Props 1 and 2 Will Hurt, Not Help

Editor,
    We are all parks, trails, open-space, and clean-water advocates who have worked for decades to protect and improve Austin’s environment, and we oppose Propositions 1 and 2. We worked all last summer and fall with some of the propositions’ proponents on the Travis County Parks Bond election that permanently preserved Reimers Ranch and set aside thousands of acres to protect water quality in the Pedernales and Colorado Rivers, yet we first heard of this petition drive when we read about it in news reports and saw paid petitioners on the streets. At that point it was too late to offer input that may have improved the language and prevented many of the negative consequences.
    As written, Propositions 1 and 2 will hurt, not help efforts to protect parks, open space, and water quality. Prop. 2 will limit the city’s ability to draw development away from the aquifer, undermine successful efforts to work around the state grandfathering law to limit development, and put us on a collision course with the state Legislature. The steep cost of both these propositions will also force cuts in not just environmental protection but also parks, libraries, and social services.
    Perhaps worst, if 1 and 2 are approved it will almost assuredly delay a planned November bond election that is recommended by the citizen’s bond committee to include more than $90 million for parks, open space, and water quality protection. If this bond election is postponed it will mean that some key properties over the aquifer will be lost to development forever.
    If you care about parks, open space, and water quality we strongly urge you to vote no on Propositions 1 and 2 this Saturday.