Hays Coalition for a Better Bond

06/26/2025

Thank you, Bill Aleshire Attorney.

Judge rules Hays County violated Texas open meetings laws ahead of the election. County Judge Ruben Becerra says he is "not inclined to appeal."

06/26/2025

Statement from the Plaintiffs in Carnes v. Hays County, the lawsuit that invalidated the 2024 Hays County Road based on violations of the Texas Open Meetings Act.

11/05/2024

🚨 Attention Hays County Residents! 🚨

This Election Day, join us in voting AGAINST Hays County Prop A. This $439 million road bond raises property taxes and funds new roads that facilitate development in environmentally sensitive areas. Let’s protect our water and save taxpayer money by saying NO to this bond in November.

We need a BETTER BOND, with a real public input process.

🗳️ Election Day is November 5, 2024, Polling Locations in Link in Bio) 🗳️

Polls are open from 7 AM to 7 PM. Bring an approved ID to vote and a willingness to say "NO" to a rushed bond. 💪🗳️

11/02/2024

Need volunteers to greet voters on Tuesday! DM if you can dedicate some time to hold a sign and answer questions.

Some paid hours available, too.

Save Our Springs Alliance
Save Barton Creek Association
San Marcos River Foundation
Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance (GEAA)

10/31/2024

🗳️Tomorrow is the final day of early voting & Election Day is on Tuesday!

Are you informed about the multiple propositions on the ballot this election, including Hays County’s Proposition A?

Hays Coalition for a Better Bond, which was formed in September, has been working to “inform and educate voters about a sudden decision the county commissioners made on Aug. 13 to put a road bond on the November ballot for $440 million.”

According to an op-ed written in our October edition by Dianne Wassenich, the proposed bond lacks community input, would lead to more development over several aquifer recharge zones, and is likely supported by engineering firms and developers who will benefit directly from the bond.

Read more below about the coalition’s concerns with Prop A as well as their proposed vision for change🛣️

10/31/2024

We’ve got a shark attack on

10/30/2024

Rushed to the ballot, without a public process, faces legal challenge.

Four Hays County property owners filed a lawsuit in district court against the county’s 2024 road bond Oct. 24.

10/30/2024

https://www.kut.org/politics/2024-10-30/a-group-of-hays-county-residents-hopes-to-overturn-a-bond-to-fund-roads-lawsuit

In a lawsuit filed last week, four residents allege Hays County did not provide key information on a transportation bond currently on the ballot. They also claim local leaders violated state law.

10/29/2024

San Marcos Daily Record reports on lawsuit based upon the Hays County Commissioner’s alleged violation of the Texas Open Meeting Act.

San Marcos Record - Sharing news, features and sports with the San Marcos community since 1912.

10/29/2024

KXAN News Sam Stark reports on the Texas Open Meetings Act lawsuit filed on the Road Bond. San Marcos resident and Hays Coalition member Bobby Levinski provides some insight.

Four Hays County homeowners filed a lawsuit last Monday against the Hays County Commissioner Court over its August decision to call a transportation bond election, which Hays County residents are already voting on under Proposition A.

10/26/2024

“There was not a public process in setting up this bond to be on this ballot,” said Dianne Wassenich, who is part of the Hays Coalition for a Better Bond group.

She said county leaders put the proposition on the ballot with no warning in August. She said her group isn't against building better roads but would have liked to have been part of the conversation.

“We are against building on the aquifer and not having a public process,” Wassenich said.
Virginia Parker, part of the coalition and director of the San Marcos River Foundation, said some of the projects will be built across the Edwards Aquifer.

“If we open up the recharge zone to development in a major way, that could negatively impact water quality,” Parker said.
The group said projects like the Dripping Springs SW Connector, the Yarrington Project, the State Highway 45 in Travis County Project, the Darden Hill Extension and the Fitzhugh Road Expansion are concerning.

Parker said they'll see how voters feel about Prop A, but she hopes it won't pass so there can be more of a discussion on the projects and the cost of growth. She said there should be more of a focus on public transportation instead.

“We have a lot of congestion in Hays County, and putting more cars on the road and more roads is not going to necessarily fix the problem,” Parker said.

San Marcos River Foundation Save Barton Creek Association Save Our Springs Alliance Fitzhugh Neighbors

Hays County leaders are asking voters to consider Proposition A, a bond focused on building and improving 31 different roads by 2045.

10/24/2024

Just in. Hays residents have sued over Proposition A.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Hays County Voters Challenge County Road Bond Election
As Called in Violation of the Texas Open Meetings Act

Late Monday four Hays County property owners and voters, Les Carnes, Cathy Ramsey, Jim Camp, and Gabrielle Moore filed a lawsuit in Hays County District Court claiming that the County placed its Proposition A $439 million road bond on the November ballot in violation of the Texas Open Meetings Act. Wimberley attorney Bill Gammon serves as the lead attorney in the case.

The lawsuit seeks to stop Hays County from taking further actions to pursue the $439 million package of 31 road projects whether or not voters approve the proposed bond. The only choice given to voters is to vote for or against the entire bond package.

Plaintiffs’ goal is to force the County Commissioners to appoint a bond advisory committee to shape a county bond package, as was done with previous bond packages, and to bring back a better bond proposal supported by public input for a vote in May or November of 2025.

“County Commissioners hatched this bond package in secret, ordering it onto the ballot at the last minute and in blatant violation of the Texas Open Meetings Act,” said lead plaintiff Les Carnes, a Driftwood property owner and voter since 1995. “Hays County residents were deprived of both the required public
notice that a bond proposal was being considered and the right to participate in determining what should be included or excluded, what the total price should be, and what it will mean for our taxes,” Carnes added. “If voters feel like they know little or nothing about the bond package, that was intentional,” Carnes said.

“Many of the proposed road projects will harm springs and creeks, providing free roads for Hill Country developers at taxpayer expense, while failing to make our roads safer and fixing existing bottlenecks,” said plaintiff and long-time Dripping Springs homeowner Cathy Ramsey. Commissioners failed to include the public in shaping the bond package, unlike previous bond proposals that were shaped by citizen bond advisory committees. As a result the bond package includes projects over and upstream of the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone – the source of most of Hays County’s water supplies and of San Marcos Springs. Several of the projects have been actively opposed by residents, including a proposed extension of FM 150 past its current terminus at RM 12 into the upper Onion Creek valley and an extension of Yarrington Road on the northwest side of San Marcos near the Blanco River.

The Hays Coalition for a Better Bond Special Political Action Committee (S**C) is actively campaigning against Proposition A. The S**C is not a party to the lawsuit but supports its goals and its claims that the Commissioners Court hatched the bond package in secret in violation of state law. For more information and to read a copy of the lawsuit go to HaysPropAWrongWay.com.