LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Dear Editor, I was ready to lead off by saying, “Democracy wins a round!” But thinking about it, it’s fair to say that democracy won much more than a single round – it was more like three rounds, and right here in Hays County.
It couldn’t have come at a better time.
There’s been a great deal of discussion about potential plans for the Trump administration to “nationalize” elections. The President himself has said, “There will be Voter I.D. for the Midterm Elections, whether approved by Congress or not! Also, the People of our Country are insisting on Citizenship, and No Mail-In Ballots, with exceptions for Military, Disability, Illness, or Travel.”
This is the same guy who thinks he has the unilateral authority to shred the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which confers birthright citizenship to just about every individual born in the United States. He’s issued an Executive Order pretty much revoking this right, substituting his own criteria for that of our Founding Fathers, and slamming the birthright citizenship door on everybody else. The Supreme Court is expected to rule on this power grab shortly.
My point here is not to debate Donald Trump; rather, it is to underline his own stated plans and actions to curtail voting rights and citizenship rights. These rights are the foundation of an active and healthy democracy. This is why, in the current environment, with these rights at risk, every victory for democracy is significant. And every victory must be shared and celebrated.
Let’s start with this week’s Democratic and Republican Primary Elections. Historically, the turnout for the March midterm primaries is nothing to write home about. Cycle after cycle, with only rare exceptions, the combined Hays County turnout for these elections is, in a word, uninspiring. In the 2014, 2018, and 2022 midterm elections, the average combined turnout was 13.36% of registered voters. This week, we saw that figure more than double – to 27.22% It was clear from the first day of early voting, as daily voting figures started coming in, that something had changed. Day after day, turnout exceeded anything we had seen in the past. Voters saw something that moved them. And they acted on it, showing up at the polls in completely unexpected numbers.
We’ve demonstrated that we can flex that voting muscle enough to create a new baseline. The trick now is to continue to exercise it, particularly in the May 26 Primary Runoff Elections. The voter-dropoff rate from the Primary to the Primary Runoff can run as high as two-thirds to three-fourths. I can’t speak for anybody else, but I can say this: I’m not happy having my elected officials chosen by such a small number of voters. I can’t imagine that anybody else is, either.
So here’s the challenge: let’s do the same thing we did on Tuesday and double the voter turnout for the Primary Runoffs.
As we celebrate democracy, we definitely have to celebrate the outpouring of public engagement as the City of San Marcos considered taking action that would have opened the door to the construction of Data Centers within the city. The arguments were very compelling: environmental issues; enormous water consumption in a time of drought; enormous power consumption, creating the need for even more water; depletion of the aquifer; noise; and the construction of a “campus” of concrete industrial buildings.
Something tells me this proposed campus would bear no resemblance to the campuses we knew as students. I fall back on my “Humpty Dumpty” example here: ‘’When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less.’’ That’s something worth keeping in mind as the developers try to sell us on Data Centers.
Reports indicate that there were at least 115 speakers on the issue when it came before the City Council – this included the Citizen Comment period, the Public Hearing, and a Council workshop. The vast majority spoke against it, and the hearing went on for many long hours and into the early morning. But it did show that the people of San Marcos are engaged, informed, and willing to sacrifice their time to make sure their elected officials understand their feelings and their preferences about this issue.
When it came time for the crucial vote, the San Marcos City Council wisely voted 5-2 against the land-use change that would have made the Data Center possible. While the door is not closed completely — the developers can reapply in six months — this was a major victory for participatory democracy. It also points out the need for stronger state protections for communities facing similar Facing this level of likely and continued opposition, the developers may decide to pack up their tent and move on to more welcoming territory. (Hopefully, very far away.) And it will give those who value quality of life over questionable industrial development the opportunity to work with city officials to attract development that complements rather than detracts from and, indeed, threatens the natural features of our river city.
My third shout-out for democracy involves a proposal discussed at last week’s City Council meeting that would have reduced the length of individual Citizen Comments from three minutes to sixty seconds. Fortunately, between the time the meeting’s agenda was published and the meeting itself, Council members received numerous calls and emails from local residents opposing the change. One was mine. Others spoke about it at the meeting.
Mayor Jane Hughson, who sponsored the item, offered a compromise, indicating that one minute might not be enough time for a speaker to make a cogent case for or against an item. She amended her proposal, expanding the comment period to two minutes, and pointed out that her effort was not a response to the lengthy comment period at the Data Center meeting. Rather, it was something she had been considering for some time.
While no action was taken, there was broad, general discussion about potential meeting efficiencies. The Mayor noted that the item would be back on the March 31 agenda and asked that the members return with suggestions.
If residents hadn’t weighed in, there seems to be a good chance that we’d be well on our way to a one-minute Citizen Comment period.
Three cheers for democracy; it works! And it’s our job to make sure it continues to work.
Sincerely, Jon Leonard San Marcos
