Judge Slaps SOS, Bunch

A visiting judge from Seguin who ran on a tough-on-juvenile-crime platform in 1994, and was publicly reprimanded by the state bar two years later, is now a hero to many Austin developers for cracking down on their nemesis Bill Bunch. Short of sending Bunch up the river, visiting Travis Co. Judge Bill Bender slapped a $5,000 fine on the executive director of the Save Our Springs Alliance for filing a frivolous lawsuit against developers who plan to build 3,000 homes in the rural Hill Country environs west of Austin. Worse still, Bender ordered the SOS to pay some $200,000 of the developer's legal fees – an unusual judgment by Travis Co. court standards.

The environmental group filed the lawsuit against the Lazy 9 Municipal Utility District challenging the legality of the MUD. The development figures prominently in the community debate over the threat of suburban sprawl wiping out natural habitats and crystal clear waterways in the Hill County. The fear in this instance is that runoff during and after construction would adversely affect Bee Creek and Little Barton Creek. Two other nearby controversial developments – the Shops at the Galleria and West Cypress Hills – have already demonstrated what can go awry during construction in the area where the LCRA voted this week to build a water pipeline to facilitate further growth.

SOS will appeal this week's ruling, and Bunch says he will personally appeal the sanctions against him. SOS board Chair Stuart Henry, who has practiced environmental law in Texas for 25 years, kept his personal comments about the judgment in check, except to say an appeal is clearly in order. "The legal claims made in this case are too important to the future of the Hill Country and to the citizens of Texas to do otherwise," he said.

Bender's ruling on Monday has turned out to be his biggest media splash in an otherwise low-profile career on the bench. When he first ran for office 10 years ago, Bender vowed to lock up juvenile delinquents who can't be rehabilitated. In 1996, Texas Lawyer magazine reported that Bender received a public reprimand for violating the state bar's disciplinary rules of professional conduct, but no details were provided.