At the March 10, 2016 City Council meeting the Council went into a closed session and forced audience members out of the cafeteria room where the meeting was being held. While outside the building, people chatted about various topics to pass the time. Included among them was Pedro Orduno, the Chairman of the Committee to […]
Tag Archives | CISO
City Loses $75,000 CDBG Grant
Mayor Micki Ball announced on February 11, 2016 that the City of Sandy Oaks lost a $75,000 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). According to Mayor Ball, HUD changed the guidelines on how they judge income levels. She told the City Council that an economic census was mailed out to the community and that not enough […]
Incorporation Paperwork Never Mentioned Waterwood
Sandy Oaks News has received copies of the official incorporation paperwork submitted to Bexar County by the Committee to Incorporate Sandy Oaks (CISO). An open records request was submitted to Bexar County on the behalf of Sandy Oaks News on January 19, 2016. The request was for all forms, documents, and maps included with the […]
History Repeats Itself After Ignoring Past Mistakes
History repeated itself in the 2015 general election when 4 City Council positions were filled without there ever being an election and without there ever being a campaign for office. Candidates didn’t even need to produce political platforms or state what they were running for. Alderman Places 1, 3, and 5 were up for reelection, […]
Art Martinez de Vara: The King Behind The Pawns
When it comes to politics and government in Sandy Oaks, look at who benefits the most to learn who the king is. On the chess board, the king lines up behind the pawns. A smart player makes sure the first few moves of the game ensures that the king remains behind the scenes as much […]
Keep The $180
People should at least consider the keeping of the $180 POA maintenance fee/assessment fee. I know this is an unpopular point of view, but please consider some reasons why: The Fee Now Goes to The WPPOA The primary argument people use against the Fee is that it has never gone into the community and has […]
City Council Accidentally Passes Retroactive Property Tax
Last night the Sandy Oaks City Council met for a budget hearing to discuss revenue and expenses. The meeting was less formal than a usual City Council meeting and allowed questions and comments from the audience. Mayor Jim Clement, whose job it is to create a budget, presented a budget that included over $300,000 in […]
City Council Thanks Committee to Incorporate Sandy Oaks
Last night the Sandy Oaks City Council voted in favor of of a resolution thanking the Committee to Incorporate Sandy Oaks (CISO), the group that pushed for the creation of the new city. On the issue of creating the city, Mayor Jim Clement stated “We worked hard to get this done. Its called perseverance!” But […]
How the Committee to Incorporate Sandy Oaks Misled the Community
Even though the election of the new City Council is over and there have been a few council meetings, people are still talking about the process of incorporation and the vote that took place last May. No conversation about the change can be complete without discussing the actions (and lack of actions) of the Committee […]
Sandy Oaks Vs Sandy Oaks: Explaining The Confusion
At the second town meeting for the residents of the City of Sandy Oaks to meet the candidates running for office, KSAT 12’s Myra Arthur interviewed people on the topic of whether or not the Committee to Incorporate Sandy Oaks (CISO) did a good enough job announcing the vote to incorporate. Arthur first interviewed Catherine […]
Orduno’s and Clement’s Secret Meeting
The Committee to Incorporate Sandy Oaks (CISO) worked for 3+ years to get the community of Waterwood and the surrounding area to be released from San Antonio’s ETJ and to incorporate into its own city. But the process of incorporation hardly involved the community and even now people are realizing that the “City of Sandy […]
Results of Small Town Politics
The very first City Council of Sandy Oaks, Texas was elected August 9, 2014. 2014 Candidates Political games started the same month that Sandy Oaks incorporated. The Committee to Incorporate Sandy Oaks had said at a public meeting before incorporation that they would announce the deadline for application for people to run for city office. […]
Candidates Host 2nd Meeting, SOPAC Does Not Attend
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 […]
Meet the Candidates Meeting
On July 8, 2014, a “Meet the Candidates” meeting was held in the Waterwood clubhouse. The event was organized by Jim Clement, the only candidate running for mayor. 23 people were present, including all the candidates running for alderman positions except for David Tremblay. Inside the clubhouse, chairs were arranged in a wide oval allowing […]
Dissecting SOPAC’s Proposed Revenue
In the meeting held at the Waterwood Clubhouse on July 8th, many items were discussed. One of the most important was that of revenue. Now that Waterwood and surrounding areas have incorporated into the City of Sandy Oaks, there needs to be revenue to pay for what the city needs. The entire point of having […]