In the News

Galveston Daily News, March 4, 2003 - "Land Commissioner has good plan" - West End property owner who favors keeping the San Luis Pass area open to vehicles.  Read the Letter.

Galveston Daily News, February 26, 2003 - "Greatest good for Island to have beaches of envy" - Ted Eubanks writes asking for removal of vehicles from Galveston beaches.  Read the Letter.

Galveston Daily News, February 25, 2003 - "TOBA working to provide solutions" - Tim Lopas  replies to Harvey Michaels assertion that TOBA is purposely delaying the beach access plan.  Read the Letter.

Galveston Daily News, February 22, 2003 - "TOBA has new scheme to delay west end decision" - A letter to the editor by someone who  seems to feel that only owners of property on the island should have input into the beach access plan.   Read the Letter.

Galveston Daily News, February 11, 2003 - "Vehicles on beach an eyesore, safety hazard" - A letter to the editor by a Pointe San Luis property owner.  This was sent as an open letter to the Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson.   Read the Letter.

West Beach Islander, October 2002 - "Closing your beach?  Planning makes changes to Beach Access draft plan" - The Department of Planning and Community Development released changes to the  Beach Access Plan released in September on October 4. Changes included  closing beaches to vehicular traffic in areas that had been designated in   the plan as open to vehicles, and it also proposed changes in access points   for vehicles to access the beach.  Read the Article.

West Beach Islander, October 2002 - 'TOBA Gives Update on Beach Access" The Texas Open Beach Advocates discussed the Beach Access plan at the  September 28 meeting and reported on their meeting with the planning  department.  Read the Article

October 9, 2002 (Galveston) - "Sides Argue During Beach Access Meeting" - Galveston Daily News.   Little has changed during the 10 months it took for the city’s planning department to create a proposal for beach access.  Views that pitted landowners against fishermen in December are still entrenched and capable of turning a public hearing into a marathon.  Read the Article.

October 8, 2002 (Galveston) - "Changes in access plan include beach closure" - Galveston Daily News. Late changes in a proposed access plan have open-beaches advocates scrambling for answers as the new proposal heads to the planning commission today.  Read the Article.

October 5, 2002 (Houston) -"Controversy over Galveston Island access rages" - Houston Chronicle. Like hardheads and horseflies, the issue of public access along the west end of Galveston Island won't go away. Conflict between local property owners and visiting beach users continues, and any decision reached after a string of upcoming hearings will still leave one side irked and displeased.   Read the Article.

July 21, 2002 - "Senator, Group meet to discuss beach access" -  Galveston Daily News..  A group of members of Texas Open Beaches Advocates (TOBA) met with Senator David Bernsen, candidate for General Land Office Commissioner, to discuss his views on beach access.   Read the article.

July 18, 2002 - "Beach Battle Pits Stars Against Public" - California beaches are public by law. But in Malibu, mansions of the rich and famous create an unbroken chain of high walls and locked gates, making it nearly impossible for other people to actually use the beach.  Read the article.

June 12, 2002 - Open beach advocates have become increasingly restless during the months that (Galveston) city staffers have grappled with the beach access plan.   Read the Article

June 12, 2002 — The (Galveston) county and other governmental bodies with jurisdictions over the beach will have less of a free hand in putting in geotubes....The land office has always been cool to the geotubes, contending they should have been put on private property and not the public beach. State officials also worry geotubes could enhance erosion by producing a scouring effect and lead to a diminishing amount of public beach. Read the Article

June 12, 2002 - The (Galveston) park board violated the Open Beaches Act and the beach-dune rules when it moved 1,100 cubic yards of sand from one section of eroded beach to another, state officials said.   Read the Article

May 19th, 2002 - First General Membership Meeting of TOBA.  Guest speakers included Ellis Pickett of Surfrider Foundation and Kyle Garrison, campaign manager for Senator David Bernsen, candidate for Land Commissioner.  Discussions included current violations of the OBA, the East End Coalition, the Geotube projects and their longterm effects on the OBA, and the Dugan beach (In)access proposal for the far west end.

May 14th, 2002 - Senator David Bernsen advocates enforcement of the Open Beaches Act and promises not to weaken the provisions of the Act if elected Land Commissioner, in opposition to his opponent who favors amending the Act to strengthen private property owners' rights, diminishing the public's rights.

April 27th, 2002 - A contingent of people from T.O.B.A. adopts a one mile portion of Galveston Island beach and meets for a cleanup effort. See our "cleanup page".

April 16, 2002 - CCA, Texas (Coastal Conservation Association - Texas) throws it's support behind TOBA's goals with an article in the April/May 2002 issue of Currents magazine.  Read the Article.

April 11, 2002 -- TOBA Responds to Commissioners Court Approval of San Luis Pass
Sanctuary. Opinion piece written by board member Gary Wiist and featured at Guidry News Service.

April 4, 2002 - T.O.B.A. board meeting, 6:00 PM in Jamaica Beach at the Patty Shack.  Next meeting will be a general membership meeting on May 20th at 3 PM.   Location and time to be announced.  All nine board members were present.  Read the Guidry news service article.

From left, Ron Rodriguez, Lisa Martinez, Gary Wiist, Tim Lopas, Bill Hand,
Lorraine Brown, Tom Brown, and Frank Stone.  Not pictured - Sam Lucas

The adoption of a mile of Galveston beach was approved and a cleanup was scheduled for April 27th.  Plans for the first T.O.B.A. fishing tournament were discussed.  Methods for informing the public about the issues and T.O.B.A.'s goals were discussed and implementation plans were approved.  We received an update by Tim Lopas on the ongoing discussions he is having with the CCA, and on an upcoming meeting.  We also received an update on ADA/beach access issues from Ron Rodriguez.  The membership roster was updated, and Sam Lucas delivered an update on the state of the web site.

April 1, 2002 - Guidry News Service announces the creation of TOBA, whose mission is to insure free and unrestricted access to the beach areas of Texas in accordance with the rights of ingress and egress as defined by the Texas Open Beaches Act.   read the article.

March 19, 2002 - Galveston.  "A Houston man was pulled from the treacherous currents at San Luis Pass by a ...read the story."   Yes, this is the very same place that the WGIPOA supports a so-called "nature park" with access to the water for kayaks , canoes, and, worst of all, your children.  This is in return for disallowing you to have open beach access on the final 3.2 miles of the west end.  Records exist for 58 drownings in this area.   Do you really want this?

Members and Directors of TOBA have been active in the Galveston News beach access forum.  Check it out at http://forums.galvnews.com/WebX?50@@.ee6be64   Add your comments so that everyone knows how the public feels about this important issue!

Also in the West End Gabber, an article by Frank Stone, Jamaica Beach resident and a founding director of T.O.B.A.   Click here to read the article in word format.

The Galveston Daily News' Richard Massey wrote an article on January 20, 2002.  Our own Sam Lucas was interviewed for this article.  Read the article!

And, the following article was written by Mike McBride for the Saltwater Angler:

No Walking, No Talking, No Swimming, and No Chewing Gum. No Laughing, No Running, and No Having Fun. You will not be allowed offend me and I will dictate to you what is offensive. Put your dogs on a leash, shut your children up, and get that rusty beach mobile out of my penthouse view. I am of the privileged and your needs will simply not do.

The beaches. That sacred transitional strip where sea meets sand and where one mysterious realm replaces another. The origin of song, poetry, childhood lessons and old people's memories. Where wet feet and wind blown hair can remove weeks of life's everyday stress; sparking creativity and getting us closer to making sense of it all. They belong to everyone and they belong to no one. The Great State of Texas has the wisdom to acknowledge that, the City of Galveston does not.

The last remaining stretch of driveable Galveston beachfront is about to be removed from free public access. The push is well organized, many believe it's a done deal, and the supporters justify the action with talk of safety and increased property value. Great, we need both, but not at the expense of all Texas residents. This is not about fishing per say, it's about the few controlling the rights of many and the spirit of a Texas Law called the Open Beaches Act. We can look at this from several vantage points, but the bottom line is that people should not be able to purchase rights to what is not theirs to buy. Property rights stop at the property line, and those who think they deserve more than that need to go by into a Club Med somewhere. Beachfront homeowners having political power concern me. Those who make a conscious decision to build an expensive card house on a receding strip of sand, in my mind, are not capable of making sound decisions for all of us.

The City of Galveston already has total control over access to the entire Island, save for a paltry 3.2 miles from Rusty Hook to San Luis Pass. Now they want all of it. In trying to be fair, the powers to be have submitted plans of compromise, but they are not acceptable. The creation of regulated parks to offset unrestricted access is unbalanced, and amounts to packing freedom loving beach goers into a sanitized corral. Manufactured parking areas don't cut it either. There are plenty of tourist who wish to drive to the beach, and don't need to be lugging baby buggies and ice chest from a loaded down vehicle across some boardwalk. There are many far reaching issues here well out of the scope of a small commentary. No, the Texas Open beaches Act does not guarantee vehicle access, but neither does it provide for sole interpretation by self servicing homeowner associations and developers. Freedom of course has consequences, like idiots and trash. Tough. Taking freedom away is grossly more expensive. One freedom that can never be bought however is the right to express opinion. Here's a few ways you can do that.

Wendy O’Donohoe, Director Department of Planning and Community Development City of Galveston, P.O. Box 779 Galveston, TX 77553. Email: odonohoewen@cityofgalveston.org, (409)797-3660. Fax (409)797-3661 City of Galveston Park Board (409) 762-8911, lmuller@galvestonparkboard.org, Lisa Martinez, Rusty Hook Bait Camp. (409) 737-2477, MrtnzLis@aol.com

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