Today an article in the Express-News disclosed that Mayor Julian Castro, in response to a request for open meetings by the Express-News, postponed the upcoming executive session with CPS to allow them to determine what items could be discussed in open session and what required executive session. “There cannot be even the perception that any portion of this process isn’t as open as it should be,” Castro said. One word sums up that move in my mind – COOL! Castro has demonstrated a strong desire to hear the public during his first year in office. He’s learned a lot in the four years since leaving city council and those lessons can help lead to great movements in our city. The question is if the public can learn to discuss the issues in a civil manner. Read more…
Tonight before a crowd of around 300 or so at the Villita Assembly Hall the CPS Board of Trustees held the final hearing before making their decision on future investment in the South Texas Nuclear Project. All members of the board were present along with Mayor Julian Castro. Councilman Reed Williams, the principal council member staying close to the discussions, was also in the audience. The board will have one more meeting on Oct. 5 but will not be taking public input during that meeting. Audience members were permitted to speak for 3 minutes each before the board to voice their opinions. I stayed for about an hour and a half before leaving to come watch the Cowboys game. Even though I left early it was pretty easy to get the basic messages of the evening. Read more…
Recently there has been a lot of talk about solar energy these days as many utilities cope with a need to expand their infrastructure and deal with the environmental impact of generating electricity. San Antonio is among those communities dealing with these issues, primarily because of discussion about expansion of the STNP. Over the past few months CPS, city council, and energy advocates have hosted a number of public forums to learn and discuss options to consider for the future. The discussion rivals only the health care town halls in intensity and interest in San Antonio. San Antonio must address growing energy needs as the city grows and expands its reach into information technology. So with all this discussion is there really a simple answer or is there more complexity to the matter?
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Monday as I was scanning media around Texas I found an interesting article at the Austin American-Statesman regarding the problem facing the poor and elderly as a result of Austin’s decision to fore go further investment in STNP and opt for renewable energy. It appears that after the cost figures were calculated based on the decision that Austin’s poor and elderly would have a hard time paying their utility bills due to the expected cost increases. Advocates for the low-income residents have been in discussions with Austin Energy to try to plan for how to meet the needs. “We help a lot of people who can barely afford to keep the lights on now,” said Ron Walker, chancellor for the Catholic Diocese of Austin, which calculates electric bills could rise 50 percent in the next five years. What if San Antonio drops investment in STNP? What would happen to our low-income residents and who would pick up the costs? Read more…
Today was another great day with all the progressive political bloggers from around the nation. Starting with Howard Dean in a panel discussion on health care reform the bloggers got their morning fill of political fodder. In anticipation of “teabaggers” showing up in the crowd signs were passed around that said “Health Care Referm – We want Discussion not Disruption” which made sense. Tweeting that phrase up got a lot of good responses. Later I had lunch with Mayor Bill White, Houston, who is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. More on that later. The lunch was good but during an afternoon session on energy I got what I consider the big quote of the day for San Antonio. When asked about San Antonio’s issue regarding CPS investment in STNP Mayor White said “I would hate to see a city finance one of the first nuclear projects in the nation.” Hmmm. Read more…
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