April 15, 2025

Apr 16, 2025

In this edition: A fond farewell to Keep Brownwood Beautiful; DeLa Express Advocacy Day in Austin; I join the nationwide April 5 Hands Off! day of protests in Abilene;

Keep Brownwood Beautiful Is No More

In a March 27 Facebook post, KBB announced that “After years of committed service to the Brownwood, TX community, we have made the tough choice to dissolve the organization.” With dwindling public interest, and increasing difficulty recruiting board members and volunteers, the loss of this modest local non-profit may seem small, but it is still significant enough to me to deserve some comments here.

Full disclosure: I volunteered with KBB for many years, and served as Secretary on the Board in the early 2000’s, and my partner Cary Perrin was the Program Coordinator from 2003 to 2020.

We first learned about KBB when we went to a plant sale where they were selling Crape Myrtles. Cary decided to volunteer for the organization, and after a few years was hired as the only paid staff. Under her leadership, KBB’s mission expanded beyond beautification, “to empower the citizens of Brownwood, through education and participation, to take responsibility for their community environment.”

In 2005 KBB won the Governor’s Community Achievement Award from Keep Texas Beautiful, “for conserving and enhancing the natural resources of Texas.” The award included a grant from TXDOT which was used to construct a Community Plaza along Brady Ave. at Ave. A, under the Austin Ave. overpass. The plaza included a driveway made of a “grass-pave” permeable and porous material to demonstrate a stormwater friendly alternative to asphalt and concrete.

You can still see it there today. Designs of this material have improved over time, and after 20 years, and inconsistent maintenance, the plastic web that forms this permeable pavement is warped and breaking apart in places. But grass has grown through and over most of it, and it’s still sturdy enough to drive over, with no erosion of the soil, or ruts.

By 2006, with new retail and commercial development increasing around town, Cary researched landscaping ordinances nationwide, and led an effort to craft an ordinance setting minimal requirements for including ground covers, trees, and shrubs around new businesses in Brownwood. The draft ordinance was presented to City Council in 2006, and assigned to a committee for consideration. After a single committee meeting, no more action was taken.

Despite this setback, Cary persevered in building partnerships with the City’s Public Works and Sanitation Departments. Cary says “Those partnerships were the most important thing I was able to do, and I would like to especially mention the help and support I received from Tim Airheart and Keith Pulaski.” Perhaps the most enduring legacy of these partnerships was the in-town recycling program that allowed residents to bring recyclables to mobile trailers under the Austin Ave. overpass twice a month, instead of driving all the way out to the Recycling Center at the landfill.

That recycling program has continued, even after the announcement of KBB’s dissolution. When I went on Sat. April 5, KBB’s last Coordinator, Priscilla Flores, was helping folks offload their recycling with City Sanitation worker David King. Priscilla was unsure how long the City would continue the in-town recycling option, which has been available on First and Third Saturdays from 9 am to noon for years.

KBB gave local citizens concerned about environmental issues an opportunity to take direct action, and to organize to change policies and funding affecting the local environment. It will be missed. There is no clear replacement in sight.

DeLa Express Opponents Go to Capitol in Austin

The DeLa Express is a proposed 42” interstate natural gas pipeline, currently seeking a permit to begin construction along a nearly 700 mile route from far West Texas to Louisiana, passing through Brown County on the southern outskirts of Brownwood.

https://brownwoodgreennews.substack.com/p/dela-express-pipeline

April 10 was an Advocacy Day for the Coalition Concerned by the DeLa Express Pipeline. The following report is courtesy of the Coalition, and reprinted by permission:

Impacted landowners and community members met with Republican State Senator Lois Kolkhorst's office to share their experiences regarding the DeLa Express Pipeline. Senator Kolkhorst, a Texas State Senator, was the author of 2019's Senate Bill 421, legislation aimed at strengthening protections for landowners facing eminent domain acquisition by private pipeline companies.

Impacted residents shared personal stories and concerns, emphasizing the potential dangers and lack of resources for emergencies. Topics that were raised included:

Eminent Domain: The community is worried about the use of eminent domain for a private, for-profit pipeline and the lack of transparency regarding affected landowners.

Safety and Emergency Response: Concerns were raised about rural counties' ability to handle pipeline-related emergencies, especially given recent wildfires near the proposed route.

School Proximity: The pipeline's proximity to Northside Elementary School in Cleveland, Texas (900 feet) is a major concern for community members.

Legislative Action: Discussions with elected officials focused on potential policies to ensure adequate funding and resources for emergency response in affected counties.

The community anticipates further meetings, as DeLa Express plans to file reports and applications with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) later in 2025.

Hands Off! Abilene Protest

It was a frigid and blustery Saturday afternoon on April 5, when a small crowd gathered in front of City Hall in Abilene, Texas, to show their opposition and resistance to the Trump administration and DOGE cuts to the federal workforce and federal agencies.

Despite gusty winds driving an intermittent mist, spirits were high, voices were raised, homemade signs were proudly held and waved, and passing drivers honked in approval, slowed in curiosity, or revved up and sped off in disgust. Not a single counter-protester entered or engaged with the crowd in the hour we were there.

Cary and I drove from Brownwood, and arrived early. A few cars were already parked and more were arriving. By the 3 pm scheduled start time, about 50 people were already on the broad steps and wide sidewalk in front of Abilene City Hall, with more arriving every few minutes.

Immediately I noticed a familiar face—Abilene News-Reporter writer and photographer Ron Erdrich, whom I first met years ago when he visited the Brownwood Community Garden when I was Garden Coordinator there. Ron came over to visit for a minute and take some pictures of our signs. “Do you live here now?” he asked. “No, we came from Brownwood.”

Other protesters we met had come from San Angelo and Clyde. A Hispanic man next to me asked if I had a marker (I didn’t). He wanted to write a message on the back of his sign. He hadn’t brought the sign himself, but a fellow protester had given him an extra. Hand-lettered, it read “Hands Off Our Health Care,” with a couple of Band-Aids stuck on for emphasis. A few minutes later he was back, with his heavy jacket on against the chill winds. He had found a pen and written an insult in Spanish on the back of his sign: Pendejo Trump!

Cary had found some vinyl sheeting in our shop at home, and cut a big piece into two 18” x 24” rectangles to make our signs out of. I’m not a career activist by any stretch of the imagination, but I’ve been to my share of protests over the years. I can’t recall ever making or carrying a sign. The “Hands Off!” theme left a lot of options to choose from. Since I turn 65 later this year, I opted for “Hands Off Social Security” on one side. I am also disagreeing with ‘Rump’s foreign policy so far, so I opted for “Hands Off Greenland” on the other side.

Cary and I had some discussion about a handle for the signs. I definitely wanted one—she didn’t. She said it couldn’t be longer than 12” or it might be seen as a weapon. I found a long wooden stake, cut it to 17”, and taped it to the vinyl with Gorilla tape so the handle was exactly a foot long. Perfect! When we left at 4, halfway through the scheduled 2 hour event, I gave my sign to a couple who had just arrived. “I like Greenland,” the lady said.

The Abilene protest was part of an estimated 1100 across the country. In the hour we were there, I couldn’t identify a leader or organizer, and there was no formal program. One young transgender person had brought a small and ineffective megaphone, and they seemed to be the most energetic, leading the crowd through a succession of cheers and chants, which would last a minute or two before fading out, and into the next.

Overall, I’d guess the size of the assembly at about 100, with folks coming and going, and taking breaks in vehicles to warm up frozen fingers. Yes, the crowd was diverse—young and old, men and women, black, white, and brown, queer and straight, housed and homeless. But a clear majority were on the older side, like me.

Police mostly stayed away. I saw one cruiser drive by early on, then a while later, two officers, male and female, mounted on massive draft horses, one tan, one black, clip-clopped slowly by, side by side on Walnut St., waving and smiling at the crowd, as they rode on toward the railroad tracks downtown.

Cary and I headed over to Grain Theory, a few blocks away, for a late lunch, before driving home, enjoying Abilene’s NPR station along the way.

Hands Off! NPR, PBS, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting!

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Civic Calendar: Your shortcut to citizenship and political participation

Brownwood City Council 501 Center Ave City Hall

9 am every 2^nd and 4^th Tuesday

https://brownwoodtexas.gov/150/City-Council

City of Brownwood Agenda Center posts agendas for Boards and Commissions including:

City Council, Airport Board, B’wd Municipal Development District Board, Building and Standards Commission, Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee, Planning and Zoning Commission and more….

https://www.brownwoodtexas.gov/AgendaCenter

Early City Council 960 Early Blvd. City Hall

6 pm every 2^nd and 4^th Tuesday

https://www.earlytx.net/96/City-Council

Blanket City council 718 Main St. Blanket Lions Club

5:30 pm Third Monday

https://www.facebook.com/cityofblanket/photos

Bangs City Council 109 S. First St. City Hall

6 pm 2^nd and 4^th Monday

https://www.cityofbangs.org/

Brown County Commissioners 200 S. Broadway County Courthouse

9 am First and Third Mondays confirm on county calendar