CLAYTON WILLIAMS ISSUE A JOURNAL OF FREE VOICES JULY 27, 1990 • $1.50 RICHARD BARTHOLOMEW ; \--7-wll -41=-T- 001 • - ...-- EDITORIAL — U ' :. 141 1 11"111 roift THE TEXAS . True Stories 1 1 1 server From Germany and Europe and Southern on Williams's 25-Point War on Crime and A JOURNAL OF FREE VOICES U.S.A. Drugs. Marathon-based documentary pho- We will serve no group or party but will hew hard to We made this little town here that we live tographer James -Evans joined Freedman in the truth as we find it and the right as we see it. We in to this day. Fort Stockton. Perhaps the issue that Freed- are dedicated to the whole truth, to human values Children of the white man saw Indians on man put together will provide readers with an above all interests, to the rights of humankind as the foundation of democracy; we will take orders from TV opportunity to see how Williams squares none but our own conscience, and never will we over- They heard about the legend, how their city with the image projected on their TV look or misrepresent the truth to serve the interests of was a dream. screens. — L.D. the powerful or cater to the ignoble in the human spirit. —David Byrne, "City of Dreams" Writers are responsible for their own work, but not for anything they have not themselves written, and in Politics of publishing them we do not necessarily imply that we ATER CARNIVAL in Fort Stock- agree with them because this is a journal of free voices. W ton this summer is not so ambitious Compromise SINCE 1954 as it was in 1937, when the University of Publisher: Ronnie Dugger Texas swimming and diving teams performed HE METRO ALLIANCE is one of 12 Editor: Louis Dubose each night "to the delight of the spectators," T organizations that make up the Texas Associate Editor: Allan Freedman or 1947, when former Governor Coke Ste- IAF Network, the statewide grassroots or- Copy Editor: Roxanne Bogucka venson was designated Grand Marshal, or ganization that includes Valley Interfaith in Editorial Assistant: Brett Campbell Editorial Interns: Eva Lloreiis, Stephen Merelman 1949, when Attorney General Price Daniel the Lower Rio Grande Valley, and Commu- Washington Correspondent: Mary Anne Reilly led the parade. nities Organized for Public Services in San Contributing Writers: Bill Adler, Betty Brink, "It's mostly a local affair," said a spokes- Antonio. The non-partisan IAF Network has Warren Burnett, Jo Clifton, John Henry Faulk, person for the Chamber of Commerce. "Three worked for local and statewide reform, win- Terry FitzPatrick, Gregg Franzwa, Bill Helmer, James Harrington, Amy Johnson, Michael King, nights of water ballet and synchronized swim- ning major victories in indigent health care Mary Lenz, Dana Loy, Tom McClellan, Bryce ming." But more than 300 performers will be and water and sewage services for the colo- Milligan, Greg Moses, Debbie Nathan, Gary in the water, so, according to the Chamber, nias scattered along the Texas-Mexico bor- Pomerantz, John Schwartz, Michael Ventura, the event these days involves most of the der. Lawrence Walsh Editorial Advisory Board: Frances Barton, community. In San Antonio, the Metro Alliance came Austin; Elroy Bode, Kerrville; Chandler It's an odd image, though, evoking some- into being in March 1989, when the smaller Davidson, Houston; Dave Denison, Cambridge, thing of David Byrne's True Stories — the East Side Alliance and the Metropolitan Mass; Bob Eckhardt, Washington, D.C.; Sissy children of a West Texas desert town doing Congregations merged to form one organiza- Farenthold, Houston; Ruperto Garcia, Austin; John Kenneth Galbraith, Cambridge, Mass.; water ballet in a chlorinated, municipal swim- tion. The Metro Alliance is made up of con- Lawrence Goodwyn, Durham, N.C.; George ming pool. It's not exactly what H.M. Long gregations in east, central, and northwest San Hendrick, Urbana, Ill.; Molly Ivins, Austin; Larry envisioned when he conceived of the Water Antonio. L. King, Washington, D.C.; Maury Maverick, Carnival in 1936. Long pitched his idea to the The Metro Alliance recently worked with Jr., San Antonio; Willie Morris, Oxford, Miss.; Kaye Northcott, Austin; James Presley, Fort Stockton Lions' Club in February of the city government of San Antonio, San Texarkana; Susan Reid, Austin; Geoffrey Rips, 1936 and by 10:30 a.m. on July 12 the first Antonio state Senator Frank Tejeda, and San Austin; A.R. (Babe) Schwartz, Galveston; Fred Water Carnival was underway. Events in- Antonio state Representative Karyne Conley Schmidt, Fredericksburg; Robert Sherrill, cluded horse racing, "swimming and diving to ensure that adequate safety equipment and Tallahassee, Fla. events, along with Rube comics and a mon- evacuation routes were provided at a Koch Layout and Design: Lana Kaupp Contributing Photographers: Bill Albrecht, Vic key show and rodeo," and "a mammoth bath- Refinery tank battery built in a residential Hinterlang, Alan Pogue. ing review was held with 40 ladies from Fort community and near two public schools in Contributing Artists: Eric Avery, Tom Ballenger, Stockton." East San Antonio. Richard Bartholomew, Jeff Danziger, Beth The original site of the Water Carnival, Their account of the negotiations and Epstein, Dan Hubig, Pat Johnson, Kevin Kreneck, Michael Krone, Carlos Lowry, Ben Sargent, Comanche Springs, is now a rock pit, pumped subsequent agreement with Koch differs, in Dan Thibodeau, Gail Woods. dry by farmers west of town, one of whom is part, from the story that appeared in the June Managing Publisher: Cliff Olofson the Republican candidate for governor. If 29 issue of the Observer ("Volatile Neigh- Subscription Manager: Stefan Wanstrom Water Carnival is not as ambitious as it once borhood"): Special Projects Director: Bill Simmons was, well, then, neither is Fort Stockton. But Development Consultant: Frances Barton some suggest that the town could have been 1 N SEPTEMBER, 1989, residents of the SUBSCRIPTIONS: One year $27, two years S48, three years $69. Full- more than a pit stop — if the springs had not II East Side of San Antonio noticed large time students SIS per year. Back issues S3 prepaid. Airmail, foreign, group, and bulk rates on request. Microfilm editions available from University been pumped dry. tanks being built with 1,500 feet of Sam Microfilms Intl., 300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. Any current subscriber who funds the price a burden should say so at renewal time; no Allan Freedman traveled to Fort Stockton Houston High School and Jeff Davis Middle one need forgo reading the Observer simply because of the cost. for a look at the abandoned springs, the Wil- School. No one in the area knew these tanks THE TEXAS OBSERVER (ISSN 0040-4519/UPS 541300), liams farm, and the history of the Williams were being built. Leaders of the Metro Alli- ©1990, is published biweekly except for a three-week interval family's relation to the town where O.W. ance, a city-wide community organization, between issues in January and July (25 issues per year) by the Texas Observer Publishing Co., 307 West 7th Street, Austin, Williams settled in 1884. Freedman also per- began investigating and discovered that the Texas 78701. Telephone: (512) 477-0746. Second class postage suaded Houston writer Michael King to Koch Company of Kansas City was planning paid at Austin, Texas. consider, in an essay, how the Clayton Wil- to store 16 million gallons of jet fuel, diesel POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE TEXAS OBSERVER, P.O. Box 49019, Austin, Texas 78765 liams image matches up to the man himself, fuel, and gasoline fuel in the above ground and Observer editorial intern Stephen Merel- tanks. man to take a stab at crunching the numbers Although the first response was a determi- 2 • JULY 27, 1990 bT!N TEXAS server JULY 27, 1990 VOLUME 82, No. 15 FEATURES Clayton Williams and Texas Water By Allan Freedman 4 And the Horse He Rode In On By Michael King 12 Bustin' Budgets By Stephen Merelman 14 Halfway to Equity By Brett Campbell 17 DEPARTMENTS Books and the Culture Beyond a Shadow of Truth By Steven Kellman 18 No Exit By Michael King 19 Afterword Patriotic Chore By James McCarty Yeager 23 buy 5,000 gallons of foams to be used in fighting fires. The organization recognized that politics is about compromise. Given the legal and political realities of this situation, the com- promise negotiated was the best that could be achieved. The situation showed gross ne- MICKEY TORRES glect on the part of city and state officials Valley Interfaith Convention who let this happen. They followed the letter of the law, but ignored the community. Should nation to get rid of the tanks, extensive re- at the site 24 hours a day for security and gasoline storage tanks be in neighborhoods search and meetings revealed that the tanks safety purposes. and near schools? No. Could they have been could not be removed. Given that reality, the • An independent consultant has been hired totally removed? No. Are the safety precau- strategy of the organization was three-fold: to monitor the safety measures of the facility. tions, evacuation plans and city ordinance a 1) ensure the safety of the students and nearby • A zoning amendment has been adopted viable compromise? Yes. residents; 2) establish a viable evacuation that will require city council approval in the Currently, the Metro Alliance is working plan; and 3) institute city ordinances and future for fuel-storage sites. with state Senator Frank Tejeda and state state laws that would prevent this situation • An evacuation plan has been developed Representative Karyne Conley to introduce from occurring again. Metro Alliance called for the area surrounding the fuel dump, and and pass state legislation that will prohibit for a public hearing for early December.