Cosmic Water
Exploring the history, mythology, and future of the sacred land called San Antonio
Cosmic Water
Protecting the Birds From Our Own Government w/ Alesia Garlock
Alesia's articles: https://focusingonwildlife.com/news/author/ag1birdlady/
YouTube: https://youtu.be/-gum3-0XtyQ?si=vMmHeVb91V3RbMbY
Imagine a bustling city, San Antonio, in the grips of a bird crisis, citizens being shrouded in misinformation from city government, and our guest, Alesia Garlock, aka Bird Lady, taking a stand against it. Alesia leads us on her personal journey of transforming into a wildlife advocate. She also unveils the shocking truth about how the city is not only destroying habitats but hiring USDA Wildlife Services to eliminate birds, despite their minor threat to the environment.
Join our discussion on the hardships faced by these birds, who migrate from as far as South America to breed. Alesia uncovers the heartbreaking story of USDA employees cruelly destroying birds' nests—a glaring symbol of the city's disregard for wildlife. But the wildlife crisis is not the only thing that's alarming. Alesia exposes the misuse of bond money, intended for improving park facilities, and how it's being manipulated by the city's wealthy residents for personal gain and plunging the city deep into debt. We also touch on the serious matter of environmental degradation and water scarcity caused by the city's actions.
This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in understanding the deeper impact of urbanization on wildlife and how it changed the life of one person committed to making a difference.
As the cosmos connects the universe, water connects life. At the Cosmic Water Podcast, we're exploring the history, mythology and future of the sacred land known as San Antonio.
Angela:Hello and welcome to Cosmic Water Podcast, our first episode. I'm so glad to have Alicia Garlock here, aka Bird Lady, as she's lovingly known, and let's just get started. So if you could start by telling us how you became an advocate for wildlife?
Alesia:Well, when I first moved to San Antonio, it was not much for me to do here and a blind date actually showed me the egrets in there and said Brackenridge. And so, of course, that blind date went out the window, but the birds were still in my heart.
Alesia:And so I started watching them back in 2014. And in 2014, I had complained about them and I was on the news, you know, but I didn't know. So by 2016, I was learning about the birds and becoming involved with rescuing you know, injured or sick birds. So Brackenridge is a place that many people go to, and the birds nested their migratory egrets and herons for part of the year, and I found that it was something of a challenge to watch them and to try to get a picture that nobody else had, and people would ask me how did you get that picture? Because I sat there for like hours and so I have a condition that is irreversible, and so, instead of pain management or pain sorry medication, I use birdwatching as pain management. Birdwatching has been found to be good for your health. There's research by Dr Daniel Cox of the University of Exeter, who says birdwatching nature in general is good for your health, making cities healthier, happier places to live.
Alesia:So I found my happy place in Brackenridge Park with birds and then, of course, all the people that I met while I was watching the birds photographers, my friends, you know everyone, all my friends are from the park and I learned that these birds come from as far away South America. They fly up here to nest to have babies, to keep their species alive, and the problem is there's a lot of misinformation out there about these poor birds. You know, they poop well, yes, so do dogs and cats, but these birds come to nest, they have their babies. There is a high mortality rate, sadly for all of them, so it really every baby counts, you know, because they don't know what their future is. We're in a severe drought right now, and so what happens when they migrate south or north and there's no water source and they're going to die. And that's the problem that we're facing. Not only you know wildlife, but us as humans. But the birds were my pain manager, my challenge to get out there and to learn about nature and to try to make a difference and teach people. Especially, a lot of people don't know that these birds, like I said, they come from as far away, south America.
Alesia:There are three species in Brackenridge Park that are listed as species of greatest conservation need. The state gets federal funding, mandated by Congress, to protect those birds and their habitat. And they're not. And the yellow sorry, the snowy the little blue heron and the tricolored heron. The tricolored heron is a protected bird in Texas and nest here. Only eight birds came to nest. Well, eight nests, so 16 birds. But you would think the city would be like protecting those birds and they definitely just like we just went them out of there.
Alesia:The little blue herons are listed as a species, of high concern, by the Fish and Wildlife Service for the declining populations. They're going to become threatened, probably in the state of Texas in the next couple years. In Florida and in Louisiana the earth threatened species and so the problem that's happening here in San Antonio is the city has destroyed multiple habitats, trying to chase these birds away without even making any kind of attempt to learn more about the birds, the species needing conservation, or to try to help keep that species going. You know what I mean when you destroy eggs. That's a viable embryo and we had some not those species, but other species that were nesting this year and they were destroyed in the park. And you know why. Why are we, the city of San Antonio, hiring a contractor, the USDA Wildlife Service, to kill our birds?
Alesia:You, know, and this is all hidden from the public, you know they say, oh, the USDA is, they're helping us, you know, manage. No, they're a hired contractor and they are contracted to kill wildlife. And that's the misinformation, the misrepresentation of information from our city that they're saying oh, we just want to move him humanely and non-lethally. No, then you wouldn't have hired a killer to come in to destroy a nest Bible 8 is a living embryo or kill adult birds, you know.
Maureen:But and so this also happened at Elmendorf and Woodalon Is that when this whole killing of birds and destroyed again, it started.
Alesia:The assault I was I call it an assault on the bird started in 2018 at Elmendorf, where they said the cattle eagles were a threat to planes While they were advertising. There are 50 bird strikes a year. Well, those are other species. Oh, the cattle eagles. You know they're going to make a plank of that. Well, there was only eight bird strikes with cattle eagles in a 10 year span. So there's a lot of misinformation there. The water quality they said was bad was actually information from the USDA. It wasn't from our own river authority. So they facilitated that whole, got to get rid of the birds, you know thing. But when they got the initial work document for Elmendorf, they revised it to include all other city parks and from then we knew, I knew they were going to go from park to park and then Elm Woodalon Lake Park was added next. And then I'm a bracket Rach.
Maureen:When you say USDA it's a man and it wasn't the river party. So what you said?
Alesia:right. So the USDA Wildlife Services they have like an animal plant and a fess animal plant and something I don't remember how to say it exactly, but they have like research and stuff that they use. Well, the city, instead of using our San Antonio River Authority water information use, the USDA's was saying the birds could have this or that.
Maureen:What is up with the USDA? They do this around the country.
Alesia:They do it around the country. They're paid a contractor. People hire them to kill wildlife. That's what they're. They're paid contractor and there's research out there that they do treat animals inhumanely and cruelly and they hide a lot of information and misrepresent information. I mean there's a lot of studies out there. Animal Legal Defense Fund had to sue them for open records because they wouldn't release other records, and that's the same thing here that I've dealt with is that our city is hiding open records.
Alesia:I know what's going on because I've followed these words for six years. The thing is the public has a right to know, especially if it's public funds. You know, but the plan obviously was to go from Elmendorf to Woodlawn, to Bracken Ridge. They also shot them away from somewhere near Blue Star and some other area of town and pretty much they've hired them to go around the whole city and they're like well, they're telling us, you know they're helping us manage. No, they're a paid contractor. You paid them and you tell them what to do. Obviously You're in charge. Right, the city who hired you is like them, lawyers. And I don't know if y'all were in the park over week Easter weekend but the USDA was shooting explosives over the public and there weren't any birds already in there to be shooting at the.
Alesia:But over the bird, yeah over the public, and so my thing was like well, why are they doing it? Because the city would have had to tell them Yay, or stop it for the weekend or not, but they obviously told them do it Because they did it over the weekend and I have video that I have video from 2017 of the birds nesting in Bracken Ridge mark, and so there's a lot of stuff when they say, like the birds are, oh, their poop is a health hazard. Well, how is it a health hazard? Is it? You touch it, you eat it, you play in it? How is it a health hazard? So there's misinformation there. There is stuff online that says, obviously, like any poop pieces, whatever, you wouldn't touch it because there is bacteria and it's just like ours. The water quality of Bracken Ridge has been said to be contaminated because of the birds, but it's only 16% avian. That's what you're words the other 84% so it's a lot of misinformation about these birds, about you know, they're poop and and they're they make a mess, and others too many.
Alesia:Well, the city Corraled them into Bracken Ridge last year by destroying all the other habitats and chasing them away From Woodland, elmendorf and who knows where else, so they created the problem, but they don't want to own up to the problem. And I don't know, when there was a city council meeting the other day and some guy from the Nature Conservancy I'm sorry I do not Back that organization but he said we have to do that they were going to deal with the eager problem. It's not an eager problem, it's a man problem, it's a human problem because we're destroying so much habitat around this city. You know that we are driving these animals into public areas. I don't know if you remember there was a wild boar that was in a golf course on the other side of town and the guy said I forget what, what company was that? Because of their losing habitat, they're coming into the city. I've seen a Turkey in in Bracken Ridge Park. I've seen a coyote but you wouldn't think what's a coyote doing in Bracken Ridge Park and it's because they're losing habitat.
Alesia:You know, you hear of people seeing these wild animals that you don't normally see in their backyards because of where the city is allowing Destruction of so much habitat or in a crisis. Our climate is ridiculous. We're in a air quality is moderate and unattainment, we're a severe drought, we're heat island and we're losing these, these trees that we need a lot to live, and so you know these birds. They fight every year to nest, and it's to keep their species alive. It's not just like, oh, we're gonna come poop and make you mad. No, we're trying to stay alive because if they don't successfully nest Every year, they're gonna decline and then they'll become threatened and endangered, extinct.
Maureen:When they come from as far as South America up here, do they? Do they go further, like a cent on just one of the stops.
Alesia:Yeah, so the yellow crown night herring is one that comes from South America and they go all the way up to New Jersey, where they're considered endangered I think threatened or endangered but they go throughout the United States. So they all come North for this some to breed, and then they go south for the winter normally, but because of our climate crisis or climate change, some of them are staying around because it's so warm here, you know. So we'll see what happens with this winter, because I think somebody said it was gonna be a El Nino or something. Yeah, so you know, these, these birds are just like us, you know. They're trying to survive.
Maureen:And I'm curious is it like the wildlife USDA wildlife services that somebody can see that is kind of around the nation right one, a lot of different kind of species, or do you think that they like are targeting like egrets and they, the USDA, has a long list of all kinds of species of wildlife that they take care of. But they take care of right, which is kill right now or they're dealing with.
Alesia:There's a lot of ghost killings around the nation goose killings, and they do ducks and Other stuff, like I know there was one city that where they Removed ducks and they said we're gonna take them to the southern lake. Well, if they're migratory they're gonna fly back. So they obviously killed the ducks, you know so they wouldn't come back, but they go around the country. They are hired to kill wildlife. You know they say they're to help. But is it mitigate the conflicts between humans and wildlife?
Alesia:No, yeah they say their mission is to Work to, like, make it better whatever environment. I don't know, but they say it's. They use millions of taxpayer dollars every year to do their work, and a lot of it I mean they do. It's not related to the USDA, like doesn't poultry and all this stuff? This is a different one, specifically for wildlife, both under the west right, correct. I don't know how far back away because I don't. All I all I research when I look up something is USDA kills birds and it'll pop up all kinds of stuff.
Alesia:All kinds of stuff, yeah all kinds of articles about them, killing wildlife, and so to think that our city of San Antonio is not having wildlife killed is like naive or just Dotto mom sorry.
Maureen:Your articles that San Antonio was proclaimed by the state as the birds, yeah, yeah.
Alesia:Yeah, they submitted for bird City Texas program which is supposed to include public engagement and also Involvement in like, say, like conflicts, that they call these birds a conflict. Well, the conflict is because the humans of birds has destroyed their habitats and hurt what is it Corraled them around, you know the city trying to get rid of them, but they're supposed to include the public and decisions and Education and stuff for these birds and they've not. So I'm sorry but they don't deserve that bird City Texas, you know, status or whatever, because they're not bird friendly in the city's claiming that it's not about the tree removal and that's not about the birds.
Angela:But he is, across from the Conservancy is where they used to, you know, have a basically a roofery right, you know, and then they drove them out with the explosives and the wood knocking which drove them to be the following year to gather all over there by the witty To give this presence. That it's, it's a hazard, or you know, when they, when they take them away from where they were, across from the Conservancy, over that's not where people were hanging out. They allowed the birds to gather there. You know that under those trees there were that they're gonna remove. You wouldn't really see too many people there because they were only here. For how long do they sit around?
Alesia:It just depends, but they would normally historically come in April and then they would leave like by August Right soon as the chicks could go.
Alesia:But in that plan for blackmatch bark we did have an email found that said Removing the trees was because of the birds. Even though they kept refuting it in public meetings, there is documentation that the city said they were cutting down these trees to keep the birds from nesting and in their first Request for the historic designer re-commission Approval for this project, they put in there to to prevent work grease from forming. How stupid is that that you're gonna cut down a hundred year old tree to keep birds from nesting? The birds are gone because they've shot at them or killed them or something. But we still need the trees. That river needs those trees to survive.
Alesia:You know there's fish in there. I saw a bunch of baby fish today. And Take out all those. That tree canopy it's 48 trees between both bridges and that river is gonna heat up and it's gonna dissipate and those little fishies are gonna die because it's too hot and we're gonna have algae moves and you know the city talks about oh, we got it. You know, protect the river. Well, protecting the river would include leaving the tree canopy to give it shade and Oxygen, you know, and stuff like that and the plan is to have a concrete walkway along the water right there too, right?
Alesia:Yeah, they, they haven't in their plan that there's a walkway. Well, between the first bridge and the pump house there's no walkway. So they keep saying, oh, we're not gonna narrow the channel. Well, if you're putting in a sidewalk that wasn't there, you're narrowing the channel. And they keep trying to say, oh, now we're not narrowing the channel If you add three feet of a sidewalk of concrete To suck to where there's nothing with no shade when you say you're narrowing the channel and so it floods, that's a hundred year floodplain and it flooded, I think 1998 and 2004, down the River Road.
Alesia:They had damage to their houses because of flooding, so that 100-year floodplain it could flood anytime Is what it means, not just every 100 years. But by them altering that channel, it's going to cause flooding. And see, they're not even looking at the big picture. Is it going to cause flooding? Is the river going to heat up? Are you going to collapse the ecosystem by taking out trees that are keystone species, like the oak trees? There's a lot of negative results that are going to come through fruition with this project and our city just seems to want to ignore it. And when the birds can go just wherever, no, next year is going to be some of these backyard and then they're going to really want to kill them. That's why it's a park. It's a 340-acre park, 43 or something, and there was some nests in the forest and they were like, oh, they can go nest in the forest. Well, those nests in the forest were destroyed.
Alesia:Hi by the USDA, obviously, because they were like 20 feet up in the air, 30 feet, and we have video of them. Just around one nest there was three guys that looked like the three stooges on an SUV or RTV or whatever. They were literally one on top of each other knocking down a nest. They're down there. But yeah, I have it on another video. But it's like why can't they nest in the forest? Nobody's in there. But that's the other misrepresentation. Oh, they can go in the forest. No, you destroyed their nests.
Maureen:No, they really don't want them.
Alesia:You don't want them here. And they were chasing them down Red Oak Lane, which is Red Oak Road, which is down the other end. So they were chasing them all over the park. I had a video of that guy shooting a blank 22 handgun at them at the Whitty Museum in that direction, and he didn't even know who was over there. So when you talk about hazards, these birds, the bird group is hazard no.
Alesia:City of San Antonio is a hazard. They're what they allow these people to do to our wildlife. They're doing it to us also.
Angela:I was walking over in the south end of San Antonio, the Medina River Walkway. I sent you those pictures. We found a handful of nests with the branches attached just right there by the parking lot. We moved from the trees and just threw right there on the ground.
Alesia:Yeah, and seeing the thing they do is they do stuff when no one's around Because then they're like, oh, how do you know it was us? Well, who else would have been able to get up to a tree 20 feet up in the air?
Maureen:On a nature trail.
Alesia:Yeah.
Maureen:It's so evil and people are always like a lot of people's rationalization in their head is like if something like that was happening, I would hear about it, I would know about it and look how hard you guys fought at the Brock and Ranch Park and still so many people don't really know or believe just how bad it really was and that it's own government doing it Right Because they hide the facts.
Alesia:They tell people, oh, we're trying to make it better for the public the signs in there. I think we're something about making it for people and wildlife to coexist or something I don't remember. It's not a simple shit, Sorry. There were signs of all over the park and it's like really coexist.
Alesia:When you're shooting explosives at the birds and us because they were shooting that over us and how is that coexisting, Disturbing nests of birds that only live 6.3 years, how is that coexisting? How is that allowing a species to survive if you're just being an ass and destroying all their nests? And I have a video of one of those USDA guys chasing a night here and it was one bird out of the river. He went up to it, was banging boards at it and then he shot an explosive at it. Why Do you know that bird can't build a nest in a river? I mean, are you that stupid that you don't know a bird can't build a nest in the river? He's trying to eat, he's trying to get a drink of water and they were chasing that poor bird out of the river. That's cruelty.
Alesia:That's inhumane, because all he's trying to do is eat, and it's like do these guys not take any kind of training? I mean, what's that's?
Maureen:the outcome. I'm like what are they being told? Like what is the information that they're giving to things like that that's OK to do.
Alesia:Yeah, well, that's why I'm thinking the city parks. I always say Bill Penel's in charge of this, he was in charge of parks and that he was in charge, he was assistant manager when he got a promotion. But yeah, and I think they just said do whatever you want, think you need to do. They don't care what people have to say, they don't.
Alesia:They don't Even people were reporting to the police, park police and they're like there's nothing we can do? Yeah, you can, because they have to follow local, state and federal laws for public safety. And they weren't, because I've had video where they almost hit people in the head with a ball of flame in the park and then people were having a picnic and here comes down an explosive cartridge. Those things fly 45 miles an hour, 130 decibels. They can cause injury. A blank gun can kill somebody. We learned that the last couple years when somebody shot a blank hand gun and killed somebody. So these guys are running around the park with this blank hand gun shooting.
Angela:They had one.
Alesia:Yeah, it was crazy. It was so crazy and unnecessary this whole project. Obviously to get the birds out, cut all the trees down is to develop the park.
Maureen:And this whole project goes back to the 2017 bond as well.
Alesia:They're saying it's 2017 bond, but if you looked at that bond project, it said it was to fix the river walls, trails and the restrooms. And then, all of a sudden, they added all this oh, we're going to rehabilitate the pump house, we're going to knock out the bottom, we're going to take out the turnaround road, we're going to take out parking spaces, picnic tables None of that was inside a road.
Angela:No, that was not in that bond project and you were involved with that bond project right?
Alesia:No, I wasn't, but we had people that were on those committees and they have no record of tree cutting, roadway being taken out, water being because they want to divert water, redirect surface water and so all this stuff that they're adding in there that costs money. Why is the public being forced to pay for this stuff and we won't even be able to use it?
Maureen:Well, do you know what about bonds? I just have to rant about this Because when I really researched into it because it was bond money that were either soapworks or we were all getting displaced a bunch of money was going into that. So I did a bunch of research on bonds and it's actually the greatest investment for rich people to make because you are guaranteed to get the money back with interest via the taxpayers. So all bond money comes from the city or whatever government entity going to all these rich people and basically soliciting funds and saying we'll pay you back over this period of time with this much interest, and all of that is guaranteed. What's so frustrating about that is that I brought up bond stuff to the city before about projects and problems and they were like well, we have to follow exactly what the voters voted for, and so they're just like oh yeah, but we can also have stuff into it as we please.
Maureen:It's so frustrating, and then also because it's about all of the richest people in San Antonio that pay for the bond. They ultimately get to decide because they want something back immediately, not just their money and interest over time. But whatever these projects are, they have big say in, apparently, in changing it too to look however they want. You're just treating San Antonio like they're a little playground all over, and so I'm always like do not vote for bonds. You never vote for bonds, and even like this past bond last year they were voting on and I asked one of the council members I was like ask them where the money comes from, and they were just like oh, it comes from people who have a very secure investment.
Maureen:And that was all that they would tell them, and they wouldn't give them the list or anything. So even the council is just pretty clueless about where this bond money comes from. And yet every four years they just throw it out at us and you've got to vote for the bond if you want this city to prosper. And it's really just a bunch of rich people's money. We're going to have to be indebted to Bracken.
Alesia:Ridge. Well, the project for Bracken Ridge is part of a development plan. There's a funding agreement with the Bracken Ridge for a Concervency which is to allow them to develop the park. It says to raise money to be stewards. Stewards how are they being a steward if they haven't fixed anything? I mean the restroom's falling apart. There was no paper towels in there, basic stuff pick up the trash, get the stuff out of the river. You know, maintain the park like you would your house, and they haven't done anything. And so when they say they're stewards of the park, I have to question that, because what are they being stewards of other than trying to get their project? You know, funded agreement, whatever, to get them what they want, and a lot of that has to do with the garden.
Alesia:Which who needs another venue? You know it's a lot of stuff that we don't need. Anything that was decided back in 2017 is out the door. We're in a climate crisis. We're in a drought, heat, island, air quality. You know they want to divert river water. Why, you know, put it in a in a dry, the second, that raceway. They want to put water through their white.
Angela:We don't have water. It's not even a real apsaicia. It's going to be a facade with a pump Right To have it seem like it's a working saki.
Alesia:Right and like they want to uncover a dam that's over there where they say the Lily pond. Well, that dam, if you look at all the archeological reports, it says for them not to uncover it. We're going to spend all this money to uncover an archeological site or, you know, dam that they've been told leave alone because it's going to disintegrate. So, you know, a lot of misuse of money is all I can see. You know the USDA was paid for out of the 2017 bond project. I have an email on that and I'm sure this year the contractors were. They were banging boards, the fence, that fence that was put up to keep the people out. It said they wanted to keep the those people out that you know are bothering the contractors.
Alesia:Last year I wasn't bothering the contractors, I was videotaping, yeah, to keep the public out. That was meant for us. You know, keep the people out who uses a park, the residents, and what they're working towards I'm sure isn't going to be for the residents. You know that's how it appears and that's the sad part, because Bracker Ridge Park bequest the park to be kept a park. They said do not commit ownership, do not alienate or encumber it. I consider it encumber with debt, but I you know that may be my. I'm not sure on that, but the Conservancy was saying it's going to be $400 million for to finish the work. We don't have that?
Alesia:And if we did, why would we? We have roads that are falling apart. We have people with food insecurity, housing insecurity, our air quality. You know? Water. What happens when that aquifer goes so low and we don't have water? We're going to be drinking that recycled sewer water. Well, some of the water is recycled. We call it filtered, but you know, they're not even looking at our current crisis. They're just like oh, we want our plans.
Angela:Yeah, would you see Jacob's well?
Alesia:I already dried up right.
Angela:Yeah, cut from over pumping.
Alesia:Yeah. So you know this project is going to collapse, probably that ecosystem, because without those trees it's going to make a big difference. And then the birds you know they've been impacted already. I went this morning and there were only ducks in there in the fence and they all looked at me like scared. Some of them even jumped in the river and I'm like, oh you poor birds, you're scared because you've been assaulted by these USDA people for since February and they don't know if somebody's going to shoot at them.
Maureen:I was going to ask you. I always wonder those people who have dedicated so much of their life and energy to this type of work. It's so exhausting. What do you do for self-care?
Alesia:Is that a true question?
Maureen:No, so I mean, I know you said that it was like going to the park.
Alesia:Well, well, what we've done is we're doing research. You know I did I did a lot of research on, obviously, the project where you know they want to destroy all the trees, so we're looking at how is removing those trees going to affect the environment. I don't know if you've ever watched Fantastic Clone Guy on Netflix, but it talks about the little connections between trees and the little microorganisms, mycelium, stuff like that. There's a whole lot of stuff on that, and so we actually spoke with somebody that does that research and you know, when you start messing with nature, there's consequences and, like you mess with those tree roots and their connections to other microorganisms.
Alesia:It's going to affect something else. Take out the trees, it will affect something else us and the, not only the birds. You know that they want to get rid of. Chase the birds away. It affects something else. Everything is a dominant effect. But I just researched.
Maureen:I write stories focusing on wildlife and that like feels good for you, like feels like it kind of like regulates your nervous system.
Alesia:you know Well it keeps me busy and I feel like I accomplished something because I'm sharing stories, even the facts. The city likes has made a lot of mis. This is our false statements. You know there's a lot of misinformation and so once I find the facts, I like to share it, and so videos.
Maureen:we did the documentary With all of propaganda is that it's meant to humiliate, and once you feel humiliated, right, your social response is to like sort of silence yourself, and that's what it feels like a lot of those stories from all of these mainstream Santone Media outlets is meant to do where it's like oh, look at this like poor octopus and they're wrong for a hundred reasons from the government.
Alesia:Yeah, there's this thing called open records, and so we have a lot of documents that refute most of what the city says. So that's why, it's like you know. It infuriates me because I know it's propaganda and it's all bullshit. They're telling the public, but they don't public, doesn't know, you know how do we get it out there? Yeah, how do you get it out there with all the documents?
Maureen:Oh, you guys did so good Number that one time you went to City Hall and we were fighting for the. I get your center. That was supposed to be in my neighborhood. I saw about it, or probably thousandth of any and one of the council members people who works for them was like well, you've got, you've got to do what the Brock and Arch people are doing. It was so powerful. Now you guys were able to organize and and yeah and how frustrating it is now that it still didn't work.
Angela:I mean how many people called in to that last HDRC meeting?
Alesia:We had a bunch of people, but that was already pre premeditated despite all those phone calls despite everybody that showed up.
Alesia:Yeah, because that one lady was like I've already heard this before, I'm ready to vote. That tells you that they knew already they were going to approve it. Same thing with Texas Historic Commission. They have that chairman is on the board of another nonprofit, or so called on the. They have private interests, you know, involved in this whole thing and they got their way so far. But you know there's a federal lawsuit and there's a few more to go.
Maureen:I was wondering this lot. This is most recent, though, that city hall, when it was a six four vote, if not hadn't passed, would it not have gone through? Like was that vote pretty meaningful and continuing the project?
Alesia:No, because they were just asking for more money. But the thing is they keep asking for more money, like every week. Now is it going to be more money. You want more money. How do you build a house, do you like? You make a contract, right, and that's it. You know they don't come back next week and say, oh, we found something else. The city's goal is to exclude the public. When the first in 2021, there was a meeting there was supposed to be setting up for the planning commission, the name of the of the like meeting was changed to something like totally not including Brent Brents Park.
Alesia:So they I believe there was. I, I believe there appears to have been a a willful intent to withhold information from the public because nobody knew about the planning commission meeting. When in January there were four of us, I was one of four women that spoke. And then the HGRC meeting. They tried to get that pushed through without people knowing. Also, and the same thing with all these meetings oh, we're doing public involvement. No, you're not, you're, you're, you're just letting us talk and you're not doing anything. At that city council meeting in last month, you know I said oh, you know we've reached a compromise. There's no compromise. Y'all all said you know you're gonna do what you're gonna do and you don't care what we have to say. You've shown us that by going forward with this project to destroy 48 trees in one section of the river, you didn't save any trees. You haven't done anything for the public. You know they're all worried about these non-profits, these private stakeholders. You know who uses the park, the people yeah, yeah, that's what they always say.
Maureen:That's, that's that's their definition of stakeholders is non-profit organization well developers yeah, yeah, yeah. Their idea of community stakeholders is these non-profit organizations and they're just as guilty, right? Because they say that, oh, we're a voice for the voice voice and it's like no, you're not like you, they have a voice. And so how do we get to them, like that should always be. The question is, how do we get to the people and hear what they have to say? But, yeah, you're right, and that they, you know. It's very deliberate yeah, it's deliberate.
Alesia:It's like they they don't care what we have to say, they want what they want to.
Maureen:And what if you woke up one morning 10 years from now so it's 23rd and a miracle occurred in those 10 years and everything just is exactly how you the dream it would be? What does that look like and how do you think that we got there?
Alesia:oh, if it was a dream, the dream would be that the trees at Brackern Ranch Park would be safe from demolition, that the park would be made for the people and the people would be involved in the the decisions. Right, we would actually be there. You know, this is what we want. The playgrounds been empty since 2020 because they they're going to destroy it. They don't tell people that. Why is that playground closed?
Alesia:So the city would listen to us. We're their boss. They keep saying it's your city, your park. Well, yeah, if that's the case, then why aren't you listening to us? So I guess in my dream world, it would be that our city would be actually, you know, the employees that we would want them to be and they would do what we want and not be focused on. These developers, you know that are looking out for private interests because, if everything goes through the way they want it, those that park's not going to be for the public. It's going to be private interest events or whatever. And that's what people don't understand that that park has a rich history of a cultural connection to the community and what they want to do with it is not going to be about the community. You know it's it's going to be for private interests and that's the sad part, that they want to facilitate that.
Alesia:Continue to tell that lie and we're making it better for you. Not, if I can't use it and that is probably the most historical people's park of San Jose. It's one of the oldest. It's also state antiquities landmark.
Angela:There's artifacts there dating back 12,000 years and they haven't even thought of that so we have streaming, um, not streaming, but we have playing um Alicia's documentary that you need, um, um, and then next, which is available on youtube, by the way, your bird channel okay, what's? What's your channel's name?
Alesia:I think it's AG. Birdlink but, AG Birdlink just look up to save our central park to save our central park in Brackern's Park and you can find it on there, along with her other videos.
Angela:Um, my bird nests that are here are made from found objects along survey sites of the future destruction of that back in the park and I wanted to recreate what they're destroying. So that's what. That's what those are.
Alesia:So, yeah, I just wanted to say my dream is that we could swim in that water again well, unfortunately it will never be, because it's a fluid water to begin with, meaning it's sewer water, and then there's so much runoff and the zoo just charges into the river miracles no, lady.
Alesia:That's why they want to get rid of the birds. A pool, swimming pool, would be safer bet and because you gotta remember that the water heats up, there's out. There could be like amoebas, amoebas there's brain eating amoebas in warm, warm water. You should watch monsters in monsters in me there's, it's on the it's on the documentary your little docs that talk about like parasites and stuff but yeah there's different stuff.
Angela:I feel like it's popped up onto my youtube.
Maureen:I thought, it might be like my xypharm maybe or something goes either.
Alesia:When you were talking about the USDA and just all of it, I kept thinking about avatar and everything being interconnected and you killing the birds, and it was like it just felt like this isn't the army in avatar, that like goes on the next time the natives and stuff yeah, yeah, and um the tree, the tree well, you know how many years ago did they just place the indigenous people from the lands, and the most, how do you say the the largest number of people that use a park are indigenous or Hispanics, and so what are they trying to do now again?
Maureen:just place the people that's exactly when that playground um closed down in 2020. When they closed off, like you know, it's down and they never opened that one back up. I was like that is specifically to get the Mexican population out of the park, because that is who was always at that park, right, as well as those low riders, because I used to bring my kids there every sunday. It was so much fun and, yeah, ever since 2020, they, they did whatever they could.
Alesia:They just stop all of that, yeah they want to take out the turnaround route. That means low riders don't have a place to turn around. That's part of our culture and to, to, not um, it's gentrification. I don't know what to say racially motivated. I mean that there's certain people in a nonprofit that are not of, um, are descent and um. Somehow it seems like they are targeting us for displacement, along with the birds, which is not a continuation, segregation or a continuation of conversation.
Alesia:Yeah, never ending, never ending. They want to bring back a thing at the tannery ditch, which was a confederate. Why do we want to bring back anything that?
Maureen:has to do with you know, confederate.
Alesia:You know there's a lot of things that they're more worried about than you know. The people and just everything. Whatever was planned in 2017 needs to go out the door. We're in a new day, new age. No water, no air to breathe. Come on, people, so some miracle happened.
Angela:What would you agree with what you see, if you feel the.
Maureen:The river is definitely slumable. Yeah, it's okay, you just like jump in the water. We came across a I came across a picture I'm like I think it's the senator near the red ivy website and they had a bunch of light bulb images and there was this postcard of the river and the guy wrote and he's writing to somebody outside senator, and he on he was like every day of the year people are bathing in this river, the water temperature and effort changes. We can walk all along and there's just kids of all colors just swimming around with little ducks all over, right, and that was like 100 years ago yeah something I'm like that's so sad well, bracker ridge, I forget what year was, it was the early 1900s.
Alesia:He said he had to go because he killed his child. They had over drilled the, the aquifer, and so it was dry. The blue bull was dry, and so there's only probably five percent, as somebody told me. Five percent somewhere in there, maybe I don't know how many percent of spring water that comes down river.
Maureen:The rest is the effluent water uh, yeah, yeah, yeah, because I like yeah when you go to the blue holes it's right. Yeah, I mean my kids like walked down on mud and then it's just the almost creek where the broke water starts and like this used to be like the most sacred spring, popping up what like 20 feet into the air or something um the wetland colonizers. First came here and now nothing nothing comes out of. It has to be the almost creek that's still in the hole, right.
Alesia:Well, they over over drilled the all the aquifer because of all the golf courses and everything else.
Maureen:So you know well, thank you, alisha you're welcome, thank you so much for coming on our first podcast, yay thank you, how's my water? And then yep, like we come back again someday. Doesn't show that there will be more development there isn't more to come.
Alesia:I haven't seen yet.