After almost 2 years in existence, the City Council has sent its first formal communication to the residents of Sandy Oaks. On February 11, 2016 the City Council approved the creation and mailing of a newsletter to be sent to property owners in Sandy Oaks. The newsletter was delivered on March 3, 2016. The idea […]
The following transcript is taken from the October 8, 2015 meeting. That meeting included an opportunity for citizens to tell the City Council what they thought about contracting with a single trash collection service that would not allow any other trash companies offer services within the City of Sandy Oaks. The transcript is of the […]
On October 8, 2015, the City Council decided to contract with a trash collection service and to allow only that service to collect trash within the City of Sandy Oaks. The decision follows a “Community Meeting” on September 26th where different contract proposals were discussed Alderman Earnest Gay gave a summary of the fees and […]
The City Council has cancelled the election planned for November 3, 2015. The election was for 3 different Alderman positions and a replacement for the position of Mayor. The following 3 Alderman Places were up for reelection: Alderman Place 1: David Tremblay Alderman Place 3: Joel Ortega Alderman Place 5: Earnest D. Gay Related: November […]
For the first time since September of 2014, the City Council is going to look at a budget for the city. The only reason they’re doing so is because they are legally required to and because they plan on creating a new property tax that is going to nearly double what Sandy Oaks residents are […]
At a meeting on June 11, 2016 the City Council received an update on the CDBG process by Alma Perez, a Community and Housing Development Manager. Perez was invited by Alderman Doug Tomasini. She handed out a power point presentation and a timeline of the process for the city to get a Community Development Block […]
The Sandy Oaks City Council violated the Texas Open Meetings Act again at its regularly scheduled meeting May 14, 2015. The Council discussed a topic that was not posted on the meeting’s agenda, a requirement by state law to give citizens the opportunity to know in advance what is to be discussed. The violation occurred […]
March 21, 2015 the City Council met for a special meeting after having cancelled the meeting it had planned for Thursday, March 19th. The 12th item on the agenda was to “Discuss and consider a proposal from the WPPOA on the transfer of assets of the WPPOA to the City Of Sandy Oaks, Texas.” The […]
On February 26, 2014 the City Council met to fix the tax debacle they created when they created an illegal amount of sales taxes. The issue was that the city could only create up to 1.5% in sales taxes and instead created 1.75%. The only reason it was 1.75% and not 2% is because someone […]
We live in a democratic republic, a special form of government that allows citizens to democratically elect representatives to represent. When these representatives make decisions in government, they do so not just for themselves, but for the people who placed them into office. Secretly changing a decision that a democratically elected group changes i the […]
At the City Council meeting on February 12, 2015, the City Council was handed an Open Records Request from Don Hormachea. He handed the Request to each of the 5 Alderman, the Mayor, the City Clerk, and the City Attorney. The Public Information Act gives people the ability to access information that the government has. […]
The Sandy Oaks City Council held a special meeting on February 26, 2015 to discuss the illegal amount of sales taxes they created last fall. In their first official meeting, the Council created an election for 3 new sales taxes that, if approved, would equal more than the amount allowed by Texas law. The voters […]
At the City Council meeting on February 12, 2015, Mayor Jim Clement wanted to discuss and consider placing the removal of the VIA sales tax up for election on the May 2015 ballot. The City Council had placed the 1/2% VIA sales tax on the November 2014 ballot last year and voters decided to keep […]
Alderman Earnest Gay was the honorary speaker at a presentation in Austin for the Texas Public Policy Foundation on January 8, 2015. He contributed about 8 minutes to a 2 hour long presentation organized by Jess Fields on the topic of Liberty Cities. Also present, and speaking for a large portion of the presentation, was […]
By Texas state law, the maximum sales tax that can be imposed is 8.25%. Of that, the state collects 6.25% which means that local municipalities and transit authorities can only impose an extra 2% of sales tax. The Sandy Oaks City Council, however, went beyond the legal limit. The Council Wanted The Maximum Above is […]
At the city council meeting yesterday all council members had a manila envelope which Jim Clement had delivered to them. Inside was a packet organized for them by Linebager Goggan Blair & Sampson, LLP, a law firm that specializes in delinquent tax collection services, lien collection, and evictions. The packet included a small booklet titled “City […]
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 […]
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 […]
The first two city council meetings of the City of Sandy Oaks were policed by a law enforcement officer from Von Ormy, Texas named Tiffany Aguillen. In the first meeting on August 16, 2014, Aguillen made her authority known when she threatened to arrest Cathleen Recio, who recently lost the election for an alderman […]
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 […]
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. […]
On July 22, 2014, candidates running for City Council met for a 3rd and final time before the election. The event was hosted by Catherine Rendahl and her husband Don who rented the Waterwood clubhouse and set up tables and chairs for people. “Air Conditioning!” said Rendahl. “It should keep people calmer than last time.” […]
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 […]
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 […]
As of 5pm July 15th, Earnest Gay was contacted and asked to answer the following questions. Platform: What specifically would you like to accomplish in the first year? What are the first three ordinances you would like to pass (besides those that first set up the municipality)? What do you think is […]