Five years ago, Celia Johnson rebuffed an offer from SpaceX, billionaire Elon Musk’s space venture, to buy two brick ranch houses she owns near the mouth of the Rio Grande.

SpaceX’s breakneck development, and fast-changing local regulations that facilitated it, disrupted her quiet retirement and halted much of the beach traffic. It also raised her property taxes, inflated by soaring values all around her as neighbors sold land to SpaceX.

To seek relief, Johnson wrote local officials, including Alex Dominguez, a state legislator who at the time represented her district. In a 2021 email reviewed by Reuters, Dominguez replied that he was “sympathetic.” He couldn’t “choose sides,” though, because it was a matter for the county government.

Dominguez is one of dozens of current and former public officials here whose finances, business relationships and political fortunes are enmeshed with the speedy growth of Starbase, as the Musk development is known. Starbase’s expansion has injected a dizzying influx of money into campaign coffers, business dealings and the personal finances of people elected to represent the public.