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THIS FRIDAY! The greatest bill since sliced bread for the 42% plurality of Texans who are independent (we salute no party) is going to hit the floor of the Texas House. House Bill 25 — ending straight ticket “one punch” voting in Texas is a must do to bring about competitive elections. Call your State Rep to ask him or her to reach out to independent voters by voting FOR this bill.  Find your legislators here . TOMORROW! Cronyism run amok on toll roads (HB 2861) hits the House Floor. Make y our calls folks! More here . Apologies for such late notice — do what you can right away! QUICK ADD ONS OF BAD WATER BILLS TO KILL: Read this just in from Save Our Springs Alliance in Austin. THANK YOU FOR YOUR calls a few days ago to Sen. Lois Kolkhorst to stop a bad water bill (to limit your participation in contests involving surface water), Senate Bill 225 , appears to have helped. SB 225 has not yet come out of committee. However, the House version — House Bill 3742 — is now in the House Calendars Committee. Calendars is the last stop before it’s sent to the House Floor. Take a look at the House Calendar’s Committee here . If you see your State Rep there, call their office to ask them to “tag” this bill — that will slow it down. If you can get to the Capitol, you can visit all the Calendar’s Committee offices and fill out a card against the bill. Note: HB 3742/SB 225 isn’t the only bill attacking the public’s right to proper notice to contest something industry plans to do with your property or water. They keep coming, like this one in a hearing today in Natural Resources — Rep. Frank’s HB 3114 . Tell your legislators you are sick of having your rights violated by these kinds of bills and that you expect them to vote NO on any and all such sorry bills that may hit the House floor. Tell them the independents are watching them and plan to do this to them if they pass this kind of junk. YESTERDAY! A virogorous effort to win eminent domain reform this session was deformed by the pipeline and oil and gas lobby. We are not surprised, but we are disgusted. Read this letter after you take action as we have suggested above. Seriously, remember this! We prefer that the tactics of Tyrannosaurus Rex be left to legend. Now, let’s get a GREAT Bill — House Bill 25 — passed on Friday! P.S. We appreciate some of you stepping up to the plate to be our representatives at the Capitol. Keep it up and more of you are invited to do so.

The Post Oak Groundwater Cons ervation District has scheduled an important public hearing on its rules this Wednesday, May 3, 2017, at 5:30 pm to discuss two rule amendments: The good one—Changes Rule 16 so the District will respond more quickly and decisively when our groundwater levels drop. The bad one—Rule 4.1 Eliminates public notice, hearings, and even spacing requirements when permit holders want to change the locations of planned wells (when the new locations are inside the permitted boundaries).  Bad rule! Spacing is critical, not just to protect neighboring wells, but also to protect the aquifer! Come to Post Oak headquarters at 310 E. Avenue C, Milano Texas at 5:30 May 3, 2017 and speak out! If you show up a few minutes early, we’ll also tell you more or reply to this message for details. Got questions? Call Dave at 512.763.0853 or reply to this message. Thank you for caring about our most precious resource!

Would you please make a call today or this weekend into Senator Lois Kolkhorst’s office to OPPOSE Committee Substitute Senate Bill 225. (Click on the info button for more details). The bill is up for a vote as early as Monday at 2 pm in the Agriculture, Rural and Water Affairs Committee. Sen. Kolkhorst could be THE swing vote that kills the bill. Please call her Austin office at 512.463.0118. Simply ask that she “vote against Senate Bill 225 — as it has been substituted”. Here’s why we are urging your help to defeat this bill: The bill deals with protests by the public and landowners of surface water rights (rivers and streams) applications by the public and landowners; however, it involves fundamental issues of proper notice and meaningful opportunity for landowners to protest applications. This bill, basically, erodes the public’s right to know about applications timely and to be told what they must do to formally protest an application that adversely affects them. Hearings on applications may occur without affected public and landowners even knowing the application was filed or a hearing was scheduled. Even if they do get a hearing, the bill would restrict the issues they would be allowed to raise in protest of the application. This is unacceptable not only for surface water applications, but we are also convinced  these changes would spill over into groundwater permitting law as well. If the bill makes it out of Committee, it will be difficult to kill on the Senate floor. Again, make the call to Sen. Kolkhorst’s office right away — leave a message this weekend if you can’t call today or Monday morning — before the Monday hearing scheduled for 2 pm. Agenda Notice Here. If you plan to attend the hearing, please let us know. Thank you so much! P.S. You might know that it is already difficult for landowners to file contests to challenge water developers. Let’s not make it worse! #SenLoisKolkhorst #SenateBill225 #surfacewater

Staying in the game to protect our most treasured resources, and democracy itself, takes a lot of tough love. It also demands we throw a few punches and not at our own shadow! Join the fight and land a few punches! Punch #1: Call House Speaker Joe Straus (512.463.1000) The California Water Model of mass movement of rural water to growth corridors is a proven disaster. So why are Rep. Lyle Larson (R-San Antonio) and Sen. Charles Perry (R-Lubbock) pushing it so hard with their water bills, House Bill 2378 , House Bill 31 and Senate Bill 1392 ? Because there is so much money to be made pumping and moving our groundwater for private, for-profit interests! Call Speaker Straus, the one man in Texas with the power to stop the profiteering water lobby efforts that put our aquifers, and children’s water future, at risk . Politely ask Joe to dam up the flood of bad water bills this session. Then thank Speaker Straus for supporting HB 25/SB 2175 – to end straight ticket voting — also widely supported by independent voters! Punch #2 : Call your State Representative and State Senator Find your State Legislators at www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us or call us! Tell them you are from rural, urban or suburban Texas – whatever applies – and that you understand that all regions depend on one another to protect our wealth – land and water – not to transfer it, squander it and otherwise spoil it, at alarming rates. Ask them what they are doing to protect Texas groundwater, end the abuse of eminent domain for private gain and open up Texas for electoral competition. Finish by telling them you strongly support HB 25/SB 2175 to end straight ticket voting and House Bill 3028 — the Voter Choice Act to open up the ballot for independents and more than two parties. Let the people vote, not the party machines. Punch #3: Become a member of or donate to LIV, an all-volunteer outfit that’s fighting for you, our precious land and water resources, and to win competitive elections! Keep checking our news section – bills are a flyin’! #JoeStraus

We apologize for frequent and lengthy emails. We are doing our best to inform you during an extraordinary Texas legislative session. Do what you can with any and all of this! Looking to be an active independent? Join us this THURSDAY ( not Wednesday! ) on a statewide conference call at 8 pm. Reply for conference instructions. After you read this, do the deed! Contact your legislators – Texas House and Senate – find them right here . Tomorrow Hearings! Wednesday, April 12, 8 am ( sorry for the late notice ) hearing of the House Ag & Livestock Committee. OPPOSE SB 1172/HB 2758 and kill this truly insane bill that would prevent cities and counties from regulating any seed “in any manner, including planting seed or cultivating plants grown from seed.” More here . Also, on Wednesday — fresh from Texans for Accountable Government —  you can also sign in against Rep. Larry Phillips’ bill HB 2861 , up for hearing in the Transportation Committee ( notice here ), which would hand 14 Texas highways from Dallas-Ft. Worth, Austin, San Antonio (including I-35 through those cities), down to the valley (including one bridge to South Padre, FM 1925 in Hidalgo County, Hwy 77 in Cameron County) to a private, foreign corporation, plus re-authorize all 10 grandfathered toll projects until 2023! No eminent domain for private gain! Tomorrow, 10:30 am, House Natural Resources Committee Hearing , SUPPORT HB 3417, Rep. Tracy King (D-Uvalde). The bill would require groundwater districts to consider impacts to exempt wells when issuing permits and would encourage monitoring. Tomorrow, 2 pm , our own LIV Board Member, Calvin Tillman, testifies to the Texas House Land & Resources Management Committee SUPPORT HB 2684 . Calvin’s study explains why awarding attorney fees to landowners facing lowball offers when their land is seized, is a no-brainer. Thursday Hearing! Watch Out Hays County! OPPOSE HB 2540, Rep. Jason Isaac (R-Hays County) will be heard by the Special Purpose Districts Committee on Thursday, April 13 at 8 am . Hays Caldwell Public Utility Agency will be changed to the Alliance Regional Water Authority (AWRA); providing authority to issue bonds; granting the power of eminent domain; providing authority to impose fees. LIV has no desire to add to the 9,000 entities in Texas that have eminent domain authority. The bill has lots of other problems, including giving ARWA overly broad geographic reach, too many types of water projects it could do and overly broad service areas. There is some hope the bill could be trimmed back to restrict ARWA to its current geographic reach, with the possibility it could be used for regional conjunctive use projects that might make sense and also reduce the feeding frenzy on the Simsboro aquifer east of the IH-35 corridor. For now, oppose this puppy! Good Bills/Bad Bills and…more! Add these to your calls to your legislators, found here . The Very Best Bill for Independent Voters this Session! Ending Straight Ticket Voting – Support HB 25/SB 2175 Do you know that the largest impediment to independent candidates in Texas is straight ticket voting? Texas is one of only 10 states left that allow voters to, with one punch, vote for one party’s candidates. The results can be devastating to the better candidates who might just so happen to be on the other ticket or are running independent or third party. Let’s ensure that voters think before they vote!  This is at the top of House Speaker Joe Straus’s agenda. More Good Bills! Water: LIV also supports Sen. Jose Menendez’ (D-San Antonio) SB 1796 , to protect the Edwards Aquifer and recharge zone from sewage effluent and HB 3166 , by Rep. Eddie Lucio III relating to the consideration of modeled sustainable groundwater pumping in the adoption of desired future conditions in groundwater conservation districts. Both are currently pending n committee. Rep. Cyrier’s HB 3996 for a Sunset Review of San Antonio Water System has a new co-sponsor, Rep. Leighton Schubert (R-Brenham – district map here )! So far, no takers in San Antonio will get in the way of the SAWS buzz saw and sign on to sponsor…even on the heels of 100s of pages of amendments to Vista Ridge recently unveiled by SAWS and flagrant abuse of SAWS ratepayers to pay for the failing Vista Ridge $3.4B project. What’s it gonna take to get San Antonians to take care of their rogue water utility, hmmm? More Bad Bills! Water: The hearing last night on SB 1392 (this year’s Gridzilla – a full water grid for Texas to move masses of groundwater for developers to build out in dry areas) scored a big one for landowners and local groundwater management! Watch the video here (SB 1392 starts at about 2:45) – thank you for calling-in, showing up and talking to your reps and senators!  The testimony was rich, the opposition was clear, a committee substitute was rolled out…but will Sen. Charles Perry listen to reason? The bill will likely be back again likely next week. Read LIV’s comments here . Petition Rights: We are monitoring a bill by Sen. Joan Huffman (R-Houston), SB 1296 that could do harm to Texans’ petition rights by calling for judicial review in ballot language disputes but allowing for the delay if the judges don’t get to it. Many thanks to Texas Municipal League for catching this one and opposing it. Still, it could come back sometime after Easter for another hearing before the Local & Uncontested Calendar. Keep up the good work, independent Texas! PS Don’t forget the very important meeting for Milam and Burleson countians on April 18th. Visit the calendar on our website! #JoeStraus #straightticketvoting

Today is urban-rural water call-in day marking a united Texas effort to get the water hogs out Get the public (SAWS) and private hogs (water profiteers) out of the water trough, Texas! of the trough. If you miss this message, do this anytime this week (though watch for updates) and get set for a long haul until the end of session, May 29th. We have repeatedly warned you that THIS is the largest, most egregious transfer of wealth planned for this session. During the day, you can use the Capitol Switchboard ( 512-463-4630)  to ask for your State Senator’s office. (Otherwise, find your reps here ) Again, here’s your mission today (or this week, if you miss this) – with suggested messages below:  Call YOUR Senator with the message below— call the Switchboard at  512-463-4630 (or use this link to find direct numbers & emails).  Call Speaker of the House, Joe Straus at 512-463-1000, with the message below. If you can make it, come to the hearing, scheduled for 2 pm today. Details here . Sign in against SB 1392, regardless of whether you choose to testify. Text or call us at 512-657-2089 if you need anything. We will be there! Message to your Senator – what to say: Please oppose any and all legislation coming this session, including Senate Bill 1392, that threaten aquifers, kill local management of groundwater, and fuel out-of-control real estate development and urban unaffordability. I ask you to call for a full Sunset Review of the rogue municipal water utility, San Antonio Water System ( HB 3996 by John Cyrier ). I also urge that you support ending straight ticket voting – no longer used in 40 states, ( HB 25/SB 2175 ), to open up electoral competition in Texas. Please note that while Lt. Governor Dan Patrick has had everyone fighting over bathrooms, his appointee on water, Sen. Charles Perry (R-Lubbock), chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Water and Rural Affairs, has been working in tandem with water profiteers to raid our aquifers and use groundwater as the primary fuel for unfettered urban growth. This is why we are urging you to reach the Speaker of the House, Joe Straus (R-San Antonio) who has the power to counter-balance Patrick. Joe already supports ending straight ticket voting. Will he stand up for rural Texas and counter the urban “growth machine”? Say a little prayer and call Joe Straus! Message to House Speaker Joe Straus: Thank you for supporting ending straight ticket voting. I’m calling to ask the Speaker to help stop any and all bad water bills this session. Please ask your appointee, Rep. Lyle Larson to hold a hearing on John Cyrier’s HB 3996 and to stop Larson’s attacks on local management of groundwater districts. For lots more on the “water front”, view  this slide show  by our own LIV Board Member, Michele Gangnes. Urging that you remain alert to protect Texans’ most precious resource, #HouseSpeakerJoeStraus #SenCharlesPerry #straightticketvoting #RepLyleLarson #JoeStraus #RepJohnCyrier

Senate Bill 1392 by Sen. Charles Perry (R-Lubbock) is up for hearing in the Senate’s Agriculture, Water and Rural Affairs Committee THIS MONDAY (April 10) at 2 p.m.  The Bill is Gridzilla’s flagship this session. URGENT ACTION BEFORE THE 2 P.M. HEARING IS REQUIRED –— SB 1392 needs to die in Committee NOW before it gets loaded up with equally bad amendments. Please get this out to your networks in rural, urban and suburban Texas right away: Call your Senator’s office anytime to say or leave a message like this —  “I want my Senator to OPPOSE SB 1392”, and give a brief personal message about why you oppose it. Find your Senator here or just call the Texas Capitol Switchboard (not open on weekends) at 512-463-4630. Then, call the Ag Committee office at 512-463-0340 to lodge your complaint about this horrible legislation — politely, please. Here’s a sample longer message: I oppose SB 1392 because it will take away the ability of groundwater districts to balance pumping of aquifers with the need to conserve and protect them for future generations. It also takes away any opportunity to consider the economic impact of drawing down aquifers on the rural communities that lie over them. Please ask your friends to do the same. (Use the share buttons on this message from here on our website blog or use the good ol’ telephone to call ’em!) If you are able, go to the Capitol Monday before 2 p.m. and sign in to OPPOSE the bill. If you can stay for the hearing, make 2-3 minutes of comments to OPPOSE it and hand in 15 copies of your comments (hand-written is fine). Go to the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance alert for more details, here . You should continue calling House Speaker Joe Straus at 512-463-1000. Politely ask him to put a stop to the water profiteers working our legislators this session. Please add a thanks for his support for HB25 , to end straight ticket “one-punch” voting — a great idea to open up electoral competition in Texas. More soon on this one. Got questions? Reach us at info@independentleaguetx.org or call 512-213-4511. Want to help more? We can use your donation to reach more people — $100 reaches nearly 7,000 people with our automated phone alerts. Give on our website or send us a check. Thanking you Texans ahead of time. We will have a statewide conference call at 7 pm this Wednesday night to discuss strategy on the water, wallet & elections front. Contact us for details. #HouseSpeakerJoeStraus #SenCharlesPerry

Regular Texans, like Bobby Walker of Burleson County, know what is happening to water in Texas is all kind of Texas wrong

Tomorrow night, Tuesday, April 4th, 5:30 pm — please come to Milano, especially if from l to r: Amy Hinnant, Michele Gangnes, Judith McGeary and Amy’s mother, Helen Jurica you live in Milam or Burleson County — for an important meeting of the Post Oak Savannah Groundwater Conservation District . It will be held at their office at 310 Avenue C in Milano. There is a groundwater battle brewing between landowners and water marketers concerning the demands brought by marketers for changes in well locations for the controversial Vista Ridge/San Antone Hose project. Take a minute to read last week’s release about this here . We will share some updates with you tomorrow evening! If you miss us, please visit the News Section of our website for materials we will have shared tomorrow in Milano or just call us! We have some thinks to suggest that you do to protect your water, your land, and your elections. #MicheleGangnes #JudithMcGeary #farmandranchfreedomalliance #AmyHinnant #Milano

Big News on the Water and Elections Front! Read, share and please take action! from l to r: Amy Hinnant, Michele Gangnes, Judith McGeary and Amy’s mother, Helen Jurica ►On Tuesday, Milam and Burleson County landowners with 3 volunteer attorneys dealt the Vista Ridge/San Antone Hose an unexpected blow. This is a big deal, folks — read our press release! ⇒ Legacy Farm Landowner Amy Hinnant Contests Vista Ridge Variance ~! If you live in Milam or Burleson County, join us next Tuesday, April 4 at 5:30 pm at the next Post Oak Savannah Groundwater Conservation District Meeting, at 310 Avenue C, Milano, TX. Come a little early if you can and bring your neighbors! Post Oak is listening, but will it be enough? They look friendly, but they are not. ► Understand that mass movement of groundwater is THE big wealth transfer planned for this session . Our incoming generations will pay if we let this happen. With 10 lobbyists for every Texas legislator, it’s no wonder that during the battle over bathrooms, the water profiteering lobby pushed a bevy of bills that would bring the California Water Model (“Gridzilla”) to Texas.  Despite what the water overlords in the House and Senate seem to think — that’s Rep. Lyle Larson (R-San Antonio) and Senator Charles Perry (R-Lubbock) — Texans have them outnumbered just a tad. Take a look at these slides by our own Michele Gangnes presented at the Texas Populism Conference last Saturday and follow our action request. Action Please! ► Water Grab Update : We need your help to get co-sponsors and a hearing on Rep. John Cyrier’s bill, HB 3996 , for a Sunset Review of SAWS (San Antonio Water System). Action:  Call your House and Senate member ( find them here ) and tell them it’s not OK for SAWS to be a water bully, roaming far and wide for water grabs, and then brokering water to places outside its own service area while making their own ratepayers foot the bill for their escapades! Ask legislators to sponsor HB 3996 . Tell them you also expect them to kill any bills they see that do harm to the local control of groundwater and/or pave the way for unregulated mega-projects…and to expect many. They can contact LIV for details. Keep an eye on our News Section for updates and watch your email please! ► Electoral Competition Update : The good news is that HB 3068 — the Voter Choice Act — to open up the Texas ballot for more electoral choices, has been referred to committee. The sponsor — Rep. Ron Reynolds , who serves on the Elections Committee — is hot to trot for a hearing. Action: Call your state legislators, House and Senate, ( find them here ) to ask that they support this bill. If you can make it to Austin, get ready to come testify — possibly as early as April 10th or April 17th. Again, keep an eye on our News Section and read your emails! Take a look at Mark Miller’s presentation at the Texas Populism Conference — a deep dive into how we got to monopolized elections. Lois’ SB 740 deserves passage this session ► No eminent Domain for Private Gain Update : A hearing on Sen. Lois Kolkhort’s SB 740 — the awarding of attorney fees to landowners when condemnation threats are given with lowball offers — is this Monday, April 3, 9 am in the Senate Chamber. Let us know if you want to testify (we’ll assist you). You can watch any and all hearings on your computer from in the Senate from here and in the House from he re, At the risk of being a broken record, keep an eye on our News Section and read your emails! See Calvin Tillman and Larry Beard’s ED study here . ►Lest we forget the major attack in the last legislative session on Texans’ right to petition in home rule cities and that we have problems with verifying elections (aka “a paper trail”) in Texas, here’s Tom Glass’s presentation at our Populism Conference. Tom is helping LIV track these bills along with many others. We support SB 488 that made it out of committee this week, but we remain on our toes for bad bills and so should you. More on what you can do! (Note: if you want to do more, please call us or reply…we have plenty more for you to do!) Help us track bills and hearings!  Send us updates! “The Lobby” is on the move in this session, so we must work together. We urge you to make phone calls to the state legislator’s offices in Austin ( emails are too easy to ignore ), OR, if you cannot get through, call their district offices. Writing letters to the editor are VERY helpful as well as sharing this entire message on Facebook or other social networks. Some folks are even taking out ads in their local papers. If you want to contribute to ads — donate and let us know that is what you are giving to…or call us. We have other things for you to do if you’re up to it! Thank you so much if you were able to attend the Our Water, Our Land, Our Elections Lobby Day and/or the Texas Populism conference! Wherever you live, no matter your party affiliation or lack thereof, you’re invited to become a new member of the League of Independent Voters or renew your dues. Your attendance fee at the Texas Populism Conference of $15 can count towards your membership. Click here to become a dues paying member of LIV and get this lovely bumper sticker. Your dues fuel LIV, an all-volunteer outfit. #SenLoisKolkhorst #PopulismConference #RepRonReynolds #JudithMcGeary #LibertarianParty #LaurenIce #LtGovernorDanPatrick #RepJohnCyrier #TexasHouseSpeakerJoeStraus #MarkMiller

from l to r: Amy Hinnant, Michele Gangnes, Judith McGeary and Amy’s mother, Helen Jurica For Immediate Release March 30, 2017 Milano, Texas : It was standing room only last Tuesday night in rural Texas, not 70 miles from the Texas Capitol. Amy Jurica Hinnant is the owner of a family legacy farm established in Burleson County in 1894. Prior to a public hearing, she asked her local Post Oak Savannah Groundwater Conservation District to allow her to formally protest a permit amendment for the controversial Vista Ridge Project (aka “the San Antone Hose”). Hinnant’s property has never been leased for water but is virtually surrounded by leased land and by the 33 deep wells that will pump 50,000 acre-feet of groundwater annually for export to San Antonio. Hinnant asked the Post Oak’s Board to delay acting on the permit amendments to relocate 11 wells and conduct a formal hearing on whether the relocated wells, especially the two that are within ½ mile of her property, will drain her property’s groundwater. Hinnant , a well-spoken teacher and educator at Texas A & M, said, “I’m here for myself and the 83% of county landowners who choose not to sell their water. What about our rights to ensure the next generation has water, and what about our duty to protect this treasured aquifer?” The Board, on the advice of its counsel, denied her request on a technicality. Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance Director Judith McGeary , a Milam County farmer and attorney, told the Board, “You’ve heard both veiled and explicit threats that if you stand in the way of these marketers, the Legislature will strip the District’s powers. As a result, the District focuses more on the moving of water than conservation. The innocuous term, ‘aquifer management,’ is used to disguise the reality of systemic depletion.” The audience applauded Burleson landowner Gabbo Goetsch when he commended the Board for “having the best meeting I’ve been to — you have been listening and paying attention.” He went on to recount the “bullying” of landowners by Scott Carlson, who goes door-to-door, pressuring landowners to sign water leases. Michele Gangnes , a director of the League of Independent Voters ( LIV ) and the 501c3 non-profit Simsboro Aquifer Water Defense Fund, reported, “To his credit, the new President Sydney Youngblood allowed landowners to speak their hearts. We were pleased the Board delayed acting on the amendment until at least next Tuesday, and invited us to submit questions for Vista Ridge in the meantime. But Ms. Hinnant and other landowners stand to suffer hundreds of feet of drawdown in their groundwater due to Vista Ridge pumping. The Board needs to address her case and our questions, even if that means standing up to the marketers and key state legislators in this legislative session who are positioning to open the floodgates on our groundwater.” Hundreds of water bills, including two omnibus water bills, were filed late in the session, giving ordinary Texans little time to prepare themselves for the rush on groundwater. LIV is urging urban ratepayers and rural landowners to join forces to urge their legislators help stop the “California Water Model” – mass movement of groundwater to dry areas for real estate development. A press conference will be held just before the Post Oak Board meeting next Tuesday in Milano at 310 Avenue C with landowners, attorneys and organizations determined not to let this happen to Texas. For more information: Call Linda Curtis for LIV at 512.657.2089 #AmyJuriaHinnant #SydneyYoungblood

Reminder!  The Texas gold rush on groundwater, your land and our elections are up for grabs! Can we grab it back? Join us tomorrow at Our Water, Our Land, Our Elections Lobby Day (Friday, March 24) anytime from 10-4 (preferably high noon) at the Capitol, room E2.002. And join us on Saturday at the Texas Populism Conference in Cedar Creek ! ( Read this overview before you come to either event — it will be in your extensive packets). Saturday’s Texas Populism Conference in Cedar Creek is going to be a doozy with these new additions! Julie Nitsch, ACC Trustee new speakers! Texas populist Democratic firebrand, David Van Os Houston Property Rights, Barry Klein Austin’s 10-1 communications maven and daughter of East Texas, Jessica Ellison and Newly Elected ACC Trustee, Julie Nitsch ===► Can we come together with a deep concern for the thing we at LIV cherish most — civil and smart deliberation for the greater good? We shall see! We link to this fascinating discussion on Jonathan Tilove’s blog — t his interview with ABC commentator Matthew Dowd , now resident of Wimberley. His consideration to run as an independent against Ted Cruz is not actually the most interesting part of this — he’s talking about his deep concern for deliberative small “d” democracy — our brand of populism ! ►PS Don’t forget a VERY critical Vista Ridge hearing next Tuesday night 6:30 pm in Milano for Milam and Burleson counties! See our events calendar, share it or call us. #watergrabs #DavidVanOs #JulieNitsch #BarryKlein #TedCruz #JessicaEllison #MattDowd