The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 114, No. 18, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 29, 2004 Page: 2 of 32
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2
THURSDAY 29 APRIL 2004
THE GANADIAN REGORD
(3ein&dicL<i<
RECORD
INCORPORATED FEBRUARY 1998
BEN EZZELL
Editor a Publisher 1948-1993
NANCY EZZELL Publisher
LAURIE EZZELL BROWN Editor
editor@canadianrecord.com
BONNIE FARRAR
Advertising Manager
advertising@canadianrecord.com
CATHY RICKETTS News & Features
news@canadianrecord.com
JENNY KLEIN News
news@canadianrecord.com
MARY SMITHEE Office Manager
circulation@canadianrecord.com
billing@canadianrecord.com
DESIGN & PRODUCTION
Laurie Ezzell Brown, Kim McKinney
PHOTOGRAPHY
Laurie Ezzell Brown, Cathy Ricketts
Jenny Klein
USPS 087-960
PO Box 898, Canadian, TX 79014
Fax: (806)323-5738
Periodicals postage paid at the
Post Office in Canadian (Hemphill
County), Texas. Published weekly in
Canadian, Texas by Nancy M. Ezzell
POSTMASTER:Send address changes
to The Canadian Record, PO Box
898, Canadian, TX 79014-0898
SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
$25/Year in Hemphill County
$30/Year in adjoining counties
$35/Year elsewhere
beat rr, kw?
No MOPE. TOOK
SPECIAL
SESSION
TODAY
^LOERTSIS'
entrance
Remember the lottery ?
By Laurie Ezzell Brown
IT'S HARD TO IMAGINE who in his right mind
would vote against the $3.5 million school
bond issue that goes before voters in the
May 15th Canadian ISD election, but failure
of imagination has led to more than one elec^
tion disappointment in the past. Never prone
to overestimate the wisdom or underestimate
the gullibility of the general electorate when it
comes to checkbook issues—last year's Prop-
osition 12 leaps immediately to mind—we'll
err on the side of caution and lend our
emphatic endorsement to a "yes" vote
on May 15.
CISD Superintendent Frank
Belcher has quite capably made the
case for passage of the bond issue in a
series of columns published in recent
editions of The Record—copies of
which we'll be happy to make avail-
able to any voter who missed them
the first time around. That ground
has been well-plowed, and we'll not
attempt to go baek over it.
This bond issue is the second one
we have been asked to support in
the last two years. The first bond issue—ap-
proved overwhelmingly by voters in May of
2002—represented a breakthrough by this
school district's trustees and administrator
in seeking and finding ways to make life un-
der robin hood # little bit less uncomfortable.
The fondly-named robin hood school finance
plan requires that property-rich school dis-
tricts—a status Canadian enjoys by virtue of
its mineral wealth—share a hefty portion of
its revenue with those less blessed.
Revenue from the previous bond i$
sue—which is not subject to recapture—has
allowed Canadian ISD to pay for normal op-
erating expenses and facility improvements
without the State taking their chunk o' change
off the top. It's not a dodge. It may be a loop-
hole. Whatever else it is or is not, it is legal.
It is also quite effective, having saved
CISD over $1 million in recapture from the
first $2.5 million bond issue. It has also al-
lowed local school trustees to maintain a total
tax rate of $1.47 for the last two years at a
time when many school districts—rich and
poor—around the state are bumping their
heads against the State-mandated $1.50 cap,
and wondering how they are going to cut their
budgets any more and still adequately and
SflELDJJ
equitably educate our children.
If that argument isn't persuasive enough
for local voters, we've got a better one. Just
take a gander at Governor Rick Perry's very
bad—astonishingly bad—plan to fix school fi-
nance. Let's Set aside, for the moment, the un-
settling knowledge that this fifth-generation
Texan is as pure a product of the very school
system he aims to fix as there is.
We've just survived a Legislative session
and three special sessions notable
only for having driven a wedge so
deep between the Republican and
Democratic parties that those in the
minority felt compelled to leave the
state to keep from ending up with
railroad tracks down their backs.
Having utterly failed to achieve any
kind of bi-partisan consensus, Gov.
Perry shrugged off increasingly
desperate cries for school finance
repairs and vowed he would not call
another special session unless a con-
sensus was first achieved.
Perhaps stung by the sharp criti-
cism of his leadership skills, Perry came up
with a plan of his very own that has achieved
what once was thought impossible—unity.
Republicans and Democrats, liberals and con-
servatives, rich and poor alike have lambasted
Perry's plan, which proposes to pay for our
children's education with revenues from such
worthy and reliable schemes as video lottery
terminals, strip joints and tobacco sales.
Forget "Remember the Alamo!" Those
who believe Texas not only has an obligation
to educate its children, but that a well-edu-
cated populace is even in its own best interest,
might consider a new battle cry: "Remember
the Lottery!"
Not satisfied with those bad ideas, Perry
also proposed the ominous split property tax
roll, which would kindly allow school districts
to keep on collecting residential property tax-
es while the state hauls in business property
taxes, and then doles it baek out to school dis-
tricts as it sees fit. We asked Superintendent
Belcher what the implications of that were for
CISD—besides the loss of local control—and
his answer was stunning. The district's prop-
erty tax base in 2003 was $607 million. All
but about $50 million of that is. oil and gas
property, "If the State gets those revenues,"
THE FOLLOWING COMMENTS were made by Lauren Haley on
Tuesday, April 20, during the recent public hearing and rules work-
shop held by the Hemphill County Undei'ground Water District
board. Haley was among a group of seven local citizens who spoke to
the board in defense of their attempts to conserve and protect our wa-
ter. They were surrounded by others who, though they did not address
the board, were clearly present in their support.
Haley's comments were so concise, and spoke so clearly to many
of my own concerns, that I requested a copy of her notes. They are
reprinted here for the benefit of those who were not present at the
meeting, and for the purpose of historical preservation. Some day,
it will matter that there were those who were willing to stand up
and speak on behalf of the board members who have adopted a
conservative, and by my count, a courageous approach to overseeing
the sustainability of Hemphill County water and the Ogallala that
supplies us. Haley also spoke on behalf of those not yet able to speak
for themselves: the young and not yet born who will inherit this
earth—or whatever is left of it.
I AM LAUREN HALEY and I am a resident of Hemphill County and
aeitizen concerned about the preservation of water in our county. Over
the past few months, I have heard many discussions, accusations and
false assumptions, and I would like to address some of them:
1 )The UWCD rules cost the taxpayers too much. Well, I have calcu-
lated the $44,000 price tag and came up with $10.29 cost per person in
Hemphill County. In my opinion, I would be willing to pay even more
than that if necessary. I would also venture to guess that the opposing
counsels here today would not care to divulge what they have billed to
date on behalf of their clients, but I canbetyou it is more than $10.29!
2)The rules are too long. Well, we can thank the lawyers for that.
Yes, they could be shortened, but like any oil/gas lease, bank note, sill,
or any contract for business, you can be assured that there are a lot of
"extras" just to cover all of the bases. The last 19 pages alone are just
references to procedures and not about water, but I really don't think
the length of the rules is the major complaint. What did Shakespeare
write in MacBeth about lawyers?
3i)Tourism is not an important aspect of Hemphill County. I dis-
agree with that. According to the Texas, Yes! program, Canadian was
voted #1 in the State for the mosthardworking rural community in the
areas of tourism, community development, education and training and
creating regional partnerships with other communities. It also states
that Canadian has over 60,000 annual visitors who are given the op-
portunity to—and I quote—"enjoy the unique and natural beauty of
the Lone Star State."
A)It is a "taking" if people cannot sell their water to the highest bid-
der. Well, I would turn that right around and say it is a "taking" of my
property if my streams dry up and my cottonwood trees die. I know I
could find a lawyer who would argue that side. How come we have not
heard about the people who don't want to sell their water. What about
our rights? Should the buyers of the water downstate reimburse me
for my sinking water table so they can water their fescue lawns?
5)It is my right to sell my water. It is given to me by the Rule of
Capture since 190i1 in Texas. Well, I don't think the rule of capture was
intended for water sales and unfortunately the consequences of selling
your water affect more than one person. If we could just cut off the wa-
ter on property lines, then I would be in favor of it. But the exporting
of water just lines the pockets of few at the expense of many, the con-
sequences of which are a lower water table and only 50% of our water
left after 50 years. So after 100 years, we have no water left? And not
one hydrologist can be sure that the remaining 50%:of the water is as
good as the top half. I have four children, and if you put four straws in a
glass of water and let all of them drink, I can assure you that you don't
want to be drinking the bottom half of that water!
And speaking of quality...let's talk about water quality. Whq's.going
to be left to fund the water treatment of the bottom half of the aqui-
fer? The exporters? Maybe the legislature should require the buyers
and end users to indemnify the neighbors who choose not to sell their
water.
In the same vein, a lower water table....do we realize why there
are not any cottonwood trees uphill from Miami? The water table is
very deep there, thus the cottonwoods can't grow. This is just like
what would happen here if the water table starts to decline with the
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Brown, Laurie Ezzell. The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 114, No. 18, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 29, 2004, newspaper, April 29, 2004; Canadian, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth220627/m1/2/: accessed May 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hemphill County Library.