I'm Just a Bill...

Yes I'm only a bill,
And I got as far as Capitol Hill.
Well, now I'm stuck in committee
And I'll sit here and wait
While a few key Congressmen discuss
and debate
Whether they should let me be a law.


We all know the Schoolhouse Rock song. Or at least part of it. Maybe I should have used it as a refresher before I traveled to the Capitol today. ;) There is so much to the legislative process that I was unaware of. I went to the Land and Resources Management Committee public hearing to testify my opposition against HB 3986. It was nerve wracking, but I felt good expressing my opinion on the bill. This project has consumed my life as I have spent the majority of this week working non-stop writing letters, contacting people, researching the past history and the future implications of this bill. I feel like a little fish in the Gulf of Mexico surrounded by opposition. So I was shocked that while I was researching I stumbled across an article that quoted MY LETTER I sent out to everyone! WHAT?! I felt slightly famous, even though my name wasn't in there. I knew I had not forwarded that email to them, so somehow it got circulated to them in less than 24 hours. It was justification that word is getting around through my efforts. Proof that ONE PERSON can make a difference. WOO HOO!

There is a committee substitute bill in the works now. Supposedly, my testimony and my uncle's caused a stir in the committee because they assumed no one would oppose it. I hope that they recognize the impacts of this bill and RESEARCH it fully. I know there is no easy way, but I hope the committee explores all possible options to closing the pass and makes an educated decision on this issue. I'll keep you all updated!

Save Rollover Pass

As most of you know, I lost my home in Hurricane Ike. A vital part of our community is Rollover Pass, which the Texas General Land Office is now trying to get legislation passed to close it. They are blaming erosion and using the hurricane as an excuse to do something the General Land Office Commissioner, Jerry Patterson, was attempting long before the hurricane. However, since most people are uneducated on the issue, they are believing what they are being told, without conducting any formal testing, they are believing that closing Rollover Pass is the best answer. I, personally, believe that for the amount of funding Commission Patterson is requesting, alternative methods (such as jetties, a delta or a dike which have been proposed) could be implemented that would slow erosion while allowing Rollover Pass to remain open. I also believe that they should not close the pass without fully researching and studying the economic and ecological devastating impacts it would have to the community of Gilchrist and Bolivar Peninsula. Don't get me wrong, I am all for saving Bolivar Peninsula, but I believe this is a knee-jerk reaction to the hurricane and certain individuals are preying on the vulnerability of the tragedy.

I am asking, NO, PLEADING you all to email your Texas Senators and Representatives to not accept these bills until they have been revised. I am copying what I wrote to my senators and representatives, with my personal sentiments in italics. Feel free to add your own anecdotes and stories if you have visited. Even if you never made it, just let them know you oppose these bills they way they stand. I have a feeling that if Rollover is allowed to close, Gilchrist will not be able to return and it'll be like losing my home all over again. The House Bill goes for public hearing on WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1st, so please send this email tomorrow. If you don't know your representative or senator, let me know and I will help you find out! Pass this around to people across the state as well, the more that know, the better. If you have any questions about this matter, please don't hesistate to ask me or call me!

Thanks!
-Amanda


Title: Opposition to HB 3986 and SB 2043

As you may know, the community of Gilchrist was decimated by Hurricane Ike last September. A vital part of that community is Rollover Pass, which has been a unique recreational area for citizens of Texas and out of state visitors for over 50 years. It is the cornerstone of the Gilchrist community and serves as a premiere fishing destination for the Bolivar peninsula and Galveston County. If you have never had the pleasure of visiting there, it is simply a small man-made strait that cuts through the Bolivar Peninsula and connects the Gulf of Mexico with Rollover Bay. The opening of this pass has resulted in a tremendous fishing opportunity, thereby helping the economy of not only Gilchrist but also Bolivar Peninsula.

Now that Hurricane Ike has displaced many in the Gilchrist and Bolivar Peninsula community, the General Land Office is organizing to push legislation to close the Pass. How, in the wake of a catastrophic hurricane, can a governmental agency justify the taking away of this economic engine for our community? As people are trying to reorganize their lives after total upheaval, it is essential that we maintain and preserve one of the greatest cornerstones in our community. Regardless of who you ask, many can attest to how Rollover Fish Pass has provided an unparalleled fishing experience for those within and outside our community including young fisherman, disabled retirees and even experienced fisherman. As a resident of Gilchrist, I have seen first hand the benefit and necessity of Rollover Pass. My family has owned two successful businesses in Gilchrist that, before Hurricane Ike, thrived as direct result from the visitor’s patronage to Rollover Pass. What sets Gilchrist and the Bolivar Peninsula apart from traditional coastal cities, is our ability and desire to support each other. Rollover Pass remains not only an integral part of our identity as residents of the Bolivar Peninsula, but also vital for the ecological system thriving in Rollover Bay and the larger Gulf Coast.

The proposed House Bill 3986 and its companion Senate Bill 2043 still require considerable revision including inclusive language which would require the Texas General Land Office Commissioner to "modify" the Pass instead of merely allowing Rollover Pass to be closed. There are many factors that remain excluded from the conversation regarding the decision to the close the Pass. These factors include, but are not limited to, the economic rebuilding of Gilchrist and Bolivar Peninsula in addition to the ecological impact on the bird and fish species that thrive in and around Rollover Bay.

I ask that you stand with me and the community of Gilchrist and Bolivar Peninsula in not supporting HB 3986 or SB 2043 until social and environmental impact assessments can be conducted and further investigation is done to determine whether other options are available that allow Rollover Pass to remain open while still preserving the Bolivar Peninsula. As a last resort, should the Pass be determined as closed, at the very minimum, the companion bills must address specific details regarding an appropriate replacement due to the loss of this economic and recreational opportunity in our community.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

(Your Name)
(Contact Info)

Obsessive...

I have to admit, once I dive into any/all things Hurricane Ike/Gilchrist related, I can't stop. It's so hard to break away. I want to know everything. I want to know everyone's opinions. I want to track down the people who leave ridiculous comments about how people deserved to die because they didn't evacuate or how Gilchrist and Rollover Pass doesn't matter because their land in Crystal Beach is better. I've been looking at articles for the past two hours. I'm about just to have to shut my computer to make it stop. Why do I miss it so much?

Update 9/25: Going Back to Home?

***This was an email I sent out to family and friends after we went back to Gilchrist.

On Friday, we went to High Island to retrieve and relocate some of my grandfather's things. We went to High Island to move large things like the trailer, mower and the boat. High Island receives its name because it is located on a salt dome and during floods it appears to be an island. The elevation where this house is around 19-22 above seal level feet and it had about 4 feet of water in it. So it stands to reason that somewhere between 23-26 feet of water covered Bolivar Peninsula during the days before and after Ike. The amount of debris was amazing. All along Highway 124, which runs from Winnie to High Island, there was hay in power lines and strewn through out the pastures. There was about 1-1.5 inches of mud in the house making it very hard to get through. The water moved a whole pickup truck across the yard and took the boat off its trailer and turned it around. The worst part of the day was when we left and we couldn't go all the way to Gilchrist. All of Highway 87 was closed and no one was allowed on. I was okay up until that point. The feeling that you want to go home and knowing it's only 8 miles away, but you can't get there is the absolute worst.

Monday and Wednesday we traveled down to Gilchrist. We had to pass two different checkpoints to get in. Once we turned onto Highway 87, it was unreal. The Gulf of Mexico has come all the way up to the Highway. All of the beach and the dunes are gone and the water is right there as you drive. Some of the road has been washed away due to the water. The first thing you see in the field on the right was cars. There were probably around 20 cars in the field from High Island to Coastal Components, which is about 6 miles long. They were turned all kinds of ways and it honestly looked like something of a disaster movie. In the midst of all of this, my aunt found a white wicker table that used to sit on her porch. It was about 4.5 miles from her house, which is absolutely mind boggling. As we got into Gilchrist, EVERYTHING on the Gulf side was gone. Hardly even a trace of the homes that used to be there, just sand everywhere. Most of the bird houses (that you stayed in, Jackie) were there but had no staircases or porches. The website said they are 25-30 feet above sea level, so I guess that worked for them. The amount of loss cannot even begin to be described. On each side of 87 was huge piles of sand in which you could see bikes, pieces of fabric from either clothes or blankets, swiffers; people's lives just buried in sand that had been pushed aside.

My house is completely gone. The only thing left is the broken stepping stones that I had placed in my yard this summer. I think because there was no grass or concrete under my house, it created a big lake where my house used to be. Nothing was there except for my back bathroom trash can and it was in almost the exact place where it should have been in my house. It was really quite amazing. I found a t-shirt and dishrag in my fence. I got the t-shirt and am gonna try to wash it, we'll see what happens though. From two days of searching, we recovered only a handful of things. I didn't find my great grandfather's gun lamp, but I did find something else that couldn't be replaced. I had borrowed flags from a school I taught at back in the day for another school to use and they were in my house. I happened to find TWO flags that actually happened to be a set. I was so happy. My cousin, Clint, and I literally dug for an hour or more to get these flags out. Parts of them were covered by at least 2 feet of sand and shell. We uncovered a cinder block on top of them that was not visible from the top of the sand. Those were found two streets over from my house and right close to the bay AND we had also missed them the first day. I found a lot of stuff that I didn't take because they were ruined or completely buried. I found one of my vacuum cleaners, the electronic part to my Cranium Pop 5 game, a beach chair and a magazine (believe it or not).

All the rest of my family's property is gone. My grandparents' house, my aunt's house who ran the cabins, along with the cabins themselves, the shell shop, my other aunt's house. Just completely gone. We walked from Bay Street to Rollover Pass combining for things. My Aunt Connie actually found 8 of her plates spread across Gilchrist. There was LOTS of power tools found. I think the combination of the weight of the tools and the cords that got wrapped around whatever they could helped them stick around. There were cars that were completely demolished in the bay. The force of the water is unbelievable. Cars that came from who knows where were buried up to the hood and windows in shell. I'm sure there's tons of items buried under the shell. We also uncovered one wheel of a brand new pressure washer that my aunt and uncle had bought, but couldn't dig it out. The problem with wet shell and sand is that when you move a portion of it, more than half of that rushes back in. There was sand everywhere. I came across a corona bottle unbroken and unopened (I could still see the beer in there) that was almost covered by the new landscape. The geographic composition of Bolivar Peninsula has changed forever. In a week, the Gulf has not receded and I'm sure probably will not unless changed by man. I'm sure the General Land Office will take some land, it might even be all of it and building restrictions will get tighter. I'm sure every house built or rebuilt down there will be 25 feet in the air and on the pricey side, something which is not in my budget right now.

A lot of you have been asking how I'm doing. I'm not quite sure. I have good days and bad days. There are good moments and bad moments. It's the little things that seem to hurt the most. In casual conservation when you say, "Yeah, I have one of those at home." and then you realize you have no home anymore or anything that was left in it that it's the hardest. I don't know where I'm going to call home next. I know for a while, until the dust, or sand as the case may be, settles, I'll be in San Antonio working with my aunt and uncle to keep the business going and to make sure all loose ends are tied up down in Gilchrist. I miss the beach already. It's funny how you don't appreciate what you have until you don't have it. My cousin and I commented how we wish we would have swam more while we were down there. Wednesday, the water looked so blue, the waves were gently rolling in, the sun was shining and it would have been a perfect day to spend down at the beach, but it was too late. I miss hearing the ocean anytime I walk anywhere and for that matter, I miss walking. I walked everywhere when I lived down there, to my grandparents, to the convenience store, down to the pier, across to the beach. I miss my porch and my garden. But I know it's just an old chapter in my life that I have to close and new one is starting.

I know this was long, but if you stuck with it, thanks. I'll send emails periodically to update you on news and if you happen to be at the coast anywhere along the state of Texas and find a lamp made from a rifle, I would be forever grateful if you found it. I'm just sayin. =)

love to you all,
-amanda

***Here's my link to my Picasa Album. ALSO!!! for those of you who visited my home and have ANY kind of pictures, I would greatly appreciate them.

My Pictures