Hot topic was border wall opposition
Presidio County
Eddie Morales — incumbent Democratic candidate for state House District 74 — and Clayton Tucker — Democratic candidate for agriculture commissioner — were in Shafter Sunday to tour the historic restorations underway in the ghost town and meet and greet with hundreds of area residents to let them know they are in staunch opposition to the border wall projects. The visits came on the heels of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa’s trip to Presidio and Terlingua last week.
Morales took the stage with Cibolo Creek Ranch owner John Poindexter to address a crowd of diners — invited by Poindexter to view his work in Shafter — and thanked everyone who was working to stop the wall. “At the end of the day, the communities at the local level, and the governments at the local level, are the best ones to address the issues of all of our constituents, because they’re closest to you,” Morales told the attendees.
Reached by phone on Tuesday, Morale’s Republican challenger, Robert Garza, outlined his general position on the wall projects. “I’m a believer in border security,” he said “But I also believe the wall is not appropriate in some locations and that includes Big Bend. It would destroy the natural beauty there.”
Tucker concentrated on mingling and introducing himself, since he doesn’t have the name recognition of many other candidates, including his Republican opponent Nate Sheets, who ousted the current agriculture commissioner, Sid Miller, in the primary. Tucker also is campaigning against the wall. “It’s complete and utter nonsense,” he posted on Facebook while driving to the Big Bend. “This is government irresponsibility. It is corporate handouts to political donors of the current administration.”
At the event Tucker also said he would focus on protecting water supplies, including from the threat of excessive pumping related to border wall construction and from data centers. “I’m the only candidate that is a farmer and knows the true value of water,” he said, noting that his family has ranched cattle in Lampasas for 60 years. Sheets has been silent on the wall issue and his campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
The Shafter restorations to numerous buildings from the heyday of the mine in the 1920s and 1930s — including the post office, church, and old Howell store/gas station — are near completion and will include accommodations as a sister resort to Cibolo Creek Ranch. During the event, Poindexter also took aim at Black Bear Minerals, the new owner of the Shafter silver mine that intends to resume operations. Fliers raising environmental concerns were placed at each of the dinner tables, situated on newly-seeded grass by Cibolo Creek. In addition to concerns over soil contaminants from the old mine operations, Poindexter told the crowd he was worried that a man camp for mine workers could be put in place in the heart of Shafter.
Morales continued on to the Casa Agave restaurant in Presidio on Labor Day for a campaign rally. Charlie Angell, an anti-wall activist and Redford river guide, asked Morales a question that was also intended as a jab at one local resident in attendance who has collaborated with wall contractors — Fernando Juarez, a Homeland Security Investigations officer and former Presidio City Council member who bought land east of Presidio and then leased it to contractors. “My question to you is, what can we do as a community when community leaders are profiting off the wall, but they tell us they’re against it?” Angell asked. “How can we convince them to stop profiting off of this and become the community leaders to serve us the way they should?”
Morales responded: “My experience is that those that put money over everything else are really hard headed and are only interested in money.” The only way to counter that is to continue to advocate your position and elect candidates like himself and Gina Hinojosa, he added.
