EDITORIAL BY MARK FRANKCONROE CONCERNED CITIZENConroe has been ground zero for legal battles over Texas groundwater conservation for nearly a decade. Now there has been a flood of record political contributions into this year’s city council races by two individual real estate developers with private water interests.According to state election ethics filings, a political action committee was formed on March 22, 2022 called the Conroe Freedom SPAC, and that SPAC has donated over $50,000 to ensure they influence the vote of the candidates once elected on city council. The council has 5 members and a Mayor. The Mayor does not vote. Thus, if these three Conroe Freedom SPAC candidates win then the two private interests business men funding the SPAC will, as a result, have much influence over Conroe’s future. The City’s interest in the water fight focuses on lowering your bills and ensuring the citizens have access to safe and affordable water. The special interest individuals are in the business of selling water to their developments.
The main contributors behind the Special Interest PAC are mobile home park developer Michael Stoecker and Simon Sequeira, owner of the private water and waste company Quadvest.
Candidate Harry Hardman has received record-level contributions totaling over $50,000 from the Freedom SPAC according to the required state filings which are public record. This money can be directly traced. $25,000 from Stoecker and $25,000 from Quadvest. Running on a slate with Mr. Hardman are Marsha Porter and Howard Wood. These candidates claim they will bring transparency and integrity to City Hall yet they have allowed this SPAC to send out mailers and advertise for their slate knowing the contributors are special interest business men who are only concerned with their pocket books, not yours. In addition, all three Conroe Freedom candidates received direct contributions to their individual campaigns from these same two special interest business men on top of what was contributed to the SPAC.
These buy-out contributions are unlike anything Conroe has ever seen, the political motives of the Conroe Freedom SPAC and the contributions and expenditures for all three candidates deserve further scrutiny. We must question whether these special-interest water activists are working against the long-term interests of Conroe citizens.
The obligation of the city is to secure safe, affordable water for our residents. Let’s be clear, though: this long-term political fight is about who ultimately controls hundreds of millions of dollars of water supply. We must maintain an independent city council as we make decisions going forward on our water supply and rates.
CONROE FREEDOM SPAC
HOWARD WOOD
SPAC
