Alderman Joel Ortega was absent from half of the City Council meetings in 2015. Texas law says that 3 consecutive absences of an Alderman makes the position vacant. Chapter 22 of the Local Government Code says this: Sec. 22.041. VACANCY ON GOVERNING BODY IS CREATED. (b) If a member of the governing body is absent […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
There’s quite a lot of lame reporting when it comes to the creation and running of the new City of Sandy Oaks. Some reporters from San Antonio are just too lazy to take 1 hour to drive down to Sandy Oaks and walk around and get some actual facts or actual stories. But when I […]
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 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, Doug Tomasini, Dale Burmaster, and Jim Clement (all SOPAC members), were contacted and asked to answer the following questions as well as invite Pedro Orduno and Joel Ortega, also SOPAC members. Platform: What specifically would you like to accomplish in the first year? What are the […]