Search this site

Deception, deceit and dysfunction of party machines has voters -- especially independents -- in search of a new horse to ride. Might that be a movement to split their tickets? Look here, folks. If Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and State Senator Charles Schwertner (R-Georgetown) who chairs the powerful Texas Senate Committee on Business and Commerce, can't get the PUCT to hold their horses on moving forward with the highly controversial 765kv power lines Texas landowners are up in arms about, who can? LIV has long called him King Greg, He and his team have been caught playing tricks on Will King Greg Abbott use his emergency powers to kneel to regular Texans? Texans' local control, having heeled to his billionaire donors affecting rural, suburban and urban Texans. It is well-established that many conservative rural Republicans are ready to switch their horses in the Governor's race. See Politico article, "'We are not a bunch of woke Marxist liberals here': Rural voters scramble Texas election." Can their numbers make a difference? There are approximately 8+ million Texas independent voters. Texas independents do not salute any single party. When we vote, we are open to considering candidates from both major parties, the minor parties (Libertarian and Green) and the very few who made it to the ballot as "independents" with no party affiliation. Click to hear Austin activist, Julie Oliver tell it! We can't let Democrats off the hook either! Democrats, like Austin Mayor Kirk Watson and his dutiful city council, four of whom are on the ballot in November, are playing data center dancing games with real estate and data center developers. Watch local Austin and Democratic activist, Julie Oliver, nail them on the Dog's Head development giveaway the current Council is trying to bury like a bone! You should also find this page on Dog's Head at Save Our Springs Alliance helpful on the impact of the development on the Colorado River. Are Texans ready to switch horses? LIV will soon be announcing endorsements in some local, state and federal races through a bottom-up process involving our members.

Jason Wolff, independent for Bexar County District Attorney, brings love and a big following of young people to the criminal justice system. What's the GOP so worried about that they filed a petition lawsuit to remove Jason Wolff from the November ballot, as they seek to stop a three-way competition for DA? The GOP lost the highly qualified former Republican Judge, Jason Wolff, just like they're losing independents across the state of Texas. Wolff is attempting to give Bexar County voters a nonpartisan independent meaningful option. Wolff said to the San Antonio Report about this case: “Every circulator and each signature collected were real,” Wolff said. “The Republican candidate and party, not the voters whose voices matter, are trying to limit Bexar County’s choice for district attorney. They will not be successful." For LIV this case is all about electoral competition. We wish independent candidate Jason Wolff the very best in his quest for ballot access. The case goes to court tomorrow on Tuesday, September 1. It wouldn't surprise us if the Judge immediately rules from the bench.

Did the City of Bastrop caught? Watch Rep. Shelby Slawson (R-Granbury) artfully question the Mayor and City Manager starting at 10:17:00. "Foundations such as BHEF [Barbers Hill Education Foundation] are holding/spending tax dollars, and lax oversight (not subject to Texas Public Information Act records or open meetings laws) is a prescription for disaster. I also wonder what other basic financial controls are missing? And does anyone else think it’s absurd that school boards even consider such schemes to outsmart the state and avoid recapture payments? This tells you how dysfunctional our school funding system has become in Texas." Mike Collier, financial auditor and Independent Texan. The Texas House Committee on Oversight, Select held an marathon 11-hour+ interim hearing on Wednesday, August 26, focused on Education Foundations, the Texas Open Meetings Act (TOMA) and the Texas Public Information Act (TPIA). The committee hearing notice and this Texas Dispatch article Counties Call the Public Information Act Weaponized; Transparency Groups Call It Toothless gives a decent pro and con overview. We also watched the scrutiny given to the decision by the Bastrop City Council to hold a "retreat" 140 miles away in Fredericksburg. Mayor Ishmael Harris' testimony, as well as Bastrop City Manager Sylvia Carrillo's, made clear that the "retreat" was really a two day meeting with a two page agenda. Though no action was taken at the meeting -- which would have been a clear violation of TOMA -- it's seems to us that the City of Bastrop did get caught violating the spirit of it. What was of equal interest to us is the guy who alerted the media about the City of Bastrop's lapse in judgement. It was none other than State Rep. Stan Gerdes. Gerdes got caught too. This is how Gerdes operates, including using social media to throw his weight around. And for what purpose, really? To deliver to the GOP establishment attacks on local control. We most appreciated the testimony of Kelley Shannon, the Executive Director of the Texas Freedom of Information Foundation, starting at 6:10:00. Here's our challenge to independent voters of Texas. Let's say you are confronted with similar violations of the spirit or intent of TOMA and TIPIA. Do you care enough to do something about it? LIV is here to help you take appropriate action. In the meantime, choose your officials wisely in this election. Do they care about open government and fair play or do have ulterior motives?

, Attendees at today's Bastrop Commissioners Court expressed concern today about Pacifico, EdgeConneX and mass industrialization without their notification or consent. We hope you good people across the state dealing with this problem can learn something from the mistakes made along the road to local control. This morning, the Bastrop Commissioners Court passed this data center resolution, something we at LIV supported along with the Commissioners Court. But it was, well, just weird with the Court taking one step forward and two steps back today. I believe it was their attempt to limit public comments, triggering some in the audience to get rowdy and surly. Both "sides" missed the point. The point was a friendly amendment to the resolution offered by Elgin resident and attorney Nick Lealos, and Cedar Creek resident Merrie Santana and some of the leading organizers of the recent Pacifico Town Hall, along with.many other fine residents of Cedar Creek. They asked the court to reach the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) on their behalf and ask TCEQ to pull Pacifico’s pending minor air quality permit application and convert it to a major air permit application. The latter permit process would invoke a more robust TCEQ review with the possibility of stronger pollution controls, a public hearing, and the opportunity to contest the permit before an independent administrative law judge. (We wrote about that last Friday, Are you fighting a power plant and data center like Bastrop?) Bottom line, making this request is clearly something the Court -- either the County Judge or three commissioners -- can still do. In other words, we need to find out if this was just a bump in the road to local control by hanging in there! Since they didn't pass the amendment today, the Judge or any three of the four commissioners may call a special meeting with 72 hours notice and pass a resolution to send to TCEQ. If you want them to do this, send them a polite and respectful email. Remember, it's not a time to get angry (though we understand people, including the court, are human). But, please for the love of god, don't get angry, get organized. In fact, if you were one of the people who got sideways with the court today, we suggest you reach them, apologize and try to have a real conversation. If they refuse, at least you tried. We will have a few additional thoughts to share during tonight’s members-only meeting about how LIV missed a beat in this process too. ___________________ LIV's comments today that we had to file instead of speak today -- just like the last meeting, as the Court limited options to speak to our elected officials.

If Pacifico Energy is truly listening to Cedar Creek residents, they should drop the plan to skirt around full public input with claims their 710MW gas-fired power plant will be a "minor source" air polluter. Call Sen. Schwertner and Rep. Gerdes to urge they get TCEQ to deny Pacifico a minor source air quality permit. Another Bastrop Town Hall was held last night focused on Pacifico Energy's plan to build a major gas plant and AI hyperscale data center in Cedar Creek, a rural and fast-growing residential community. At the same time Pacifico pulled their applications for tax incentives (good), this company is attempting to get around required full public input (bad) at the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality (TCEQ). This is a clear attempt at gaming the system with a series of multiple minor air quality permits that do not allow full public input, including public meetings and hearings and the opportunity to present their objections to the permit to an independent administrative law judge. WHAT CAN YOU DO? IT'S SIMPLE. Do this now or over the weekend. Apply this to your own gas plant and data center combos across Texas! Are you fighting a power plant and data center? Repurpose these instructions we wrote for Bastrop residents to reach your State Senator and State Representative. Find your reps here. Informal groups like LostPinesWatch.org are documenting what the oil and gas and data center lobbies are actually doing in publicly available documents. For Bastrop: Reach State Senator Charles Schwertner (‭512) 463-0105‬) and State Representative Stan Gerdes (‭(512) 463-0682‬) to request Pacifico Energy to go through the proper regulatory channels to be approved by the state. Right now, Pacifico is proposing a massive gas plant -- 710 megawatts -- that should be treated as a "major source polluter" Yet, they claim they won't run it at full capacity and therefore they are a "minor source" polluter that does not need public input. Don’t let them “bring their own power” for a data center by gaming the pollution rules. Respectfully request Senator Schwertner and Representative Gerdes (or your senator and rep) to reach TCEQ on your behalf to deny Pacifico a minor source air quality permit. We hope to see you at Monday night's meeting @8 pm for members only. Our discussion will focus on LIV development and the upcoming election in November. RSVP HERE For you Bastropians, we hope to see you at Monday, August 24 at 9 am at the Bastrop Commissioners Court meeting.

This 12-hour State Affairs Committee hearing was a doozy! We applaud "Mrs. T's" wise challenge the "China syndrome" dudes in suits! Houston area State Rep. Senfronia Thompson, aka "Mrs. T" Hot off the press at LIV News just before we hope to see you in-person or online at tonight's Pacifico Town Hall is this report. There are stilll seats left for the Pacifico Town Hall in Bastrop tonight. Here's the in-person Town sign in and there are plenty of seats, Or you can RSVP for the online option here. Twelve hours of testimony yesterday at the hearing held by the Texas House State Affairs Committee gave the industry suits all kinds of opportunity to land a punch for less regulation. Our read is that it backfired. Why? The deceptive AI data center industry, the oil and gas lobby's push for massive transmission lines (and what comes with it -- dreaded eminent domain land seizures) and security pro-war hawks are all in this together in one big crony-capitalist grab! The election is coming, folks, and the Governor is showing no signs of calling a Special Session or using his emergency powers to put a moratorium in place until the end of the next session -- May 31, 2026. That's the only real fix. This Quorum Report article from behind their paywall is a must read, as well as this letter from the big wheel industry players who, as usual, just want what they want. I attended yesterday's hearing and filed these comments for LIV with LIV's public comments to the Bastrop Commissioners Court on May 26 just before they unanimously voted for a trigger for SpaceX subsidies from state of Texas. Hang in there, Texas!

Joshua Biddle's De Jure Media blog on Substack Joshua Biddle is a local Bastrop writer with his own Substack platform at De Jure Media. We don't always agree, but Joshua works hard, is very smart and knows how to use AI to dig for information and how to verify it. Joshua wrote two articles we suggest you review if you, like us at LIV, do not support abatements for data centers and big tech titans pushing AI and other risky business that should sink or swim on their own dime. Here's tonight's Zoom RSVP for 8 pm. Take a few minutes to read Joshua's articles below and hop on Zoom at 8 to discuss them with us, PLUS the Texas State Affairs Committee hearing on August 19, the day before the Pacifico Town Hall. State of the People — Civic Report | Bastrop Ed., released today, Aug. 17 The Accounting Trick: How Data Center Abatements Shift the Tax Burden, released Aug. 10 Note: We have asked Biddle to make two slight adjustments in his post today. LIV supports the citizens putting on the Town Hall on the Pacifico project -- gas plant and data center -- happening this Thursday. This is not an LIV event, though we fully support the folks doing this event. The group is compiling information at LostPinesWatch.org. They're doing great work as concerned and informed citizens! Second, Biddle missed the Hearing Notice for the State Affairs Committee. His list might be updated by the time you read his latest posted above. Thanks to the work of many people who are standing up and doing due diligence on the tax abatements data center dance underway across Bastrop and the rest of Texas. We'll try to cover as much ground as we can tonight! Here's the link for tonights 8 pm meeting on Zoom.

Pete Hegseth in his war department video, alongside a map of western Bastrop County highlighting the massive Pacifico project involving a gas plant and data center campus. Yesterday's Bastrop Commissioners Court meeting was not televised or even streamed. So far, LIV News might be your only way to know what happened. The Court appears to be listening and taking a breath -- however short -- as Commissioner Butch Carmack wisely tabled Item 4, the court's resolution on data centers. We hope the Court is taking in the brilliant and heartfelt testimony from citizens for a more well-crafted resolution that we at LIV can support. Despite the freight train of big money and big pressure on local officials and citizens from those in high office, from Governor Greg Abbott to the President himself, citizens are getting a clue. We cannot sit around and hope someone notices the nexus between the AI data center gold rush and an off-the-wall demand by the Department of War for a federal budget busting $1.5T. AI is in this mix of economic madness and America's $40T debt spiral. No one we know supports feckless reckless war. (This Politico report is helpful to show the cracks -- thankfully -- in the armor among Republicans.) We must educate and organize across the divide and get ready as elections are coming. A place we can do this is at LIV. However modest LIV is today, we are beginning to move the dial. We believe in the promise of the "LIV Hub" where voters (and to-be-voters) can congregate to make sense in a world of confusion and partisan influence. Please review attorney Nick Leolos' submission to the court here. Be sure to review attorney Michele Gangnes submission for LIV to the court here. Then make sure you've signed the Bastrop Bill of Rights and share away! We highly recommend this Quorum Report excellent article on the Governor's maneuvers seemingly in opposition to Trump on data centers. It's from behind their paywall, for which we are grateful.

Watch Luke Hayes Bastrop farmer and Liz "Sumter" Gajdos, independent for Hays County Judge as they discuss LIV Hubs -- and rural areas -- at Southern Family Farms Conference, TX State, Aug. 2026 It was a great treat playing games with attendees at this year's Southern Family Farms Conference at Texas State University. LIV is there every year. Bastrop farmer, Luke Hayes, is a new member of LIV. He and Liz "Sumter" Gajdos worked together at our booth to entice visitors to join LIV and to consider organizing a local LIV Hub. Supporters and members are creating a place for people of all persuasions to work together on common concerns. Right now, the hot topics of energy, water, farming and industrialization (especially via AI data centers) are forging new alliances to push for more local control and against pay-to-play political machines in both parties. This is the only pay-to-play game that LIV engages in. Guess who wins? She's not yet eligible to vote. A special thanks to member Charlotte Gilman for donating three beautiful photos of her late husband, Lawrence Gilman, for the farm conference silent auction raising more than $250. More homework for you! Please sign the Bastrop Bill of Rights if you live in Bastrop County. Read LIV's news report on the Bastrop Commissioners Court meeting, Monday, August 10. Are they listening? If so, it's because citizens are educating and organizing, asking lots of great questions and listening too!

Mike Collier, Texas independent. LIV can't wait to hear about his plans for the next round. Today, US District Court Judge Robert Pitman issued an order refusing to place Mike Collier, Texas independent on the ballot as an independent for Lt. Goveror against Dan Patrick. That said, this case will proceed on its merits! Read the court's order. It's also apparent to us that Judge Pitman is aware that the Texas ballot access laws raise real questions of law that deserve to be heard. LIV members! Get ready for the next rounds in court and in this election. There are a few, but exceptional, independents running down ballot who can set the bar for many three-way races in Texas to proceed. One of them is Liz "Sumter" Gajdos who is helping LIV start an LIV Hub in Hays County as she runs as an independent for Hays CountyJudge. Meanwhile, LIV News look forward to following Mike Collier, Texas independent wherever he travels throughout the great state of Texas!

Data Center Protest organized by Don't Drain Texas, with Sid Miller and Clayton Tucker, South Capitol Steps, Austin July 27, 2026. Photo credit Texas Tribune Texans keep hearing about how Texas Democrats will "turn Texas blue." But Texas independents see a mixture of red and blue, the color purple, as Democrats appear to be gaining a competitive advantage in this election. We at LIV want at least two viable options as we seek a third option -- for the 8 million Texas independents not aligned with any single party. We believe electoral competition is the cure for our many problems in the way of policy, not politics we so desperately need in Texas. The color purple was on full display on July 27 with Agriculture Commissioner and Republican, Sid Miller, standing together at a protest with the Democratic nominee for his seat, Clayton Tucker. The protest took place just as the Texas Senate Finance Committee deliberated on the billions of dollars in tax exemptions wallowed in by the disgraceful data center industry hogs at the public trough. This giant sucking sound of public dollars is the work of state government at its highest levels, especially Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Governor Dan Patrick. Try not to regurgitate when you read how we, the people, pay for AI slop in this Texas Tribune article about July 27's Texas Senate hearing hearing: "Texas’ multibillion-dollar sales tax exemption for data centers is growing, while audits lag." Did you hear the one Big Tech giant -- Google -- stepping in to help Anthropic deal with those pesky Hill County Commissioners trying to assert local control? Grab your dramamine quick and help LIV gently herd those 8 million Texas independents on how to shop the ballot in November for policy not politics! RSVP HERE for the Monday night Zoom This Monday night's regular LIV meeting @8 pm on Zoom, will focus on the fight for local control and data center tax abatements reform. What's Next for the Independent Movement? LIV's Linda Curtis, Mike Collier and Preston Love, Texas Forward Party on June 25, filing day at the Secretary of State. In very few races (like Hays County's independent for County Judge -- Liz "Sumter" Gajdos), will you see independents on your ballot in November. This is wholly due to severely restrictive ballot access laws petition rules both parties have put in place. Litigation has been ongoing since 1994! We currently await a decision in federal court by Judge Robert Pitman who just heard the case taken by Mike Collier for a place on the Texas ballot to run an independent for Lt. Governor. We expect a ruling very soon! Though Mike's ballot access is a long shot, it could happen. Moreover, our fingers are crossed for relief to open the door for Texas independents in the next cycle. The Wild Wild West of Western Bastrop County The Bastrop Town Hall on July 22 -- attended in person and online by nearly 500 people -- is reverberating across the county and officials are feeling the pressure of our cross-partisan -- purple --- movement. The results were seen at the Bastrop Commissioners Court meeting on July 27, the same day as the Senate Finance hearing. There was a tense, but productive, dialogue between commissioners and residents about tax abatements for data centers. This conversation will continue as EdgeConneX and Pacifico data center developers are pushing for abatements. Check out the video from the Bastrop Commissioners Court and the residents who showed up! Bastrop Commissioners Court video, July 27. (Apologies to those who commented, but had to be edited out due the video's audio problems beyond our control. Thanks to Jenai Marek for video production.) More about what you can do. =>Sign the Bastrop Bill of Rights Petition now online HERE at LIV. =>Reach Linda Curtis at 512.360.8754. She's got work for you! AND....last but not least: Click here to become a member of LIV. Dues start as low as $10 for the year and entitle you to join a local LIV Hub for local organizing and to vote on candidate endorsements..

Texas Agriculture Commissioner, Sid Miller with LIV Advisor, Andy Griffith. Click on the picture to watch the Bastrop Town Hall for All last Wednesday night. It was s smashing success. We apologize for this late email alert. We have been overwhelmed with people just hearing about the data centers running amok in our home county of Bastrop. As the only statewide elected official to call for a statewide moratorium and special session on data centers, Texas Ag Commissioner, Sid Miller is teaching millions of Texans what policy, not politics looks like. It's so rare, it was a joyful experience for all who witnessed the Bastrop Town Hall! Click on the picture to watch the video -- the time stamped segments make it easily digestible. One of Sid's points you also may have missed is this. He wants a 3-mile setback from Map provided by LIV fact-checkers. data centers. Got that? There are 4-5,000 people living within 3 miles of just the EdgeConneX facility you see in this map. We agree with Sid Miller on the set- backs too. Add to this picture the data centers and facilities like SpaceX in western Bastrop County, and you don't have to be a rocket scientist to see the problem. This problem was highlighted in this short video shown at the Bastrop Town Hall -- Data Center Fire Risks -- provided to us by fire expert, Gary Oldham of Protect Round Rock. Can you spell public safety? BTW, did you catch Mark Cuban saying that "A lot of data centers are going to be turned into pickleball courts?" Solutions for Bastrop County will also be provided on Monday, July 27, to the Bastrop Commissioners court by attorney, Nick Lealos. LIV's Linda Curtis will be speaking at the hearing on tax abatements. Data Center abatements are as popular as head lice! You can access the meeting on the webex portal under the agenda HERE.and hop on Zoom on Monday night at 8 pm for a full report. KVUE (ABC) News, reporter Jose Alonzo, did a great job covering the Bastrop Data Center Town Hall on last Wednesday, "Bastrop County Residents Concerns" is a good hint. Community Impact News, reporter, Amanda Cutshall, did an excellent piece as well in Bastrop County Residents Organize for Data Center Transparency; Local Guardrails. Hang in, Texas! ________________________ Who and How to Reach Your officials HERE.