ustxtxb_obs_1986_03_21_50_00020-00000_000.pdf

clear even to the Reagan administration that the Marcos regime was in a hopeless spiral toward disintegration, the News cried out on February 15, “Wait a Minute.” The editorialists warned that, by repudiating the election results, Americans would be working toward the overthrow of Marcos. “Even allowing for stolen votes,” the News said gracefully, “it would seem that 40-plus percent of Filipinos voted for Marcos. That’s a lot.” The point to be made here, at least from the peaceful flourescent editorial offices in downtown Dallas, was, “How can America’s Philippines policy advance the interest of America?” Not, for one thing, by making “moralistic fulminations” against Ferdinand Marcos. That, according to the News, was not just unwelcome, but “downright dangerous to this country’s interests.” We look now for a warm editorial from the Morning News inviting Marcos to sunny Dallas for further discussions on how to advance America’s interests. , Not Shinola V The Houston Chronicle reports that state District Judge Oliver Kitzman bought a shoeshine kit for a Hempstead man, Charles A. Martin, who was behind in child support payments. Kitzman gave Martin, who is black, the kit, telling him he “was in business for himself.” Martin’s lawyer, Bill Daniels, said Martin considered the action “degrading and demeaning. . . . He felt the judge wouldn’t have done the same thing to a white man.” Kitzman said he wasn’t thinking about race but about the fact that “a healthy, intelligent male of any color who says he can’t give his child a dime . . . needs an opportunity.” The Tax Time Cometh? V The people may be ahead of the politicians, once again, on the issue of taxes. According to the winter Texas Poll, 65 percent of Texans do not object to increased taxes in the state to spur economic development. By far the most popular money-making measure among respondents was a corporate income tax, favored by over half of those polled. The second most popular levy was increased sales taxes, followed by higher gasoline taxes. Higher personal income taxes was the least favorite alternative. The Comptroller’s Office predicts a corporate income tax based on the proposal made last session by Houston Rep. Senfronia Thompson would garner $236.4 million for state coffers every two years. The Official Record, Unofficially V An eight-page press release titled “The Official Record: Jay Gibson’s Qualifications for the Texas Supreme Court” has been circulating around news offices. The release which contains a cover letter written on the Democratic Party stationery of Perry Bradley, Vice-chairman of Finance attacks Gibson’s record and calls him insensitive to minorities, the disadvantaged, women, and blue collar workers. Trouble is, Gibson, a former state representative from Odessa, is a Democrat and running in the Democratic primary to win a seat on the Texas Supreme Court currently held by Raul Gonzalez. No, the Democratic Party hasn’t declared war on itself. Seems Bradley, who has gone out on a limb to support Gonzalez in the primary fight, OK’ed the use of a cover letter with his name on it, but didn’t know it would be printed on old Democratic Party stationery that had been found by the Gonzalez campaign. Political Intelligence is reported by Beau Barton, Ron Cesar, and Ellen Williams. One for the Birds, and Further Developments v In a victory for environmentalists and bird watchers, Land Commissioner Garry Mauro last month refused to allow a proposed aerial power line project on South Padre Island to go forward. Mauro instead granted an easement for a Corpus Christi power company to build the line underground. Environmentalists had threatened to fight the aerial line in court because of concern that the line would endanger the bird population that flocks to the area, and would be especially dangerous to the endangered species such as the brown pelican and the peregrine falcon \(see TO, Power & Light of Corpus Christi contended the lines would have a negligible impact on the birds and that a buried line would cost twice as much to build. Mauro made his decision after he received a report from the state Parks and Wildlife Department opposing the aerial line, which was to stretch eight miles across the Laguna Madre bay. In a letter to CP&L dated February 14 Mauro said “I cannot ignore the serious opposition” of Parks and Wildlife Department because of the agency’s greater expertise in assessing the potential impact of the line on migratory birds. The Sierra Club and the Audubon society had taken the lead in opposing the aerial power line last fall after the federal Fish and Wildlife Service dropped objections to the project and the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers issued a permit. According to the February 9 Washington Post, the decision to stop opposing the project came from the Fish and Wildlife’s regional office in Albuquerque, which had gotten its directive from the Reagan administration in Washington. The Post also listed former Governor John Connally as one of the developers with interests in development of South Padre Island. CP&L plans to comply with Mauro’s order and to bury the line. With the added source of power, development of hotels, condominiums, and convention centers on South Padre is expected to march forward. And precisely along those lines, the South Texas environmental battle has already shifted to a new front, this time with Land Commissioner Garry Mauro in a more dubious role. Houston Post writer Harold Scarlett reported on March 3 that the General Land Office had quietly issued a lease option in February to a private development company for land that until then had been the Brazos Island State Recreation Area. The land is situated near the mouth of the Rio Grande, between two plots that are held by the Playa Del Rio development company. Playa Del Rio wants to build a 12,665-acre resort area along the Rio Grande and the Gulf Coast, just south of South Padre Island. The state-owned land that Mauro has leased is 216 acres of beachfront that is not protected by the federal Barrier Island Act of 1982. Mauro told Scarlett on March 5, ” All I’ve done is allow them to pay me money to try to prove to me that the project will be environmentally sound. If they can’t, we’re not going to be a party to it.” 20 MARCH 21, 1986