Organization With Ties To Local Advocacy Group Receives Thousands In Grant Funding From San Marcos

*Updated: This article has been corrected. US Congressman Joaquin Castro was initially misidentified as a congresswoman; we regret our errors and apologize for any confusion.*

Yesterday, Corridor News published an opinion article written by its publisher, Melissa Jewett, which included several photos and documents.

During this time, Corridor News staff submitted two Public information requests to the City of San Marcos requesting the total amount of grant funding that had been given to San Marcos Cinema Club and what boards, commissions, or committees any of their associates serve.

The City of San Marcos returned one of those requests late yesterday afternoon and the other Friday morning; the two requests have been included below.

Based on the documentation included below, the San Marcos Cinema Club has received $39,585 in grants from the City of San Marcos since 2017. The club received a total of $25,585 for the 2017 and 2018 Lost River Film Festival and a total of $14,000 for two other projects: Music Flicks from the ‘666, 72-Hour Film Race, Shorts & Shirts’ & ’72-hour Film Race & Twenty Five Miles, Dang.’ 

According to the grant funding contract section 8 of the City of San Marcos Arts Commission Art / Diversity Program Services Provider Contract, for grant funding, states, “The provider agrees not to use any of the funds received by the provider under this contract for any political activity, including any activity to further the election or defeat of any candidate for public office or any activity understand to influence the passage, defeat or final content of legislation.”

According to the contracts, the San Marcos Cinema Club – Lost River Film Fest is listed as the Provider.

In the 2017 grant submission, the club noted its impact on individuals in the community including its advocacy against Senate Bill 4, which was “affirmed by consensus by our City Council when in August they opted to file an amicus brief in litigation against Texas.”

The Cinema Club hosted two Latino Texas politicians, Austin City Councilman Greg Casar, and Gubernatorial candidate, US Congressman Joaquin Castro. The event aimed at championing “racial justice” where collective members of the Cinema Club, Andrew Torres, and Karen Munoz, spoke alongside the guest elected officials.

In 2018 coverage of the Lost River Film Festival, it was said in an article written by Mr. Buckley that the Cinema Club teamed up with a local advocacy group to program numerous new, independent films rooted in immigration narratives and documentaries.

The Lost River Film Festival aimed at celebrating San Marcos and international cultures.   

Corridor News has covered several Cinema Club events in the past; the club was considered to be involved in the tourism side of San Marcos and therefore, coverage of the events was community news. No compensation was provided for coverage.

Read… In Our Opinion… Local Resident Asks “Why The City Gives Money To An Organization Actively Attacking Local Law Enforcement”

 

 

 

 

Board and Commission Attachments:

Grant Requests – Approvals

 

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3 Comments

  1. The Myth of the Otherwise Illegal Foreign Nationalist.

    Who won’t trouble you unless you’ve got something they want. In fact, the president of Mexico alleges that his citizens here illegally in the U.S. commit fewer violent crimes than natural citizens. So when you do the math, it’s not like your adding to the problem, is it?

    But let’s just stay local. Let’s ignore the crimes they commit in 49 other states.

    According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, between June 1, 2011 and July 31, 2019, there were 202,000 illegal aliens charged with more than 317,000 criminal offenses which included arrests for 570 homicide charges; 35,019 assault charges; 6,040 burglary charges; 39,850 drug charges; 457 kidnapping charges; 16,783 theft charges; 25,122 obstructing police charges; 1,761 robbery charges; 3,752 sexual assault charges; 5,019 sexual offense charges; and 3,211 weapon charges.

    But DPS says this is but a shadow of the real numbers, as “These figures only count individuals who previously had an encounter with DHS that resulted in their fingerprints being entered into the DHS IDENT database. Foreign nationals who enter the country illegally and avoid detection by DHS, but are later arrested by local or state law enforcement for a state offense will not have a DHS response in regard to their lawful status and do not appear in these counts.” Got it?

    DPS goes on to explain how “Over the course of their entire Texas criminal careers, these 202,000 illegal aliens were charged with more than 494,000 criminal offenses which included arrests for 1,066 homicide charges; 55,484 assault charges; 15,533 burglary charges; 63,491 drug charges; 759 kidnapping charges; 30,127 theft charges; 43,149 obstructing police charges; 3,679 robbery charges; 5,949 sexual assault charges; 7,279 sexual offense charges; and 7,111 weapon charges.
    source: https://www.dps.texas.gov/administration/crime_records/pages/txcriminalalienstatistics.htm

    Oh and our fellow citizens who fund and assist these foreign nationalists to illegally enter our nation without fear of consequences, well, let’s examine their argument in terms of attrition. The Department of Defense pegs U.S. casualties in Iraq at 4,491 and Afghanistan at 2,356 for a total of 6,847 lost servicemen during the two wars. So that means that in our state alone, this foreign invasion on our own soil has resulted in the deaths of 1,066 Texas citizens. You can do the math with the other 49 states, if you’ve the heart.

    Aggressive young unattached males from corrupt countries in their prime of statistically proven crime-producing age of 16-30 arrive here under protection of “sanctuary cities” and privacy laws providing these foreign nationals the use (theft) of benefits to which they are not entitled, including immense government services of education, welfare, and medical benefits provided to their children born here amounting to hundreds of billions of dollars. The monies these foreigners obtain by means undercutting your own jobs they remit to their home countries.

    However, Mano Amiga cannot continue to single-handedly accomplish these facts without your help. So am just asking what you have done to make this happen and do you really mean to let this happen this to your own brethren whose black, white and brown American blood now cries out to you from the ground asking, when will it stop?

  2. FACT CHECK:

    City Council member Dr. Joca Marquez, is an active member of the Hispanic Policy Network at Texas State University and currently serves as Secretary of the Board with Mano Amiga.
    source: http://sanmarcostx.gov/1739/Jocabed-Joca-Marquez

    yes…
    The Hispanic Policy Network….in its role as judge of the alleged “Anglo Policy Network”.

    Marquez the Great. Professor of Division……at Texas State.

  3. August 22nd 2017.

    San Marcos City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to file an amicus brief in support of the the federal lawsuit against SB4 in stating that San Marcos is now against abolishing “sanctuary cities” which protect illegal aliens.

    “We’re really incredibly proud of everyone who’s pushed council to make the right decision,” says Karen Munoz with Mano Amiga.
    https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/san-marcos-to-file-amicus-brief-in-support-of-sb4-lawsuit

    The council’s change of position arose from a “public outcry ” allegedly occurring after last week’s meeting where council voted not to join the lawsuit. Mayor John Thomaides in speaking out about SB4 today explained the language of SB4 prevents public officials from speaking out against it. Thomaides would not clarify this statement.

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