the WPPOA, Jim Clement and Pedro Orduno, were now running for city office.
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