BALLÍ FAMILY ORGANIZATION

“At BFO,
We lead the family worldwide to information vital to our heritage.
Fact finding is our mission and
Unity is our bond.”
www.balli.org

October 29, 2008

I am writing this letter on behalf of the Heirs of José Manuel Ballí de Villarreal. We are engaged in a legal dispute with the Kenedy Memorial Foundation over a land grant of thousands of acres in Kenedy County, Texas known as "La Barreta." "La Barreta" was never sold to the Kenedy family as the Kenedy Memorial Foundation claims. We have documents to proof that the land was leased to the Kenedy family since the mid 1800's through several leases. In fact the most recent lease was approved and signed by the late Sarita Kenedy East, in 1948. This 1948 lease document was produced to a court by the Ballí Heirs and dismissed. The document clearly shows a lease extension agreement that gave Sarita Kenedy East access to "La Barreta" for an additionally fifty years in return for $10,000 dollars in cash and gold to the Balli Heirs.

However officials from the Kenedy Memorial Foundation claimed that a Title in their possession makes them the rightful owners of "La Barreta." That claimed Title by the Foundation has never been produced. The Foundation has instead dismissed the Ballí family claim and consequently filed suit in 1997, asking a court to declare the Foundation the rightful owner of "La Barreta."

In September 2005, the Court ruled in favor of the Foundation saying our documents were untrue, unfounded and not fit for trial. We feel that a Jury not a Judge should make that final decision. Furthermore, we believe that no development of the land should take place until all recourses before the Court have been exhausted. We have plenty of factual evidence to prove our case to a jury of our peers. It is our right and we are asking for your support.

Recently we have held several peaceful Wind Farm demonstrations, four miles south of Sarita, Texas. The attempt of the demonstration is to stop The Wind Farm Project. The partners in this development need to get their story straight and stop all work immediately. They will make a big mistake if they continue to build. Many companies have gone under because of bad decisions and this company's outcome won't be any different if they move forward in this endeavor without Ballí family permission. "We are worthy of Justice! We are citizens of this great State and we expect to be treated as such." If this happens to us it can happen to others as well.

In 1798, José Francisco Ballí de Villarreal was elected the new Chief Justice of the Villa de Reynosa in the Province of Nuevo Santander. Jose Francisco petitioned the King of Spain, Carlos III, for new lands to move the township of Reynosa Vieja to higher ground because it was prone to devastating floods. Before the King could comply, the river overflowed, inundating and destroying the old village. Jose Francisco then donated his land, which had initially been granted to his father, Juan Antonio Ballí to establish the new village of Reynosa Nueva on higher ground. In gratitude for that gesture, King Carlos III bestowed upon him a land grant north of the Rio Grande River which came to be called "La Barreta" land grant. On March 23, 1804, Jose Francisco Balli sold that grant to his younger brother, José Manuel Ballí de Villarreal, for the sum of 200 pesos. The reason for the sale was because of land laws promulgated by the King of Spain from 1800-1820. These laws were acted upon La Barreta during this time frame. In the mid 1800's the land was leased to Mifflin Kenedy and his family. The last lease between both parties expired in October of 1999.

Over the years, we the Balli Heirs have taken the necessary steps in the court system to get back what is rightfully ours. We have never been given due justice by the Court because of the political vice from our opponent.  This is a case, with the same old tune, where the wealthy have always been protected and the poor have been denied justice. The case of The Balli Family is crucial, not only to us, but to other similar pending cases because those cases will never be given due justice either.

The Balli Family is united in this cause and is taking the political side of our dilemma. We are uniting with other families with pending litigation. We have determined that our vote counts and is our best weapon to get justice. Three-thousand Balli votes are very valuable in any election.

The Balli Family is asking for your support today in getting our case back into court. As previously said, a jury, not a Judge, needs to see the evidence and decide the outcome based on that evidence. We have plenty of information to force the truth on this issue. Please response to this letter with the type of support that you are willing to give. If no response is received it will be taken that you are non-supportive.

Sincerely,

Fred B. Balli, President
Ricardo P. Balli, Vice-President
Balli Family Organization