The Daily Hustle: 4/14/10

TDH is a couple of tacos short of a combination …

… Congrats to Karen Sage for her impressive victory last night over Mindy Montford in the race for the 299th Judicial District seat, a reversal of her poor showing against Montford in the initial primary. The Chron will hit you with complete coverage in print and online this Thursday.

… How on earth did the Hustle miss the beef between Mayor Pro Tem Mike Martinez, and the glibertarian owner of Tex-Mex joint Guero's, Rob Lippincott, over the latter's inability to procure a permit for his outdoor venue? According to KXAN, Lippincott said the city "made it nearly impossible for him to get the proper permits" – his engraved invitation to apply for one must have gotten lost in the mail – and so the city shut down his outdoor music stage on Friday. Martinez then posted online this since deleted Tweet: "So Guero's outdoor stage was shut down last night. They've had 14 months to fix this. It was built w/o a permit. Plain and simple. Idiots!" This hurt Lippincott's feelings: "Part of it was he was supposed to help, and you would think [he] would help a taxpayer. Well, no help, zero help out of him, and obstruction by the city bureaucracy to the point where I haven't been able to get my permits."

The "city bureaucracy" talk should be familiar, because Lippincott is one of those free-marketeer types, a la John Mackey, who believes the only thing the government is supposed to do is help him make a lot of money. He helped kill light rail in 2001 2000, which lost by a narrow margin, proudly posing an anti-rail sign right outside his restaurant. He also opposed the controversial Las Manitas loan, as he felt it subsidized another restaurant over his.

What the hell else is happening?

Again, a positively packed day on the city calendar. Here's some of the bigger meetings …

The Finance and Audit Committee of Capital Metro's Board of Directors meets at Cap Metro offices, 2910 E. Fifth, at 11:45am. They'll receive a budget update for fiscal year 2011.

City Council's Committee for Emerging Technology and Telecommunications (that would be Laura Morrison, Chris Riley, and Sheryl Cole) meet in the Boards and Commissions Room in City Hall, 301 W. Second, at 3pm. They'll gab about the city's application for Google's “fiber for communities” program, and gets a presentation on “Trash to Treasure – Economic Development & Green Industry,” from Solid Waste Services.

The Solid Waste Advisory Commission's Recycling Ordinance Reform Subcommittee meets in council chambers at 3pm. Then the whole SWAC convenes in chambers at 6:30pm. A resolution is expected regarding an appeal to Waste Management Inc.'s landfill expansion.

A special called meeting of the Animal Advisory Commission is happening at Waller Creek Plaza, Room 105, 625 E. 10th, at 6pm. They'll be discussing “all formal and informal agreements for provision of animal services at Town Lake Animal Center.”

The Planning Commission's executive committee meets at One Texas Center, Room 500, 505 Barton Springs, at 6pm. They'll be discussing the Downtown Austin Plan's Density Bonus Program, and its impact on neighborhoods. (This stuff writes itself, right?)

The Water and Wastewater Commission meets at Waller Creek Plaza, Room 104, at 6pm. They'll review and decide whether to recommend 22 items to council.

The Technology & Telecommunications Commission meets in City Hall's B&C room at 6:30pm. They'll receive presentations on South by Southwest's history, the city's wi-fi Wireless Mesh program, and digital-divide bridging Austin Free-Net.

And, as always, check the Chronicle's community calendar for more events.

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