40 THE COASTAL BEND MAGAZINE • Fall 2018 TheCoastalBend.com checks all along and is now preparing for their last legal gasp, in the Texas Court of Appeals. In the months following the passage of Chapter 213 and the vote among Pharaoh Valley homeowners that it sanctioned, neighbors began receiving postcards in the mail wrought with fraudulent claims and unsupported inuendo, discouraging homeowners from voting, and calling into question the honesty of the voting process before it even took place. Headlines on the mail- ers included, “Your right NOT to vote,” “Want to know their secret plan to rig the vote?” “Why are we taking advice from [the Pharaoh Valley Neighborhood Association]?’ and “Why don’t condo units get a separate vote?” In case anyone had any question that the mailers were drafted personally by Gay Gilson and/or Frank Scanio III, the contention over whether owners in multi-family complexes should have a full vote in the Barisi Village matter was of particular interest to this writer. Gay Gilson, who ironically owns a unit in the multi-family Rock Creek Townhomes, as does her father, a plaintiff, has specifically broached this subject among her objections to the validity of the home- owners’ vote in favor of Barisi Village. An issue no one else, on either side, seems to put at the top of their list, attorney Gilson can argue and explain the ‘multi-family’ concern flawlessly and seamlessly—well enough to have drafted an entire mailer on the subject. The propaganda postcards called into question the integrity of the developer (one of the country’s most ambitious philanthropists) and homeowners including a respected pastor and his wife, and even accusing those in favor of Barisi Village of ‘rigging’ the vote, in advance of the vote, in anticipation of losing the vote. The cards were mailed by a company in Austin that specializes in political direct mail. More than two years after the opposition group lost the homeowners vote, and after having two lawsuits summarily dismissed, all at a cost of $200,000 or more in legal and other fees, disinformation remains their core tactic. They will drop rumors that a shopping mall could be built at Barisi Village, which is not al- Propaganda tactics employed by Concerned PharaohValley Homeowners, the group opposed to BarisiVillage, included mass mailings to fellow homeowners that advanced baseless conspiracies about the Neighborhood Association, discouraging homeowners from voting at all, and insinuating financial shenanigans and secret deals among their opponents.The opposition has lost twice in court, with their final case on appeal.