"Comal springs 2007" by Larry D. Moore - © 2007 Larry D. Moore. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The San Antonio Tea Party is against renewing and expanding two conservation programs.
Citing its core principles — personal freedom, economic freedom and a debt-free future — the San Antonio Tea Party is urging voters to reject two transformative conservation programs.
The organization is against renewing the Edwards Aquifer Protection Program, which uses sales tax revenue to purchase conservation easements over the aquifer's recharge and contributing zones, preventing future development. San Antonio has used the program to purchase 130,000 acres of those easements, which protects approximately 36 billion gallons of water, according to the city.
The Tea Party is also against the Linear Creekway Parks Development Program. This program uses sales tax revenue to purchase land and develop the Howard W. Peak Greenway Trails System. So far those parks offer San Antonians 46 miles of trails. Forty more miles are under development.
Voters have approved these projects in 2000, 2005 and 2010.
The group is also against a proposition that would allow $45,722 salary for city council members and a salary of $61,725 for the mayor.
However, the San Antonio Tea Party does support a handful of propositions on the ballot.
Remember last year's uproar over attempts to push a downtown streetcar plan through without voter approval?
That resulted in another ballot proposition, one that would change the City Charter to require a public vote before a public right of way could be altered or damaged for the laying of streetcar or light rail tracks. The proposition would also require a vote for the issuance of bonds, notes or any funds used for streetcar or light rail. The San Antonio Tea Party supports this proposition.
The organization also supports amending the City Charter to fill council and mayoral vacancies with more than 120 days remaining in the term via special election instead of appointment. Lastly, the group supports a proposition to elimination City Charter provisions superseded by state law and to update language in the document to current usage.
