The Daily Hustle: 6/23/10

The Hustle ties up a few loose ends in anticipation of tomorrow's meeting: emerging opposition to the development agreement for Austin Energy's Control Center, and the release of the city's new purchasing database.

The city launched an online contract catalog, allowing citizens to search among active purchasing contracts. Interesting … Take it away, press release:

The Online Contract Catalog at www.cityofaustin.org/contracts allows users to search for specific contracts or browse through categories and view a list of all active contracts in that category. Once a contract is selected, the user will be able to see details of that item.

City leaders say the Online Contract Catalog is the first major step in a larger process of developing a financial portal that will eventually deliver dramatically greater transparency in the City’s purchasing process.

"This is an important step forward in our ongoing effort to put the City’s checkbook online, so Austin taxpayers can see exactly how their dollars are being spent, and with whom," said Mayor Lee Leffingwell, who campaigned for mayor on a platform of making City Hall more transparent and inclusive. "I’m very pleased with the excellent work of City staff on this project, and look forward to continuing to work with them to find new ways to make all City operations even more transparent."

City Manager Marc Ott recognizes the importance of transparency in all City operations, especially in the procurement process. "Becoming the best managed city in the country includes providing an open window to how we do business," Ott said. "This is another step in maintaining openness and accountability in the way we manage taxpayers’ dollars."

One unique feature of the catalog is the "Spend-O-Meter," which tracks the timeframe of the contract against allocated dollars already spent. The Spend-O-Meter is displayed at the top of every contract page.

… Paul Robbins sends along a letter from Rindy Miller Media, drafted in opposition to Items 17 & 18 on Thursday's agenda, creating a Master Development Agreement to redevelop 1.7 acres occupied by Austin Energy's Control Center next to decommissioned Green Water Treatment Plant, and by the Seaholm redevelopment. An interesting read about the project, when has drawn council opposition previously for being seen as pushed along quickly:

The fundamental point is this. Regardless of whether you approve the concept of this project or not, there are significant questions about the nature of the deal itself that require council discussion and a public hearing – and no public hearing has ever been held on this matter or the GWTP agreement. It deserves one.

You can read the letter here.

What the hell else is happening?

On the city calendar: The Environmental Board’s Water Quality Regulations subcommittee meets in One Texas Center, Room 240, 505 Barton Springs, 10am.

The Building and Standards Commission meets in the Board and Commission room at City Hall, 310 W. Second, 6:30pm.

HEY! Sign up for the Hustle's weekly e-mail newsletter, recapping news, politics and more every Friday. Don't worry, we'll never spam or sell your address. Visit here, enter your info, and click 'City Hall Hustle.'

Got something you wanna show the Hustle? Email it to wells [at] austinchronicle.com, tweet it @CityHallHustle, drop by the Hustle's Facebook or Tumblr page, or leave a comment in the section below.