Dig Deeper Texas

List of State and District Candidates for the November 2006 General Election:

County Early Voting Locations Early Voting in person begins on October 23, 2006 and continues through November 3, 2006. Click on the name of your county to view early voting locations.

2006 General Election - Candidates Side by Side:

2006 General Election - Candidates Side by Side

List of State and District Candidates for the November 2006 General Election:

List of State and District Candidates for the November 2006 General Election Click on the name of your county to view the candidate list.

Offices Up For Election in 2006:

Offices up for Election in 2006

Links of Interest:

State Election Sources (Federal Election Commission’s “Combined Federal/State Disclosure Directory 2005″) County Sources

I don’t think we can stress enough that everyone needs to get out and vote. The League of Women Voters has a non-partisan Voters Guide available at your local library. Their statewide voters guide can be found here.
My husband voted on Saturday and when he was done he came out and said “Dig (because that is my name), did you know there was a seat open for the Edwards Auquifer Authority?” My answer was something along the lines of “duh!” and I told him the sample ballots were online for anyone to look at and my gosh I had personally put a link to the Bexar County Ballot in one of my blog posts, was he not paying attention? We went back and forth with me saying it is the responsibility of every voter to be informed and him saying bite me and he was annoyed with poor little Dig, said I was being haughty. He did make a good point about a sample ballot just being names without context and he asked for me to find information about the people running for those seats. So, here is some of the information I found. The League of Women Voters asked them each two questions. Here are their answers.

Question 1: What is your experience working on water issues? Which groups/advocates have you worked with on water issues?

Question 2: Will you be supportive of enacting water quality regulations region wide? Please indicate whether you would support the following as strategies for maintaining water quality: impervious cover limits, restriction of hazardous materials and land uses, monitoring, requirements for polluters to take responsibility for degradation caused by them, or other strategies (please describe)

District 1

Derek Meander

Answer 1:

1999 began my involvement with EAA through well and water rights ownership. Since then I have been through the initial regular permitting process, contested case hearings, and more recently the division of Senior and Junior water rights issues. My education of EAA has been an ongoing process for 7 years.

Answer 2:

Yes, I support enacting water quality regulations regionally. Impervious cover limitations could be met through utilization of new construction technologies such as pervious concrete and enhanced building designs but not through blanket mandates. Compliance with TCEQ regulations restricting hazardous materials is already required. Existing land use restrictions should remain in the permitting process. Great focus must be placed on understanding current monitoring practices. Polluters should be held accountable for the environmental degradation they cause.

Shephen Colley

Answer 1:

Currently, I am the architectural consultant for the Metropolitan Partnership for Energy. In this capacity, I was the prime author of the Build San Antonio Green residential green building program. Water conservation and efficiency defines on fifth of the program. I co-authored the Texas Manual for Rainwater Harvesting.

Answer 2:

Pervious cover limits benefit water quality as well as quantity. I will support this policy for undeveloped property able to be so regulated. For grandfathered and already developed properties, I support regulations to minimize groundwater contamination due to spills of toxic material and continue efforts to limit inappropriate land use over the recharge zone. Polluters must be held accountable. Roof source storm water abatement strategies deserve consideration as well to improve water quantity and quality.

Carol Patterson

Question 1:

EAA/EUWD, 15 yrs. Brought divergent forces together behind analysis of “Recharge & Recirculation,” a major water supply and springflow protection strategy. EAA/SAWS funding. South Texas Geological Society, two citizen’s water committees, Regional Clean Air and Water, Water Policy Group, David Todd, father of modern groundwater science.

Answer 2:

I will support water quality regulations region-wide including, hazardous materials restrictions, monitoring, holding polluters responsible, and impervious cover restrictions in a manner that does not duplicate governmental functions. I will also consider casements, land purchase, and investigating Best management Practices, such as innovative treatment of surface runoff, and am concerned with pollutants covered by the Safe Drinking Water Act, and also emerging contaminants. “Recharge and Recirculation” is a very high water quality supply option.

District 2

Bennie Cole - Response not received.

Annalisa Peace

Answer 1:

For the past 18 years I have worked with others to preserve our water resources, including as a founder and spokesperson for AGUA and SmartGrowth SA, as a member of the City’s Task Force that wrote San Antonio’s water quality ordinances, and as executive director of Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance.

Answer 2:

Absolutely, such rules are long overdue. The Edwards is designated as the aquifer most vulnerable to pollution within the State. We must use all of these strategies to protect this precious resource. Additionally, I support purchase of land and development rights on the Edwards Recharge Zone as a better use for public funds than the expansion of growth inducing infrastructure, since we all rely on the region as an abundant source of high quality water.

Byron Miller

Answer 1:

Worked with chambers on water legislation and rules. Involved with Community groups on water issues. Strong Community advocate. Provided valuable input to local and state boards and commissions. Served in leadership capacity of local and state boards and commissions.

Answer 2:

I am supportive of water regulations, impervious cover limits and restrictions on hazardous materials, polluters’ accountability and quality monitoring. Land use restrictions should be implemented that would not take away property rights. Funding should be sought for conservation easements, land purchase with more emphasis placed on land dedications by developers and property owners. Incentives should be utilized to encourage less degradation. Science, economic, social and legal facts must be considered.

District 7

Enrique Valdivia

Answer 1:

I helped lead Save Our Aquifer in the fight for a vote on the PGA Village. I’m president of Aquifer Guardians in Urban Areas, aka AGUA. I’m also president of the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance, a regional alliance of Aquifer protection groups stretching from Austin to Del Rio.

Answer 2:

I want to ensure that the precious waters of the Edwards Aquifer remain plentiful and pure for our children and grandchildren. I strongly support rules on impervious cover limits, restriction of hazardous materials and land uses, monitoring, and polluter accountability. While I have a strong preference for solutions that do not require engineered structures, I support the study of alternative means of protection string flow and increasing supply such as aquifer recharge and recirculation and desalinization.

Jerry Green

Answer 1:

I served on the Edwards Aquifer Authority Board from 1998-2002. I studied the issues and made informed votes. I always voted for what was “best for the aquifer.” I serve on SAWS Citizen Advisory Panel. Since 1966, I have had intense interest in water issues; attending meetings, hearings, seminars.

Answer 2

In my opinion, the Edwards Aquifer is the most valuable resource in the world. I strongly advocate protection of the recharge zone. The evidence shows this must include impervious cover limits. As a board member, I was instrumental in establishing rules prohibiting underground storage of hazardous material on the recharge zone. As a strategy I think partnering with TCEQ is important. There must be monitoring and enforcement.

Filed under: 2006 general election, AGUA, Annalisa Peace, Bennie Cole, Byron Miller, Carol Patterson, Derek Meader, EAA, Edwards Aquifer Authority, Enrique Valdivia, Jerry Green, November 7th, Stephen Colley, aquifer, bexar county, candidates, election, politics, texas, texas politics, vote, water