ustxtxb_obs_1983_10_28_50_00015-00000_000.pdf

. t4 Ct. , t . , S7A. P. A t 1\(NC* 10r tr. \(Tti;;,* PER DAY San Antonio workers on strike. LL ‘it , t-.; O 0 0 o_ c 0 o0 TD c-> o F.3 somewhere and be assured of food until you die. But that was one thing I could not accept. I could not go down to the establishment. Now there is some recognition about that. And there’s some recognition by those who did take money and make a nice little niche for themselves. These things everybody was feeling. But how many people got out there and did something about it? I think personally I feel that I have contributed something, and I’ve talked to members of COPS and so forth, and I have been invited to march with the farmworkers. I was arrested a number of times. I don’t think that I felt exactly fearful. I never thought in terms of fear. I thought in terms of justice. DIALOGUE Strange Place Fourteen years now I been in Texas and fourteen years I been reading the Observer. Slowly, slowly, I’m learning how this strange place works. It runs on money and the other guys usually got more. “Sorting It All Out” is great reporting, the best I’ve yet read on what’s going on in Mobil vs. The People. It fleshes out earlier TO claims that 1982 was a watershed year and things are looking up. Like Joe Holley I favor reform and public financing of elections. The present system is plain obscene. But sometimes obscenities can be fun and this is one. Meanwhile, please keep us informed on this story of money and oil. Certainly, no one else is gonna do it. Bill Plapp, 1003 Glade Street, College Station, Tx. 77840 Danburg Iceberg Being both an avid reader of The Observer and a constituent in Debra Danburg’s State Representative District I was surprised that you listed Debra as a disappointment in this session’s legislature. A quick glance at your voting record chart in the June 24th issue shows that Debra voted \(according to cor rectly 12 out of 16 times \(a 75% positive hardly be called disappointing. In addition although you mention two instances where you feel that Debra voted incorrectly you make no mention of her good votes or the leadership she showed. For instance concerning civil liberties she was at the forefront of getting killed the infamous sodomy law that was introduced. In another area that is my particular concern, the environment, Debra used her skills as a House Environmental Affairs Committee member to see to it that V The organizing of the Valley Interfaith community organization around health care in South Texas has borne fruit. On October 14, Gov. Mark White announced that $800,000 in earned federal funds were to be used to open and operate for two years the newly dedicated wing of the South Texas State Hospital. The wing in the former Harlingen State Chest Hospital. The wing in the former Harlingen State Chest Hospital had been built with previously appropriated funds, but funds had not been appropriated to staff and run the facility. The funding will allow the facility to open almost immediately in order to provide the only public hospital care for indigents living in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. The action conies in the wake of the clos the Texas Trails bill and the Urban Parks Fund bill renewal both passed. She also fought hard for a compromise Senate Water Package which would have gone far in addressing our state’s water problems. Finally she introduced a bill to regulate the transportation of hazardous waste materials in our state. I hope that The Observer will keep in mind the “big picture” when discussing a legislator’s performance in the legislature. Like an iceberg, there’s more than what meets the eye many times. Brandt Mannchen, 1822 Richmond #2, Houston, Tx. 77098. ing to new patients of the Brownsville Community Health Clinic due to federal and local cutbacks. The clinic had been the last Valley public health care facility for treatment of the poor with chronic health problems. Speaking for Valley Interfaith, Elvira Aguayo told the Observer that the organization had been working on the health care issue for over a year, culminating in a meeting on June 26, in which 6,000 Valley Interfaith members received a promise from White that he would look for funding for a regional hospital. White said the $800,000 would serve the facility for two years but that additional appropriations must be approved by the next legislature in order to assure continued service beyond mid-1985. THE TEXAS OBSERVER 15 POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE