There was a guest editorial in the San Marcos newspaper written by a Dr. Schwartz and a Mr. Longley concerning the dam at Cape’s Camp. First of all, I wholeheartedly agree with Mr. Kvanli’s assertion that the city of San Marcos being an “eco-terrorist.” Fifteen or so years ago, the city complained that there were too many river snails destroying the river’s habitat and hurting the fish. About a year later, I noticed that not a single river snail could be found, so I guess they put some chemical in the river to destroy them.

A few years ago, they put up a fence from city park down to the playscape and cut down many beautiful trees that had taken root for decades. I called the city to complain but they assured me the fence would only be up for three years. The city officials told me that these trees they cut down would be replaced with other “native” trees and shrubbery but so far, a lot of these “native” trees and shrubbery they planted have died off at a cost of millions of dollars to us taxpayers, and the fence is still there still blocking our access to our own river banks.

Then the city killed off all our beautiful elephant ears which had adorned the banks of our beautiful river and which were truly a symbol of the SM River for all the tourists to admire. They said they did this to conserve our river and to save the Texas Wild Rice native only to our river. These wild rice plants are very dangerous and have tangled many swimmers in the water, and many swimmers have drowned because of these plants. In my opinion, whatever God has given to our river and its banks should not be removed because every living thing has its purpose in this life. They could have easily and more cheaply just cleared off all the underbrush and planted grass to prevent erosion from our banks and saved us millions of dollars.

Finally, the San Marcos City Council and officials are not here to serve us, rather for their own personal agendas, big business, and special interest groups. When they do not fulfill the citizens’ concerns, they should be replaced immediately. Our neighborhood in El Barrio Del Pescado voiced their concerns about the Woods Apts., but of course, we had neither prestige nor influence.

Ezekiel Enriquez, Sr.

San Marcos