Politics
-
- PODER AND EAST In
January these two groups (People Organized In Defense of Earth and Its
Resources and the East Austin Strategy Team) broke the news that hundreds of
residents near East Austin's gasoline storage tank farm were suffering from a
variety of illnesses, many of them very serious. They organized the neighbors
to fight in their own behalf. State and local agencies were brought in, but
results were slow in coming. There were meetings almost every night. The groups
persevered and now three of the six oil companies have announced they will move
their facilities, and more progress is in the works. Those deserving mention
are many, but Susanna Almanza, Antonio Diaz, Ron Davis, Chris Fanuel, Mary
Hernandez, Sylvia Herrera, and Gil-berto Rivera are among the notables.
-
- BILL OLIVER He's
been around for more than a decade, singing for environmental and social
causes, especially environmental. He's always there when he's needed. Barton
Springs Eternal.
-
- GLEN MAXEY Austin
actually has several good legislators. They're smart. They have hearts. They
are outnumbered, but they work for progressive change. Elliott Naishtat and
Sherri Greenberg come to mind. The one who seems to have best learned to make
his power effective is Glen Maxey, ironic since some legislators have tried to
isolate him, particularly after he called for then-Speaker Gib Lewis'
resignation. Maxey, however, has helped bring changes at the tank farm. He
succeeded in convincing the state Highway Department to allow local control on
the building of MoKan so its effect on East Austin can be studied more
seriously. He knows the issues. He's always well prepared and he has stayed
true to the themes on which he ran for office.
-
- KEN ODEN, TRAVIS COUNTY ATTORNEY Oden
does his traditional prosecutor's duties, and he also looks at the law as a way
to serve average citizens and the least powerful. He prosecuted construction
companies for safety problems that led to fatal trench cave-ins. He prosecuted
a trucking company for alleged shoddy maintenance that led to deaths. And he
has achieved the most success of anyone involved so far at the East Austin
gasoline storage tank farm.
-
- THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE They
have what they are supposed to have, they're friendly and they're efficient. It
doesn't get any better than that.
-
- TIM JONES Before
Jones got a video camera, his slide shows were a regular at city council
meetings. Now armed with video, Jones gets every thing on tape: new sewer
lines, illegal road construc-tion, erosion controls that don't work. One of the
most committed environmentalists working anywhere, Jones is a video muckraker.
-
- ECOLOGY ACTION They
were doing it before it was cool. Lately, they've hit on harder economic times,
but this group just won't die. Check out their new facility on the south side
of Hancock Shopping Center, which accepts a wide variety of papers, metals, and
plastics.
-
- GARY BLEDSOE Bledsoe
holds down a full time attorney's job with the state Attorney General. He's
moved up from head of the Austin NAACP to head the state group, and he's
chairman of the Travis County Democratic Party. He brought a renewed level of
intense activity to the local NAACP and will likely do the same for the state.
The party has taken on a new level of inclusion, as well as become more
responsive to citizen groups and concerns. What's next, Gary?
-
- JEFF TRAVILLION Travillion
replaced Gary Bledsoe as head of the Austin NAACP, and there's been no drop off
in activity. He's seems to have no sacred cows, and is not afraid to confront
the local power structure, black or white. Among other things, he's taken on
the Convention Center for not living up to minority contractor goals,
pronounced environmental protection important for all races, and framed local
S&L bilkings in the context of money it took away from social programs and
the central city.
-
- LENA GUERRERO She
only lacks four hours, well, okay, 19. She would have been in Phi Beta Kappa,
if she could have raised her grade point average and graduated. She could have
been a successful politician if she hadn't lied about going to college and
treated the public like they are all high school dropouts.
-
- EARTH FIRST! They
piss everybody off. They don't have any leaders. And while other groups spend
time and money trying to work through the system, Earth First! keeps at their
environmental knitting: raising hell, disregarding traditional politics and
lobbyists. You may not like them, you may not like the way they dress, but they
are singularly effective.
-
- BRIGID SHEA She's
only been in Austin three years, but the director of the Save Our Springs
Coalition has stirred up all kinds of trouble. The American-Statesman
says she's more strident than environmentalists of years past. Funny thing, the
new approach seems to work better.
-
- BEATRIZ DE LA GARZA What
does she want, anyway? Following up a failed bid for City Council with the
successful run for school board president, she approached the AISD budget
process with a gravity that would best befit deliberations on capital
punishment. Some don't like her approach, but she has stayed true to campaign
promises to fight the entrenched old guard on the board.
-
- THE RULE ABSTENTIONS In
March the council's RULE (Ronney Reynolds, Charles Urdy, Bob Larson and Louise
Epstein) majority defied a court order, the city charter, and abstained from a
vote to set the Save Our Springs election for May 2. Reynolds told his enemies
to "take a hike" out of town. Urdy compared his defiance of the court to heroic
civil rights deeds of the 1960s. Epstein and Larson waxed demagogic. The
election was finally held in August. SOS won big, but more than 200 development
applications were filed under a weaker ordinance in the interim.
-
- DAVID BUTTS AND MARK YZNAGA They
believe in what they're doing. They're not in it for the money. They know what
they're doing. They keep learning all the time. Winning candi-dates and causes
include Sherri Greenberg, Glen Maxey and SOS.
-
- COUNCILMEMBER CHARLES URDY What
does he do? He's seldom in his office. He goes to sleep during appointments
with citizens. He goes to
sleep on the council dais. When someone
else proposes an idea, especially environmental protection, he wakes up and
says it will cost East Austin jobs, but he never comes up with any ideas for
providing jobs himself. Perhaps if Dr. Urdy were to retire, he could get more
of the sleep he seems to need.
-
- RONNEY REYNOLDS AS A CADDY AT THE LEGENDS OF GOLF AT
BARTON CREEK COUNTRY CLUB Best Comeback
- MAX NOFZIGER He
disappointed a lot of people during his first term, but in his second term
Nofziger emerged as a principled, hard-fighting advocate for environmentalism,
social justice and fiscal responsibility.
-
- RONNEY REYNOLDS Immediately
after the Save Our Springs
Ordinance was passed by an almost 2-1 margin, Councilmember Reynolds was
interviewed by a local TV station. When asked why SOS won, Reynolds replied,
"They had a catchy name."
-
- DANNY YOUNG "Hey
buddy, how ya doin'?!" asks Texicalli Grille owner Danny Young whenever a
friend enters his restaurant - a common occurrence, as many regular Texicalli
patrons soon become Young's friends as well. How can they not when South
Austin's friendliest restaurateur is on hand to make you feel not just welcome
but at home in his Oltorf eatery. The posters covering every available wall and
ceiling space make the spot a virtual Austin Music History Center, the jukebox
is one of the hippest in town, and the food is great. But it's Danny's
enthusiastic hospitality that makes this the friendliest spot south of Town
Lake. And his freely offered political opinions reflect the concerns of small
business people as well as a strong will to preserve the best of Austin.
-
- EDDIE WILSON Owner
of Threadgill's Restaurant and the late, lamented Raw Deal, a founder of the
Armadillo World Headquarters and patron food saint of Austin musicians, Eddie
Wilson is one of those people who really makes Austin what it is. The venerable
restaurant location on North Lamar is an oasis in the midst of the Anytown,
U.S.A.-look typified by that area of town. Inside, the Southern hospitality and
the music can't be beat. Neither, of course, can the food.
-
- ROY MINTON Are
you facing several decades in jail? Do you run a company that bilked half the
state with a nuclear plant? Need to have overturned in court what an entire
city worked to put in place? Got lots of money to pay a lawyer? Call Roy
Minton. He'll help you out.
Copyright © 1992 Austin
Chronicle Corp. All rights reserved.