In Tom Harris’ My Turn op-ed piece, “I’m tired of all these Boerne outsiders’ commentary!” in the Oct. 18, View, he said, “I’m so tired of hearing about city of Boerne issues from people who are not citizens of Boerne.”  And added that “they do not contribute …. taxes.”

Well, I would like Mr. Harris to know that I’m one of those pesky outsiders and I prescribe to Boerne Forward’s position of responsible growth.

While my address is in Boerne, I am not an official resident of the city.  Yet my wife and I are in the city nearly every day, shopping, banking, buying gas, eating in restaurants, visiting doctors and our dentist, dropping clothes off at the cleaners, taking our dogs to the veterinarian and for various other reasons.  And I pay a hefty tax bill to Kendall County every year.  I beg to differ with Mr. Harris.  We do have a dog in the hunt and have a right to “stick our nose in the city of Boerne’s business.”

E. R. Kramer
"Boerne"

Are you kiddin’ me?

I live in Fair Oaks Ranch with my wife and children. The main reason we moved to Fair Oaks from San Antonio was because of the research we had done on the excellent school district and the wonderful sense of community that we experienced while we would visit. We would often say to ourselves what a wonderful place to raise our kids. We did not really care where we lived. We just wanted to get our kids in the community and this great school district. We just happened to find a home in Fair Oaks Ranch.

When people ask us where we live now, more often than not we say we live in Boerne. Nothing against saying Fair Oaks Ranch, we love Fair Oaks, but we also love Boerne. We did not move to Boerne because of the name of the schools. We moved because of the school district. One of our children has already graduated from Boerne High School and I have two more that will graduate in the near future.

I applaud the name of the new high school Boerne-Samuel V. Champion. The school board has honored a beloved educator and has retained the respected name of Boerne in the title which is the wish of everyone. Almost everyone.

It is my understanding that there was only one school board member, Erik Thormaehlen, who voted against Boerne in the naming of the new high school.

Why did he vote against Boerne? Is he against me? Against my children graduating from a Boerne school. Did he really say publicly at the last board meeting that the people that live in Fair Oaks aren't even part of Boerne. Someone check the records would you? Is he against all my neighbors here in Fair Oaks Ranch? Does he think we are not a part of the Boerne community also because we don't live within the city limits of Boerne Are you kiddin’ me?

We love and support the community of Boerne. We are so very proud of the Boerne school district and we are proud to support the Boerne name.

Thank you, Dr. Kelly and the school board for remembering the whole community.

You did the right thing.

Eric Siess
Fair Oaks Ranch

Amendments go before voters

On Nov. 6, Texans will be asked to vote on 16 amendments to the Texas Constitution. All of them merit careful consideration by the voters.

The decisions made by us will govern Texans for years to come.

Amendment 11 is of paramount importance. This amendment requires the recording of how each legislator votes on all substantive issues coming before the legislature for final passage.  I believe this to be of critical importance.  It is a basic obligation of our legislators to record their votes so that the people of Texas can know what is actually done by their representatives in resolving specific issues. 

It is fundamental to a democracy to have transparency in government.

The people must be able to know how they are represented. A voice vote where the chair decides if the "yeas" or "nays" prevail does not inform the people as to how their representative voted. Representatives must be accountable to their constituency.

The opponents to this amendment suggest that it is not necessary since the major work on a bill happens before it comes up for final passage. I believe that "all" votes should be recorded, but this is a major first step in determining if our legislators actually voted our will on an issue.

Recorded votes make the question clear and unambiguous, thus making our representatives accountable to the public.

In a time when our government has become secretive and our personal freedoms more and more diminished, we must take every opportunity to hold our government accountable.

I ask that every citizen vote for this amendment and encourage others to do the same.

Daniel Boone
Canyon Lake