The Daily Hustle: 8/31/10

Is it that time already? Yesterday, Lee Leffingwell and business, development and community leaders kicked off the campaign to “Get Austin Moving,” rallying support for the $90 million transportation bond election coming to voters this November.

The proposal inspired no shortage of controversy before it was even set for the ballot, with detractors decrying the amount of funding for the Lady Bird Boardwalk ($14.4 million), and the bundling of road improvements with other, multi-modal transit improvements (trails, public transportation, the aforementioned boardwalk, and more). But Leffingwell, flanked by bold-face names like Perry Lorenz, Terry Mitchell, Ted Siff (who's serving as Get Austin Moving treasurer), and several others looked undeterred as he announced the initiative. “Proposition 1 is needed, it’s timely, it’s affordable, and as you can see by the people and groups represented here today, it enjoys strong support in the community,” Leffingwell said in a press release issued yesterday. “I’m very pleased to see our neighborhood, business and environmental groups lending their support to this important investment in Austin’s future.” Moreover, the release repeated Leffingwell's claim that the election would not require a tax increase. (From the Hustle's limited understanding, he takes this to mean that as the $90 million bond is within the city's bonding capacity, existing debt service taken on in previous bond elections would cover it. Or something. Get at me if I'm wrong.)

Below, a list of Get Austin Moving endorsing orgs:

ADAPT
Alliance for Public Transportation (A4PT)
Austin Cycling Association
Austin Metro Trails and Greenways (AMTG)
Austin Parks Foundation
Bicycle Advisory Council
Bike Texas
Transportation Bond Citizens Task Force
Clean Water Action
Congress for New Urbanism (CNU) Central Texas
Downtown Austin Alliance
East Cesar Chavez Neighborhood Planning Team
Environment Texas
Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce
Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
League of Bicycling Voters
Sierra Club Austin Regional Group
Sustainable Neighborhoods (SN) Coalition
The Trail Foundation
Waller Creek Citizen’s Advisory Committee

What the hell else is happening?

Not much on the city calendar, but check out today's listings from Res Publica, the Chronicle's civic cal:

PUBLIC FORUM: ZERO WASTE Get updates and give feedback on the city master plan for meeting its zero waste goal by 2040. 6-8pm. City Hall Coun­cil Chambers, 301. W. Second. www.austinrecycles.com.

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.