Volume 22 . Issue 4 . April 2021

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE Stacey Gilfillan Spring has finally sprung, y'all--and I couldn't be more thrilled! In other great news: On March 11th, President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan, and with it, help is finally on the way to our fellow Americans! Many folks are hanging on by a mere thread as unemployment and healthcare benefits have vaporized during this year-long COVID-19 pandemic. Yet this critical legislation did not garner even a single Republican vote. So, we can thank the Democrats for ensuring, among other just-in-time benefits, like eviction protection and child tax credits, that Americans will receive stimulus checks for $1400--including financial support for the fine citizens of Texas, Republicans and Democrats alike! Also included in this timely legislation, the City of Boerne will receive roughly $4M in funding, and the City of Fair Oaks Ranch will receive approximately $2M in funding. Seventy percent of Americans supported this legislation; however, Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, Reps Chip Roy and Tony Gonzalez all refused to bring these federal tax dollars back into the Great State of Texas. The pandemic remains agnostic to party affiliation, and Texans are still hurting, which makes this political pandering all the more shameful. In other not so great news, here are few disturbing headlines pulled from Progress Texas: Jim Crow Comes to Texas; Republican Blame Game at the Southern Border; Discriminatory Bills in Texas Would Deny Rights to Trans Kids; 7 Anti-Abortion Bills the Texas Senate is Wasting Time On Instead of Bills to Help Texans. The Texas Lege is still in session, my friends, so let's get our activism firing on all cylinders and giddy up! There is so much--SO MUCH--work to do. A tip of the hat to Laura Bray, Chair of KCDP, for always keeping us apprised of the bills moving through various committees, complete with suggestions for action via her weekly "TxLege Action Alert" emails. If you aren't currently receiving these, you definitely want to get onto this distribution list! Our local Boerne/Fair Oaks Ranch municipal and BISD elections are shaping up, with early voting beginning on April 19th-27th and Election Day on Saturday, May 1st. All four BISD candidates will be allowed a few minutes to introduce themselves to our BAD Members during the April 8th Zoom meeting, which begins at 6 pm. Our other guest speaker that evening is Katherine Romans, the Executive Director of the Hill Country Alliance. The HCA is a local nonprofit organization whose purpose is to raise public awareness and build community support around the need to preserve the natural resources and heritage of the Central Texas Hill Country. Please join us in welcoming our guests, and do feel free to invite a friend or two to the April 8th BAD Member Zoom Meeting! Cheers!

APRIL BAD MEETING THURSDAY, APRIL 8 6:00 p.m. via Zoom In recognition of the importance of Earth Day and all things environmental, we are pleased to have Katherine Romans, the Executive Director of the Hill Country Alliance (HCA), as our April guest speaker. The HCA is a nonprofit organization whose purpose is to raise public awareness and build community support around the need to preserve the natural resources and heritage of the Central Texas Hill Country. Click here to learn more about their mission and activities. As a bonus, we will also hear briefly from the four candidates running for the BISD School Board: Dr. Kate Harrison, Jessica Davila-Burnett, Jaymie Maglesdorf, and Joe Tidwell.   Note that the meeting is at 6:00 in the evening. Paid members will receive the Zoom link before the meeting. Others interesetd in attending can email bko57bko57@yahoo.com for the link.

Katherine Romans is the Executive Director of the Hill Country Alliance, a regional nonprofit focused on bringing a diverse constituency together to protect the water, land, communities, and night skies of the Texas Hill Country. Katherine also serves as the inaugural chair of the Texas Hill Country Conservation Network, a coalition of more than 75 nonprofits and academic institutions utilizing a collective impact approach to scale conservation in the region. Together the Network has leveraged more than $80 million in new or increased investment in conservation across the 17 county region. Katherine brings more than a decade of nonprofit management, community engagement, communications, and legislative experience to bear on the natural resource challenges facing Central Texas. She holds a Master of Environmental Management from the Yale School of the Environment.

DR. MARILYN HARRINGTON Vice President There are three items I wish to share with you. 1.   On February 25, 2021, I attended a Zoom meeting with Stacey Abrams, Senators Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, and Mazie Hirono. Here are the major take-a-ways from the session. H.R.1 - voting rights legislation is the most important of its kind since the Voting Rights Act in the 1960's. It has passed the House and much must be done to get through the Senate. Work for Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. to become states. Elected conservatives have fought this for decades because most of the people living in those two areas are people of color. Work against voter suppression tactics in our states. Texas was mentioned by Stacey and the Senators during the zoom session. Of course, Georgia and other states are placing barriers in front of voters too. Gerrymandering Get YOUNG PEOPLE registered and out to vote. Senator Hirono was passionate about this and had great data to back-up her arguments for this issue. 2.   The B.A.D. Member meeting, May 13th at 6:00 PM – Criminal Justice This meeting should be riveting. It focuses on criminal justice. The featured speakers are Ms. Ananda Tomas from FixSAPD and Ms. Valerie Reiffert from Radical Registrars. Both of them also are integral to the Black Lives Matter movement in our area. These young women are passionate, intelligent, and determined. You will really enjoy this session. While this activity takes place in San Antonio, all cities must be prepared to develop accountability and trust in their own Police Departments, including the Boerne Police Department and the Kendall County Sheriff’s Office.   3.   Homeless and Marginalized in Boerne On Thursday, March 11, I met with people and organizations who talked during the horrible Deep Freeze in February. Concern was grave for our homeless and marginalized neighbors in Boerne. While the Hill Country Family Services, the Library, a business and others stepped up to provide some shelter for them, much more needs to be done before another crisis occurs. The Boerne Police Department has been asked to join us. This is a community-wide project! So, the group is small but growing and includes nonprofits, individual volunteers, churches, etc. The group that met on March 11 included: Robin Stauber, Patrick Heath Public Library; Staci Almager, Hill Country Family Services; Misty Esparza, Wesley Nurse through the Methodist Healthcare Ministries; Billie Watts, Touchstone Community Church; Kerry Kirtley, Touchstone Community Church; Jacob Dukes (unable to attend) and me.   If anyone would like to join us in planning for the safety of our community members during any crisis/emergency, please let me know. I am sure that some of you would be willing to volunteer in this needed effort. You may contact me at marilynksh@gmail.com. The next meeting is scheduled for April 15 at 10:00 AM.

DONNA PEACOCK Secretary B.A.D. SCHOLARSHIP UPDATE   The deadline has passed; applicants have submitted completed forms, letters of recommendation, and essays; the scholarship committee (Joe Blatchford, Dan Basarich, Brooke Orr, Sherrie Jowers, and me) is in the process of evaluating all submissions, and the winner will be announced this coming week.   Applications for the Boerne Area Democrats 2021 $1000.00 “Civil Engagement Scholarship” were circulated to graduating seniors from public high schools in Kendall County (Boerne High School, Champion High School, and Comfort High School) who are planning to attend an accredited vocational school, community college, college, or university in the fall of 2021.   The essay prompt:            Consider the numerous challenges facing our country today, such as            the environment, health care, civil rights, education, and immigration.            Pick an issue that you think is the most critical, explain its importance/            Implications, and describe how you would advise our government address            this challenge.   The winning essay will be offered to The Boerne Star, Hill Country Weekly, and the Comfort News for possible publication.   We thank all schools and students who participated and we look forward to announcing the winner of the 2021 scholarship. Reminder: All paid BAD members receive an email containing the previous meeting minutes prior to the monthly BAD meetings. Please read through the minutes and be ready to make corrects/additions or to vote to approve at the monthly meeting.

BROOKE ORR Membership We currently have 185 paid members! It's time to pay April dues, so if your membership is up for renewal, you will receive an e-mail from me. Please be sure to check your SPAM folder for messages from BAD. To become a member or renew, pay online with PayPal or go to our BAD web page, click on the Become a Member link, and fill out the application. Don’t forget to click on the submit button! Also, you can mail your check to BAD Membership, PO Box 2132, Boerne, TX, 78006. Your dues help us to support candidates and sponsor our yearly college scholarship.

BRENDA SCHMIDT Treasurer  We continue to receive dues and donations, so thank you to all who support BAD! We do love donations and because we have a $1,000 scholarship award coming up in May, donations are important right now. Because we can't meet in person, we are not able to raise funds via t-shirt sales and other money-generating activities that we used to conduct during our meetings, so please know that we do appreciate your support!

NATALIE SCHUN Publicity Kudos to Natalie, who is featured on the wonderful Bookface Friday book cover, pictured at left! Natalie is starting a new literary program, Book Babies, at the Patrick Heath Public Library. Also, kudos to BAD member Joyce Basarich, who led the Wee Play Story Time at the library for many years. Patrick Heath Public Library was recently cited by the Texas Municipal Library Directors Association for the 2020 Achievement of Excellence in Libraries Award. The award recognizes 10 areas of service and outstanding contributions our library makes to our community and this year only 56 libraries across the state were recognized!   Speaking of libraries, April 4-10 is National Library Week. Libraries play an essential role in their communities by providing not only books and other reading materials, but also meeting spaces, movies, classes, and events, so if you haven't visited PHPL, make plans to do so this week.   If you have been cleaning out your bookshelves during the pandemic, the library accepts donations on Monday-Friday from 9:00-11:00 a.m. And if you haven't ever been to the Book Shop Under the Windmill next to PHPL, you are missing out! The Book Shop has a huge selection of gently used books of all kinds for all ages and the prices are right! They are open Wednesday-Saturday from 10:00-2:00.

KRISTA BERMEJILLO-VASQUEZ Social Media FYI - Some of you may not know that Krista is the Physician Assistant at the Methodist Emergency Room in Boerne. If you find yourself needing ER services, know that you are in good hands with Krista! There are always interesting and informative posts on our social media pages so be sure to check them out - and Like them! Web: boerne-area-democrats.org Facebook: Boerne Area Democrats  Instagram: @boerneareademocrats Twitter: @BoerneDemocrats

TERESA SOMAL Activities 

Join Us for Our Next ADOPT-A-HIGHWAY EVENT April 10 9:30-11:30 a.m. BAD and KCDP will participate in the nationwide Great America Cleanup program by hosting another trash pick-up on our Adopt-A-Highway section on FM 3351 (just south of its intersection with Hwy 46). Join your Kendall County Dem friends and volunteers across the state for the "Don't Mess with Texas Trash-Off" which is held to support the national clean-up effort. We need at least 20 volunteers to be able to clean our 2-mile stretch of road. Sign up here: https://www.mobilize.us/kendalltxdems/event/379567/ Everyone needs to sign up individually, so we know how many safety vests to get. Be prepared with the following: face masks, good shoes, plenty of water, sun protection, and gloves if desired. Trash bags will be provided. If you happen to have your own bright orange safety vest, you are welcome to wear that. Parking: meet at 9:15 a.m. at the shopping strip behind the Circle K/Subway (913 TX-46, Boerne, TX 78006). So slap on some sunscreen and join us for the Don't Mess with Texas Trash-Off as part of the Great American Cleanup! BAD Coffee & GOOD Conversation April 16 at 10:30 a.m. A big Thanks to everyone that joined in our first Coffee and Conversation, it was a good turn out! So nice to get to meet everyone in a casual setting and put faces with names. The next Coffee & Conversation will be April 16th at 10:30am, hope to see you all again!    A link will be sent out to paid members closer to the meeting; if you are new to BAD and would like to join us, email me for the Zoom link at teresasomal@hotmail.com.

A CONVERSATION ON SYSTEMIC EQUALITY IN TEXAS April 7, 2021 @ 6:00 PM – Join the ACLU of Texas for a virtual event highlighting the fight for racial justice and Systemic Equality in Texas. The evening will feature two special guests, Gary L. Bledsoe, President of the Texas State Conference of NAACP Units, and Chris Hollins, former Harris County Clerk.  Find your most comfortable chair, and bring a beverage and some snacks. You won't want to miss this important conversation on the continued fight for civil rights and civil liberties as we redouble our efforts to erase the legacy of racial inequality in Texas. Please register here to attend: https://www.aclutx.org/en/events/conversation-systemic-equality-texas EARTH DAY APRIL 20 The theme for Earth Day 2021 is "Restore Our Earth™, which focuses on natural processes, emerging green technologies, and innovative thinking that can restore the world’s ecosystems. In this way, the theme rejects the notion that mitigation or adaptation are the only ways to address climate change. It is up to each and every one of us to Restore Our Earth not just because we care about the natural world, but because we live on it. We all need a healthy Earth to support our jobs, livelihoods, health & survival, and happiness. A healthy planet is not an option — it is a necessity. To learn more about Earth Day, click here. BOERNE MARKET DAYS May 8 & 9 We will have a booth at the Boerne Market Days on May 8th and 9th. The hours for Saturday are 10am-5pm and Sunday 10am-4pm.  We are looking for volunteers to work in the booth! Shifts will be about 3 hours each. If you would be willing to help, please contact me at teresasomal@hotmail.com so I can get you on the schedule. Your help is greatly appreciated!

Judy and Phil are of on a camping trip in the wilds of Tennessee! She will return in time for our monthly BAD meeting.

JUDY DEWEY Newsletter

SUSAN'S SUGGESTIONS Past President Having lived in Kingsville, Texas, for almost 14 years, I became very aware of migrants crossing the border. It was not unusual to see people, (mostly men back then) in the fields out where I lived south of town. In fact, on one occasion, a group of men came to my house one night, asking for water. That's all. They just needed water. The sweet, wonderful custodian in my office building at TAMUK, Juan Garza, was a migrant. He came to the US in the early 50s, looking for work, and subsequently helped build I-10 out of Houston. He didn't speak much English but we conversed every day, with me teaching him more English and him teaching me more Spanish. One day I hired a new work-study-program student named Jesse. It turned out that Jesse was Juan's grandson! And Juan's son - Jesse's dad - owned a successful auto repair business in Kingsville. Jesse went on to graduate with an accounting degree. So in my experience, that's how migration plays out. That's what makes America America. Interested in different perspectives on immigration? Read these: American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario The Beast by Óscar Martínez The Train to Crystal City by Jan Jarboe Russell And watch these movies: La Bestia El Norte Sin Nombre

LAURA BRAY Kendall County Democratic Party Chair Greetings from the Kendall County Democratic Party! We hope you can join us on Saturday, April 10 for the Great Texas Trash-Off! Adopt a Highway groups across the state converge that day for a coordinated litter pick up. Our segment along FM3351 goes south for two miles, starting at River Rd. We’ll gather at 9:30am and be done by noon. Click here for more details and to register! https://www.mobilize.us/kendalltxdems/event/379567/

‌ Adam Serwer wrote in The Atlantic: “The elevation of this symbolic politics over competence has had a devastating effect on actual gThe Texas Legislature is now in session, and there are some *really* awful bills out there, from voter suppression to anti-trans bills to assaults on women’s healthcare. We have a twice a week newsletter that tells you what actions you can take to oppose these bills and support the good ones. If you’d like to receive this newsletter, send me an email (laurabray61@gmail.com). We have started preliminary work to find office space, with a target to move in by the fall. Peg Layton is heading up this effort. If you know of available space, please send Peg an email (layton.peg@gmail.com). Thanks for all you do to support justice and democracy!

JOINT GENERAL & SPECIAL ELECTION May 1, 2021 While the City of Boerne has canceled its election, there are other local elections on the ballot, including two positions on the BISD school board and the Fair Oaks Ranch mayor. Early voting begins on Monday, April 17, and ends on Tuesday, April 27. Click here for more information about the election.

Julie Rosenberger LWV-Hill Country Membership Coordinator &  Kendall Unit Chair A friendly reminder to those who voted by mail last year: if you wish to vote by mail in the May 1st local election, you will need to submit a new application for ballot by mail. Here’s the link to the form you can print, complete, and mail in: https://webservices.sos.state.tx.us/forms/5-15f.pdf   Voters who are age 65 or over or who are disabled may check “Annual Application” in Box 6a on that form to get ballots by mail for all elections that calendar year. (Also, if you want to vote in primaries, don’t forget to check the box to indicate which party ballot you will want.) Voters who are eligible to vote by mail because they will be out of the county on election day and during early voting must apply again each election, and complete Box 6b and Box 8 to indicate the dates they will be out of the county.

You may either submit the completed application to the Elections Office in person during regular business hours, or mail it in. Voters registered in Kendall County would mail their forms to: Kendall County Early Voting Clerk P.O. Box 2384 Boerne, TX 78006 To make sure you get a mail ballot for the May 1 election, your application must be received by the elections office no later than Tuesday, April 20, so the sooner you can submit, the better. Early voting will run from Monday, April 19 to Tuesday, April 27, and Election Day will be Saturday, May 1. Nonpartisan voter guides for all local races will be available soon at https://www.vote411.org/ Finally, the Texas Legislature is in full swing, so we encourage you to make your voice heard on critical issues such as voting rights, women’s health, public education, and climate change. You can use LWV Texas’ Take Action tools (https://my.lwv.org/texas/advocacy-issues/take-action) to help.

Click on any of these icons to be taken to their web pages.

GET INVOLVED IN YOUR COMMUNITY! Let your voices be heard by attending these community meetings. Click on any of the icons for more information.

Boerne City Council meets at 6:00 p.m. on the 2nd and 4th Monday of each month at 6:00 p.m. at 9 Topperwein Road, Boerne.

The Kendall County Commissioner's Court meets on the 2nd and 4th Monday at 9:00 a.m. in the County Courthouse, 201 E. San Antonio Street, 3rd floor. The Planning and Zoning meetings are held on the 1st Monday of each month at 6:00 p.m. at the Boerne Police/Municipal Court, 124 Old San Antonio Road.

The Fair Oaks City Council meets on the 1st Thursday at 9:30 a.m. and the 3rd Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the FOR City Hall, 7286 Dietz Elkhorn Road, FOR.

The Comfort ISD Board of Trustees meets on the 2nd Monday of each month at 6:00 p.m. at the CISD Central Office, 327 High Street, Comfort.

The Boerne ISD Board of Trustees meets on the 3rd Monday of each month at 5:00 p.m. in the Administrative Offices, 235 Johns Road.

The Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District meets on the 2nd Monday of the month at 6:00 p.m. at 9 Topperwein Road, Boerne.

BOERNE AREA DEMOCRATS BOARD President: Stacey Gilfillan Vice President: Marilyn Harrington Secretary: Donna Peacock Treasurer: Brenda Schmidt Membership: Brooke Orr Activities: Teresa Somal Publicity: Natalie Schun Newsletter: Judy Dewey Social Media: Krista Bermejillo-Vasquez Past President: Susan Dollar Ex Officio member: Laura Bray, KCDP

Connect with us! JOIN THE BOERNE AREA DEMOCRATS Membership Form Email: BAD@boerne-area-democrats.com Web: boerne-area-democrats.org Facebook: facebook.com/boerne.area.democrats Notice Regarding Photography and/or Audio/Video Recording The Boerne Area Democrats captures photographs and/or audio/video recordings during our events. Such photographs and recordings may be used in BAD's advertising and social media relations to let others know of our events. In addition, local news organizations may hear of our events, and BAD may allow them to record events for news reporting. If you do not wish to be in photos/videos, please let the photographer/videographer know in advance. This newsletter is intended for people interested in the work of the Boerne Area Democrats and the Democratic Party in general. To be removed from this mailing list, please click on Unsubscribe below or email us at bad@boerne-area-democrats.com.