Appended below are two political advertisements which appeared in the northern area of District One prior to the election of 5 November 2002. The first of these ads appeared in Mount Vernon and Clarksville on Thursday, October 31, and Sunday, November 3, in Mount Pleasant and Paris. The second ad appeared in Deport, Bogata, Blossom, Detroit and Talco on October 31 and in Texarkana on November 3. These ads were paid for by donations from various opponents of the Marvin Nichols and George Parkhouse Reservoirs, as well as their chief supporter, Senator Bill Ratliff. I claimed "responsibility" for them merely because of my "socio-political neutrality" in this matter and the convenience of my my website. Roberto
If, like some of us, you've been following controversial local news in recent months, then you're certainly familiar with the heated debate swirling around the proposed Marvin Nichols Reservoir and plans for other Sulphur River reservoirs, for water that would be piped, at great cost, to DFW consumers. The people of Northeast Texas have adequate water supplies and do not need these additional destructive lakes.
On Sept. 16, Governor Rick Perry told The Dallas Morning News, "It appears to me that if Dallas solely relies upon the building of Marvin Nichols, they could miscalculate. We know how long it takes to build a reservoir. There's no guarantee that, with the environmental impact that this could have on the State of Texas, that it couldn't stay in the courthouse for decades. I want to make sure that Dallas has an appropriate supply of water, and I think we need to be looking for other alternatives to Marvin Nichols." The Governor favors the construction of more technologically advanced and efficient desalinization plants along the Texas Gulf Coast. Marvin Nichols Reservoir might have been an option for water supply 35 years ago, but in today's world Marvin Nichols is a dinosaur of technology. Gov. Perry's opponent Tony Sanchez said that although he wasn't familiar with the Marvin Nichols controversy, he does endorse water conservation, adding "I don't want to take local control of water away from people." Hear, Hear to both men!
On Aug. 2, U.S. Congressman Max Sandlin of Marshall and State Representatives Barry Telford of DeKalb, Mark Homer of Paris, Tom Ramsay of Mt. Vernon and Bob Glaze of Gilmer issued a joint-statement to Region D water-planners to postpone any further action regarding Marvin Nichols. This proposal was officially discussed at the Oct. 30 Region D board meeting in Gilmer; final action is pending. Sandlin's opponent John Lawrence of Pittsburg, Telford's opponent Dan Teafatiller of DeKalb, and Senator Bill Ratliff's opponent B.D. Blount of Paris all have voiced opposition to Marvin Nichols. This is quite logical: 99% of their constituents oppose these lakes.
In that Sept. 16 article, Ratliff stated: "In my opinion, the reservoir will be built. ... The question is whether it will be built by a local entity [i.e., Sulphur River Basin Authority] with water sold [to Northeast Texas] under contract, or whether the Dallas-Fort Worth entities just go get the permits and build the thing themselves. We'd be waging a big battle with a small stick if we tried to stop a project like that."
At regular meetings of the Sulphur River Basin Authority, the DFW engineering firm of Bucher, Willis & Ratliff has often been mentioned as a subcontractor for this $1.7 billion lake. Thus, it's been rumored for months that Ratliff will gain financially from Marvin Nichols. But Ratliff denied this in a letter to the Mount Pleasant Daily Tribune on March 6: "First, I have had no affiliation with Bucher, Willis & Ratliff for thirteen years. Second, my son worked [there] for only one year and was never a partner in the firm ... [and] left this firm over six years ago. ... To insinuate 'family members getting rich off of pork barrel projects' is the essence of irresponsibility when there is absolutely no factual basis on which to make the charge." If Ratliff is no longer affiliated with this engineering firm, why doesn't he remove his name from the firm? Why does he continue to let them benefit from their use of the Ratliff political name? Of course, Ratliff will gain financially from Marvin Nichols!
If, like some of us, you've been following controversial local news in recent months, then you're certainly familiar with the heated debate swirling around the proposed Marvin Nichols Reservoir and plans for other Sulphur River reservoirs, for water that would be piped, at great cost, to DFW consumers. The people of Northeast Texas have adequate water supplies and do not need these additional destructive lakes.
On Sept. 16, Governor Rick Perry told The Dallas Morning News, "It appears to me that if Dallas solely relies upon the building of Marvin Nichols, they could miscalculate. ... I think we need to be looking for other alternatives to Marvin Nichols." The Governor favors the construction of more technologically efficient desalinization plants along the Texas Gulf Coast. Marvin Nichols Reservoir might have been an option for water supply 35 years ago, but in today's world Marvin Nichols is a dinosaur of technology. Gov. Perry's opponent Tony Sanchez told the Dallas News,"I don't want to take local control of water away from people."
On Aug. 2, U.S. Congressman Max Sandlin of Marshall and State Representatives Barry Telford of DeKalb, Mark Homer of Paris, Tom Ramsay of Mt. Vernon and Bob Glaze of Gilmer issued a joint-statement to Region D water-planners to postpone any further action regarding Marvin Nichols. Sandlin's opponent John Lawrence of Pittsburg, Telford's opponent Dan Teafatiller of DeKalb, and Republican State Senator Bill Ratliff's Democrat opponent B.D. Blount of Paris all have voiced opposition to Marvin Nichols. This is quite logical: 99% of local people oppose these lakes. Where was Bill Ratliff on Aug. 2? Does that sound like a man who is trying to protect and represent his constituents, who have so generously elected him, time and again, in years past? We citizens deserve better than this! Ratliff has used a DFW dagger to stab Northeast Texas in the back!