Last December, I invited OK State Senator Josh Brecheen and State Representative (Dist. 49) Tommy Hardin to a Kingston Town Hall meeting. We wanted to address two problems at Lake Texoma: Pointe Vista Development's non-performance and breach of contract for a hotel and convention center, and our severely low lake levels.

As an independent journalist, and director of "Restore Lake Texoma State Park," I noticed area residents were becoming distressed at the sad state of Lake Texoma. A restored park wouldn't be much of a park without a restored Lake Texoma. Neither Brecheen, nor Hardin responded to the invitation.

On January 17th, I emailed Robyn King, founder of the Save Lake Texoma Facebook community page which was going viral on the internet. I had heard that Robyn was interested in possibly joining Save Lake Texoma with Restore Lake Texoma State Park.

I messaged her, "Is this THE Robyn King of Save Lake Texoma? Would you like to join Restore Lake Texoma State Park FB group? Robyn said, "Yes it is. and Yes I will!"

In regard to a pending interview with KTEN TV News, I suggested to Robyn that, "Sara Goodeyon at the Corps of Engineers posted their new press release. I would focus on short and long term water conservation in North Texas communities that draw their water here."

I said, "Also, glad to hear that you would mention the loss of the park. Restoring the Park now, would be an economic boost for when the lake levels are restored in the future."

I told her about our December invitation to Brecheen and Hardin. She said that Brecheen had invited her to a "Kingston Town Hall meeting he was planning in February." When I heard that, I figured that the senator had "stolen" our idea, but that he would attract more speakers and a larger attendance to discuss the critical Lake Texoma issues. We decided to help promote Brecheen's meeting whenever he announced it.

Robyn said, "I have reached out to LTA (Lake Texoma Association) and have not gotten a response yet. I still have to read Sara's release." She asked, "Are ya'll the ones that our lovely representative (Josh Brecheen) has a meeting with in Feb??"

I told her, "Far as I know, neither Tommy Hardin nor Josh Brecheen have responded yet. I sent them an email."

Senator Brecheen Contacts Save Lake Texoma Founder Robyn King

Then Robyn said, "Got an Email from Josh Today: Here it is: "As a state senator (Oklahoma State Legislator) I don't have the authority to change the directive concerning tourism/electrical generation at Lake Texoma. I have requested a town hall meeting for February in Kingston to educate all on the lay of the land on this issue. Ed Phillips with the Lake Texoma Association is currently engaged in setting it up. As the Corps is a federal agency, U. S. Senators James Inhofe or Tom Coburn and U.S. Congressman Mark Wayne Mullin are the proper lead elected officials on this issue. I have copied U.S. Senator Coburn's office (Coburn Field Representative Paige Scott) who can provide more information as they are engaged in the discussion. I would also encourage you to reach out to the Lake Texoma Association as they can provide more info on their activity." - Josh Brecheen Oklahoma State Senator District 6."

I told Robyn, "Hmm. Interesting. Looks like Josh took our idea of a Town Meeting and is running with it. Good. He can sponsor it, and we'll still show up and share our ideas. We'll publicize it as soon as the date and time are set. If you learn when, let me know. We were going to do another in the Kingston Elementary Auditorium (in February)."

In regard to her new "Save Lake Texoma community" Robin said, "I try to answer all the messages on this page. We are almost at 15K Likes. I want to show how this (declining lake level) is hurting the economy and the wildlife. I also want to throw in that tourism is the heart of this area, and with the destruction of Lake Texoma State Resort we do not need another hit to our economy."

On February 6th, I wrote, "Hi Robyn, Have you heard any more from Josh Brecheen about a Kingston Town Meeting in February? I'm planning to call and reserve meeting space at Kingston Multi-use Facility in early March, most likely a Saturday.... If Brecheen was just talking and not planning any real meeting, then we should go ahead and plan our own. You have enough followers now to guarantee a large turnout, including marina owners and managers."

The following week I wrote an article for this blog and LakeTexoma.com and proposed joining our two efforts.

Save Lake Texoma Joins with Restore Lake Texoma State Park

We met for the first time Saturday, February 16th and planned our Lake Texoma Community Meeting for Saturday March 15th, exactly four weeks away. We worked hard to publicize the meeting.

On Friday, March 14, the night before the meeting, Senator Brecheen called Robyn at home and asked her to cancel our Kingston meeting. Robyn said, "The Lake Texoma Association told him we refused to work with them." Then Brecheen said, "I don't want your meeting to take away from ours in April!"

He and the Lake Texoma Association had gone ahead and scheduled one with the Corps of Engineers and the north Texas water utilities for April 4th in Durant, OK. Robyn had tried to reach LTA executive director, Shelly Morgan, many times over the weeks leading up to the Save Lake Texoma Meeting on March 15th. Morgan refused to speak with her or return her calls.

I had contacted and lined up tentative speakers from the Corps of Engineers (USACE), North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD), Greater Texoma Utility Authority (GTUA) and the Department of Energy's Southwestern Power Administration (SWPA), but they were each waiting on the fence for our two local representatives and LTA to decide whether to attend on March 15th. From 7-10 days prior to our event, they each cordially declined our invitation and announced they were going to the LTA meeting in Durant.

Save Lake Texoma still had a successful meeting, with hundreds of area citizens attending to voice their concerns and listen to presentations by State Senator Jerry Ellis (D-Valliant) and Tommy Hardin (R-Madill), and some of Oklahoma's respected water experts.

Tommy Hardin took the opportunity to blast Governor Mary Fallin for bypassing legislative review and signing a Memo Of Understanding with Texas Governor Rick Perry. That MOU allowed water to be transferred from a new pump station which was mistakenly sited inside the Oklahoma border, under Lake Texoma. Hardin is running for reelection this year and posed as a populist defender of Lake Texoma's water. In the three months following the meeting, we have yet to see him take action on any of his complaints against Fallin and Perry.

Failed Pointe Vista Park Privatization Began Six Years Ago

When I began investigating the Pointe Vista Development park privatization over six years ago, I interviewed many state and federal officials seeking information about the proposed development.

Josh Brecheen was a senior field representative for U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, when I first spoke with him. I'll always remember what he said about the Pointe Vista project: "Senator Coburn doesn't think that progress should be stalled by some black beetle." He was talking about the federally-protected, American Black Beetle on the Endangered Species list. He conveniently ignored the fact that Lake Texoma State Park shoreline is prime habitat for the American Bald Eagle, our national symbol. which would be displaced by Pointe Vista's high-end project.

When our former State Senator, Jay Paul Gumm (D-Durant), ran for reelection in 2010, Brecheen ran against him as the antidote to Gumm's shameless promotion of the Pointe Vista land deal. Second only to Mary Fallin, these two were the most visible proponents of shutting down Lake Texoma State Park and selling it.

In 2012, Brecheen told me that the reason the Pointe Vista project was being segmented into three parts and constructed in stages, which would violate federal laws, was because "they can't do it any other way."

Brecheen Admits Pointe Vista Could Not Pass Environmental Review

Brecheen was basically admitting that the project could not withstand a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) which is the comprehensive federal environmental review required by the Corps of Engineers on the entire 3,000 acre project, before they could buy "Area C" - a third land parcel.

He was suggesting that the Pointe Vista proposal could be found to be unsustainable from an economic and environmental standpoint if the Corps studied it closely. Pointe Vista owners, Aubrey McClendon and Mark Fischer, must have also agreed there were risks with environmental review, or they would have funded the EIS.

[ Full article may be found at the following link:

http://defend-lake-texoma-state-park.org/2014/06/22/who-do-sen-brecheen-rep-hardin-represent/