The purpose of a good weekly alternative paper is to be an attack dog against the establishment, any establishment, which is why, I think, the Chronicle is such a lousy alternative. We love this city, its people, and its culture too much. Sometimes we’re so boosterish, I feel like an adjunct of the Convention and Visitors Bureau. Sure, we can be negative; there is an astonishingly long list of people you can ask about that. I count on us being fearless when it comes to speaking out on any subject. Our Politics/News staff, especially under the leadership of Michael King, knows that, short of libel or viciousness without basis, there are few restrictions. My own personal beliefs are not one of those. I dislike the Greens and abhor Ralph Nader’s candidacy; they think Nader is a hero. I oppose campaign finance reform of almost any stripe; they insist on it. I believe not only in SH 130 but that constructing roads through areas where development is desired is a sane way to control growth; whatever they say, they mostly oppose any new road. But there is a lot we all believe in. We believe in the responsibility of government and the obligation of such toward the people. We believe in accountability. We believe that mass transit is a crucial factor in the survival of this city and that a viable downtown should be a government goal. We believe in the neighborhoods. We believe that the environment, infrastructure, civic and social services, and government of Austin are completely interwoven, and to try to separate the strands is rhetorical rather than realistic.
All this being my rather odd but not unexpected way of getting to Toby Futrell, our new city manager. A good alternative paper would attack any such important new city official first and ask questions later. A good alternative paper would brace its readers for the inevitable failure of any new manager of a city in the midst of a precipitous downward spiral. Our cover story celebrates Futrell. Not only is she a genuine Austinite, someone who loves this city more than her job, but she has been so damn good at any job given her. A surprisingly wide range of city observers and often vicious critics are excited about her appointment. They have watched her work and work well for years.
Arguably, the city manager is usually the most powerful political position in Austin, even more important than the elected mayor. Given term limits and campaign finance restrictions (did I mention that both are moronic?), city staff is even more empowered than the council. The city manager and city staff persist; elected officials come and go. My enthusiasm for previous manager Jesus Garza was greater than for many others. Still, I have even higher hopes for Futrell.
Will this honeymoon be short-lived? You can almost bet on it. A good city manager steers the ship with a tremendous sense of what is best for this city. No matter how much they respect all the different constituencies that make up this city, they are destined to disappoint a sizeable number of them at any given time. If Futrell doesn’t piss this paper off, greatly and soon, then I suspect she won’t be doing as good a job as I think she really will.
So we welcome our new city manager with a unique enthusiasm. The next few years are going to suck. Revenue is down, but the strains that almost uncontrolled growth have put on Austin’s infrastructure and civic services have hardly lessened. Despite an unusually vigilant community, the environment has been strangled and is suffering mightily. Although I believe the initiatives to serve downtown over the past decade will bear fruit well into the next century, the immediate future is bleak. Traffic, which we had hoped the recession would at least lessen, seems to have increased even as the economy has shrunk. If there is a political bright spot, I can’t think of it. If there is an upcoming budgetary/civic decision that will not alienate some segment of the community, it is not obvious.
Who better to charge into this chaos than a child of our city and one who loves it so much and so wisely? It won’t be easy, and it won’t be pretty, but, despite the chaos, we believe the city is in the best hands it can be with Toby Futrell at the wheel.
From eagerly welcoming a city official to sadly losing one of our own is no easy transition. Clay Smith, who has been the Chronicle Books editor since 1998, is leaving. Along the way, Clay has helped copyedit the Food section and written for various other sections, but he’s made his mark as Books editor.
The Chronicle has always reviewed books and covered Austin’s impressive and extensive literary scene. Clay, however, brought a commitment, knowledge, and passion that really drove the section. He didn’t only cover the community; he was of it, from helping plan the Texas Book Festival to judging in various and sundry literary contests. Under Clay our coverage was consistent and comprehensive. He regularly wheedled more space than I wanted to give and seemed to manage to cover almost every important book, author, talk, and event in that community. In the past few years, so many writers and readers, including Laura Bush, have at one time or another approached me mostly to compliment the Chronicle about Clay (in our current first lady’s case, the compliment was only about Clay).
So he did a great job, but he was also a wonderful co-worker — urbane, witty, able to turn any thrown verbal dart right around for a return trip to its sender. I sent many such darts and received almost all of them back right into the bull’s-eye on my chest. As a literary resource, Clay is without peer. Ask for an author’s contact number and the answer has arrived by e-mail before you make it back to your desk.
Working with Food Editor Virginia B. Wood, Smith helped that section reach the lofty goals she has set for it. Certainly she is the brains of our food coverage, but Clay’s editing skills and attention to detail helped realize her vision.
We are very excited about having interoffice revolutionary and official malcontent Shawn Badgley take over for Clay (mostly so we can finally figure out what it is he does here) and are optimistic that he will emulate the standards of commitment and coverage Clay has set. But we will miss Clay, and the paper you hold in your hands is the poorer for his leaving. 
This article appears in June 7 • 2002.