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Official Web Site for San Antonio 
Would you like to know more about our city? Want to check out our city services? Visit the official web site for San Antonio for answers to your questions. You may also want to check out this web site for info on demographics and a little history on the city. Just click on the name San Antonio to access that info. Curious about our local traffic? This site for TransGuide is updated every five minutes Often you can get a picture of a city by reading the local newspapers. Well, believe it or not in a city the size of San Antonio we have only one newspaper! Needless to say, it's not easy to get your opinion across when the editor doesn't like what you have to say. Take all that into consideration when you read the slanted news, especially during elections and when politics is involved! Considering a pet for the family? May I suggest that you visit the Humane Society and meet some of the delightful animals that are looking for a loving home? We have two adopted dogs and they make great family members! The Animal Defense League and the city animal care facilities also have animals waiting for someone to take them home and love them. Commentary (my personal opinion): I wish I could tell you that our local politicians are all honorable and dedicated to serving our wishes. Some of our Bexar County Commissioners (Lyle Larson, Kevin Wolff and Tommy Adkisson) are exactly that. Others, however, haven't earned my trust. They treat our hard earned tax dollars as "free" money that falls from the sky rather than money that we work so hard for and in many cases can't afford to give away. The head of our County Commissioners Court, Judge Nelson Wolff is unfortunately one who doesn't have much fight in him so we can't count on him to support us (the citizens) by going up against the other powerful people in the city and state when they're wrong. He seems to listen to what his rich tell him is best for the city instead of listening to what the average citizens want. He is a former mayor who, like other former mayors who are now appointed to positions of power because the people will never elect them again to anything, made some good contacts while in office. Nice guy but not who we need to represent us because he's not a fighter. As with any large city, the need for informed voters is paramount to making sure the politicians and heads of government agencies abide by the desires of the citizens. San Antonio has a big problem with those in power not listening to those of us who pay the bills and their salaries. Money, it seems, too often speaks louder than the citizens. For instance, US 281 north of 1604 has a serious problem with traffic congestion because several intersections on this major highway are controlled with traffic lights rather than overpasses the way any major highway should be and, in fact, the rest of this highway is built. These lights were installed only a few years ago so it's not just a matter of fixing an old problem! They did build one overpass a few years ago on the same stretch of highway as the traffic lights but they let it just sit there for a few years. They didn't actually connect it to anything until just recently. It alone eased a lot of the congestion. The duh factor is lost on some. Can you imagine any major six lane highway with traffic lights? Makes you wonder, what were they thinking, doesn't it? Anyway, our gas tax money was finally approved, allocated and ready to fund the much needed overpasses until the TX Dept of Transportation and the city diverted (illegally?) that tax money to pay for toll lanes that will be owned by a foreign country and a local big corporation that has benefited from "free" money on more than one occasion. The privately owned toll lanes will have those overpasses, by the way, while the public non-toll lanes will continue to have, you guessed it, traffic lights! A couple of people who served as executive directors of the boards (Alamo RMA and the SA MPO) that, along with the TX Dept of Transportation (TXDOT), approved these toll roads, used to work for TXDOT prior to serving on the boards. After the toll roads were considered a "done deal" they resigned their posts on these boards to take employment with companies that stand to benefit big time from, take a guess, toll roads. One of these boards is the Alamo Regional Mobility Authority (RMA). They have the power to spend our gax tax money even though many of the members are not elected by the people who paid the tax money. They are appointed. They sign a non-discloure agreement that forbids them from sharing information on the "deals" they've made with anyone who hasn't also signed the agreement. No, even our elected officials can't get the information unless they sign and if they sign, they can't tell the public what is in the "deals." Does something not smell funny? US 281 is not the only road that they are planning to make into a toll road. Parts of I-35 (from the Guadalupe County line to downtown SA), parts of Loop 1604 and Bandera Road (all it needs is to have the lights synchronized) are going to be destroyed as well. All in the name of money. The Alamo RMA even approved over $6 million just to study these toll roads that they've already tried to start building. They were stopped by an environmental group. Which begs the question, is this a scam? If this succeeds and our tax money builds the toll roads for these private companies (and pays the contractors who are so well represented on the various transportation Boards) and no one uses these roads, is it the plan all along for us (through TxDOT) to then buy out these foreign private companies with additional hundreds of millions of tax dollars? It's already happened elsewhere in Texas. This is just a drop in the bucket. Please, if you move to San Antonio, help us keep an eye on these good ole boys who admit they're trying to turn our great city into another Dallas or Houston! That's not a good thing. For more on this toll road fiasco please go to the site for the Texas Toll Party (as in Boston Tea Party) |
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