Corpusfishing.com

[The Trash Heap]

The disinformation campaign has begun, as most of you know already from the press release and Caller.com breaking news story about the conference yesterday. One of today's articles does a bit to correct the impression that our opponents want to give about what our coalition is and stands for, but Shexnailder continues to put words in our mouths in the press and on the tube. Beware of anyone trying to put words in your mouth or even refute what you're saying at the Courthouse signing table. Be polite, but, if they become too strident, keep arguing with you when you ask them to stop, or try to block anyone from signing, call Security. Go about your business then and ignore them as best you can until the uniforms arrive. Above all, don't leave your seats to confront them. These folks are so disorganized they can't agree on a name for themselves, and may not have thought out their tactics well enough to show restraint voluntarily, so play it safe by letting Security do it for them. We do not want to lose our signing place in the courthouse by joining in a melee. See you there at 2.

Caller.com

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URL: http://www.caller.com/ccct/local_news/article/0,1641,CCCT_811_4618718,00.html
Beach access petition begins, receives opposition
"It's About Time, Corpus Christi" vs. the Beach Access Coalition

By Brandi Dean/Caller-Times
April 13, 2006

A group in favor of closing part of Padre Island beach to vehicular traffic announced at a news conference Thursday it would marshal the forces needed to make the Beach Access Coalition's petition drive against the effort unsuccessful.

"It's About Time, Corpus Christi," formally known as "Just Feet on the Beach", formed several weeks ago to combat the coalition's opposition of traffic restrictions on 7,200 feet along the Padre Island seawall.

A successful petition would force an election on the traffic restrictions. The petitioners went to work collecting signatures Thursday morning at the Nueces County Courthouse, but the members of "It's About Time" say starting Friday, they'll be there, too, trying to convince people not to sign.

Members of "It's About Time Corpus Christi" include the Corpus Christi Association of Realtors, the Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce, the Corpus Christi Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Padre Island Business Association and the Regional Economic Development Corp., among others.

The Beach Access Coalition is backed by the Surfrider Foundation, as well as many local fishermen, windsurfers and political activitists. Pat Suter, a member of the coalition, said there was a short line waiting at the courthouse to sign the petition Thursday morning.

Caller.com

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URL: http://www.caller.com/ccct/local_news/article/0,1641,CCCT_811_4621231,00.html

Todd Yates/Caller-Times

Cornelia Lompe and her son, Steven, sign a petition for a vote on the vehicle ban Thursday at the Nueces County Courthouse.

Padre beach battle begins

Groups differ on plan to limit vehicle access

By Brandi Dean Caller-Times
April 14, 2006


The battle has begun for Padre Island beaches.

The Beach Access Coalition started work Thursday on its petitions against restricting vehicular traffic on the beach, but another group plans to make them fight for every signature.

The coalition has two petitions circulating - one to give voters a chance to undo the City Council's vehicle ban on 7,200 feet of Padre Island beach and one to make sure future vehicle bans are left up to voters from the beginning. This is the group's second try on the issue. An earlier petition to restrict 4,200 feet to vehicular traffic was made null and void when the council voted to undo the ordinance the petition was aimed at and write a new one to include more beach.

Austin developer Paul Schexnailder plans to develop a $1.5 billion resort on property he owns in the area, and has said that doing so requires the beach to be free of traffic.

In the two months the coalition petitioned, it collected about 6,000 signatures from registered voters. About 8,000 are needed to call for an election on the issue, and the members say they don't expect to have any trouble doing so in the 90-day time frame.

But "It's About Time, Corpus Christi," a new group in favor of the restrictions, hopes to prove them wrong.

"It's About Time" previously was called "Just Feet on the Beach." It's made up of representatives from the Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce, and the Corpus Christi Hispanic Chamber Commerce, the Corpus Christi Realtors Association, the Padre Island Business Association and other business organizations.

Group members announced Thursday that they were going to do whatever possible to keep the petitioners from forcing a vote. Colleen McIntyre, spokeswoman for the group, said members are printing literature on the issue and talking to businesses in hopes of convincing people not to sign the petition.

She said the coalition is misrepresenting the issue by leaving out details such as the fact that while 1.3 miles would be car-free, about 20 miles still are open for driving.

"We are concerned that the opposition will use scare tactics in order to get people to sign the petition," she said. "History will show that these same people used similar tactics in order to campaign against the water pipeline, Packery Channel, the elevation of the JFK Causeway and various city bond initiatives."

This time, About Time plans to provide a counterpoint.

"We're going to be at the places where they have the petitions," McIntyre said. "We're going to have a booth at the courthouse, (and will be) talking to people about what they're signing away."

The coalition set up a table at the Nueces County Courthouse on Thursday and plans to continue collecting signatures every weekday.

Hal Suter, chairman of the Beach Access Coalition, said he's not worried about the competition, but he is concerned about some of its assertions.

For one, he can't promise that every person who signs the petition understands every detail of the ordinance, but Suter believes most of them know why they're signing.

Those signing the petition Thursday seemed to back that up. Steven Lompe added his name to the list because he thinks parking lots don't provide the same access to beaches that driving on them does.

"You've still got to walk to where you're going (from the parking lot)," he said. "You get somebody who's elderly or mobility impaired walking in the sand - it's hard."

And Suter said the coalition is not the political activist group About Time is describing.

"There are about four out of the 25 to 30 (in the group) that have been involved in local politics," he said. "The bulk of the people, this is the first time they've been involved in anything."

Suter's mother, Pat Suter, was vocally against the dredging of Packery Channel. And Beach Access Coalition spokesman Michael McCutchon was an outspoken critic of the Landry's Restaurants Inc. development proposed for the downtown marina. But other members worked in favor of the Packery project and raising of JFK Causeway, and many don't normally get involved in such issues.

Cliff Schlabach is the beach and surf activities coordinator for Surfrider Foundation, all 125 members of which have put their support behind the Beach Access Coalition. He's never petitioned for anything but made an exception because this issue was important to him.

"This is the first one that I've ever been involved on, and that goes for numerous people in this," he said. "Mostly this is beachgoers and people who are concerned that their access to the beach is going to be cut off. We're daily beach users. I'd much rather be surfing. I'd much rather be out there enjoying the beach."

If the members can collect 8,000 valid signatures within 60 days, the issue will be on the November ballot. If it takes 90 days, the vote will be in April 2007.

Contact Brandi Dean at 886-3778 or HYPERLINK mailto:deanb@caller.com deanb@caller.com

Caller.com

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Todd Yates/Caller-Times

Paul Schexnailder talks to the Padre Island Business Association about his proposed development Thursday. ‘Signing the petition is signing away the future of the community,’ he said.

Developer: Beach plan hinges on petition, vote

By Jaime Powell Caller-Times
April 14, 2006

Whether Austin developer Paul Schexnailder will move forward with developing a $1.5 billion resort on Padre Island depends on the outcome of a petition drive aimed at curbing a key component of his project: 7,200 feet of pedestrian-only beach.

The majority of Schexnailder's plans, including a $500 million beachfront resort he has in the works with international resort development firm Intrawest, hinges on whether the Beach Access Coalition's petition drive forces the issue of vehicle traffic along the beach to a vote. If the issue goes to a vote, the decision then depends on whether voters overturn the City Council's March decision to pull vehicles off the stretch of beach in front of his development.

"Signing the petition is signing away the future of the community," Schexnailder told about 200 members of the Padre Island Business Association on Thursday.

Schexnailder said he will move forward with BeachWalk Village on Padre Island, a $300 million, 90-acre segment of the development, within 90 days.

BeachWalk Village borders a 1,300-foot length of beach just south of the island's seawall and just north of Padre Balli County Park. It will include about 400 residential units, including single-family cottages and some condominiums, along with a small boutique, inn and restaurants.

Schexnailder's deal with Intrawest would build the $500 million Balli Village as the first phase of a 300-acre, $1.5 billion resort. The resort would form a horseshoe around the seawall - with BeachWalk Village at the south end of the horseshoe and Balli Village at the north.

"If that beach does not get closed, the major resort is gone and the quality and the master plan will go with it," Schexnailder said. "We will build our beach village, but that is all. You will be looking at stuff more in line with Galveston or South Padre, not master-planned or operated as a resort."

Padre Island Business Association member John Trice said that when Schexnailder bought the land, no one wanted it. Now he can keep it together and turn it into a world-class resort or carve it into small parcels and sell it to buyers who won't put that type of development on it, Trice said.

"He can sell it in 300 pieces tomorrow for a fortune, leaving a legacy for this community that looks like every other poorly planned beach community," Trice said. "Or he can develop it like he has planned and he leaves a legacy we can be proud of."

Late Thursday, Schexnailder said much of the same thing.

"If we were to put in roads and streets and sell off five-acre blocks you could buy a block and build whatever you want," he said. "I would get the same amount of money as I would by holding it for one master development. I cannot get the master development done without a pedestrian beach. The first-class resort and development only exists if there is a pedestrian, vehicle-free beach."

Contact Jaime Powell at 886-3716 or HYPERLINK mailto:powellj@caller.com powellj@caller.com
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[maxwell]

Johnny , I would like to have a petition available at my shop. How do I make that happen? Maxwell
Tropical Shade and Shutter
901 Airline Rd
CC 78412

[DebiB]

Jonny .. Jerry and I would like one as well.

Jerry B's Kayak Sales
9906 SPID
Corpus Christi TX 78418
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Being happy does not mean that everthing is perfect.
It just means you have decided to see beyond the imperfections.
May you always be happy and see beyond
DebiB

[The Trash Heap]

Didn't catch your requests soon enough, or would have brought them to you myself. Will be leaving town before dawn Saturday, so passed your requests on via my personal BORG email list.

Be sure to give whoever comes your phone numbers so we can check back from time to time and bring more to exchange for the filled petition sheets.

When I have more time, I'll learn & post the businesses/addresses where the petitions are available on this and Nick's message boards. Dave Sikes will get them, too. Anyone can email me at jfrench@stx.rr.com to add their businesses. This is the same addy you can use to be asssimilated into the BORG list, and through that I can also relay messages to members of the BAC for volunteers to man signing tables, etc.

I don't know all the places currently carrying the petitions, just those I've been to already. Those are the Nueces County Courthouse, Nick's Breakaway Tackle Shop, and Roy's Bait & Tackle.
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The Trash Heap Has Spoken!
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