Morrison's Ad: Terror at 580 Feet – Times Three!

Debuting last weekend, Laura Morrison's campaign commercial has drawn criticism for stating city leadership is "rushing to sell the last five acres of prime city land on Lady Bird Lake to build more high rises" – accompanied by a computer-generated picture of three dark, ominous condo towers cluttering the waterfront. "That's not right," Morrison says.

Reached for comment, Morrison confirmed the five acres in question were the Thomas C. Green Water Treatment Plant, to be shuttered and redeveloped into a mixed-use project, ultimately including Austin's new central library. With the request for proposals (RFP) being issued March 4, Newsdesk wondered how Morrison could predict this dire scenario with no development plan. "That's part of the issue," Morrison says. "Those buildings are really a symbol for the fact its a critical project, and there's been a lack of outreach to the public, to really have a public process envisioning what that land should be used for. I think that kind of strong outreach is really a responsibility for the council."

Morrison also points out, "it does, in there [the Green RFP], call for maximum scale." Indeed, in the City Council resolution issuing the RFP, one of the "key goals for development in the Seaholm District," is "maximized taxpayer value, including guidelines and parameters that are appropriate to encourage and ensure maximum scale" – subject, that is, "to the City of Austin's Waterfront Overlay District requirements and Capitol View Corridor restrictions," which the three towers of doom almost certainly skirt.

Asked whether Morrison plans to release another TV ad, she says "it's still to be determined. The last days of the campaign are a day-by-day kind of thing."