Texas CSE Director Peggy Venable to Greet Sawgrass Convoy

In what promises to be its biggest rally yet, The Sawgrass Rebellion convoy
rolls into the Fort Worth area for an October 12 stop at the Saginaw, TX,
Train & Grain Festival. Texas CSE state director Peggy Venable and other CSE members will join the grassroots organization, Citizens Against Forced Annexation, in supporting the convoy as it crosses the country to educate citizens and show solidarity with property owners in the Everglades area of south Florida.

The convoy is impressive. One unit includes a 10 foot tall silver bucket, symbolic of the Klamath Falls bucket brigade in May, 2001. Another convoy unit carries a 12 foot long shovel, symbolic of an event on July 4, 2000.
On that day, hundreds of citizens opened a rural road near Jarbidge, Nevada, which had been previously closed by federal government agents supposedly enforcing the Endangered Species Act.

The convoy units will join the Train & Grain Festival parade, which begins
promptly at 10 a.m.

Venable will be one of the featured speakers at a rally, to begin at 12 noon at the festival. Other speakers will be convoy members, as well as Sterling Burnett, a senior fellow with the National Center for Policy Analysis; Jan Jacobson, known as the “Guru of the Everglades”; and CAFA members including Stephanie Pivec, the group’s president.

CAFA will host the convoy. The organization got its start in the Fort Worth area. CAFA now is a Texas-wide organization which represents residents of unincorporated areas. City councils throughout Texas are attempting to annex such areas without the approval of voters who live in the areas to be incorporated.

Such “stealth” annexation has become a hot issue in Texas. Many CSE mambers, and others, have let us know how they have been directly affected.

Texas CSE member Christopher Telschow recalls his experience as a resident of Kingwood, annexed by Houston. He says, “Our water bills tripled, fire and emergency services were reduced, and the whole ‘Superneighborhood’ concept started by Mayor Brown was a farce and a disaster. Houston has turned a deaf ear to Kingwood since the day of the occupation”.

Larry Lane chimes in. “In its 1996 annexation of Kingwood and Forest Cove, Houston ignored statutory provisions regarding annexation of certain utility districts”.

Alice Rekeweg is more blunt. “I was a volunteer firefighter and we were one of the best units in the state. After Houston took over, emergency response degraded significantly. People have died.”

This is not just a Fort Worth and Houston problem. A San Antonio-area CSE member writes, “The city is planning to annex us in 2004 and I am sure that not many residents
want that to happen”. Annexation efforts are also occurring in Austin, New Braunfels, Lubbock, and Burleson.

Finally, CSE member Luanne Caraway writes, “We live outside the city of Kyle, and just received notice that our 100 acre ranch is being annexed. No vote…..they tried to just push it through without notification to property owners, but the city council decided to notify us.”

Whether it is ranchers and farmers defending their property rights against
federal agencies, environmentalists, and the Endangered Species Act……
or residents of unincorporated suburbs demanding that they get to vote on
annexation of their property, their combined voices will be heard on October 12 in Saginaw.

Come join Peggy Venable and other CSE members for a parade, property rights rally, and a good-ol’ family time and the Train & Grain festival.

Directions: From Interstate 35W north of Fort Worth, take loop 820 west. Exit loop 820 at the 287 Business/Saginaw/Main Street exit. You are there.

Contact: billames@prodigy.net