Naked City

How does the name Seton of Circle C grab you? Like a crab? The healthcare network had its telephone pollsters dialing up folks during X-Files Sunday night to see whether the idea of a Seton outpatient post at Circle C would fly with area residents. One Hays County homeowner reported that one of the pollsters asked how he'd feel about the land for the Seton site being donated by Freeport-McMoRan. Enter Seton damage control specialist Gayle Granberry. "The word was located," she said, allowing as to how the two words sound so terribly similar. Hmmm. Seton wouldn't disclose the findings of the poll, but Granberry stressed that the Freeport-McMoRan-backed development was just one of several southwest properties being considered for a Seton branch...

You know the types who always threaten to sue but never do? That's not what Austinites for a Little Less Corruption is about. On Wednesday, the group made good on their lawsuit threats of several months running. They filed against the city for not honoring their petition-pushing legwork to try and bring campaign finance reform to a citywide referendum. Local ACLU Director Jay Jacobson filed the claim on the group's behalf...

Perhaps timed to coincide with the filing of the above-mentioned lawsuit, the mayoral campaign headquarters for Max Nofziger opened Wednesday -- not in familiar South Austin digs but east of I-35 at 2002 Manor Road. Nofziger will room with the campaign finance reformists. In other headquarter news, Richard Moya, former Travis County Commmissioner and aide to former Gov. Ann Richards, is offering one of his East Austin pads to council contender Bobbie Enriquez' campaign efforts. She went public with her Place 5 bid last Friday in a council chambers jammed with supporters. Enriquez said later she wants to meet with another likely contender, William Spelman, to see if he'd sit this one out to preserve the seat for Hispanic representation. She might be too late, though. Spelman had lined up strong environmental backing six weeks before Enriquez announced... A smaller number of supporters and community activists turned out the same day for Gus Peña's pitch for the same seat... Back to the mayor's race, Kirk Watson has enlisted a new campaign manager in Carol Butler, an Austin resident with experience on the state and national fronts. She replaces Jim Campbell, who recently signed on as a lobbyist for the city of San Antonio... -- A.S.

Austin Rep. Glen Maxey has filed a bill that would prohibit state-supported universities from taking donations from a person or company if a university official has had substantial interest in the business entity within the preceding year. The bill, HB 510, could also prevent university officials who have business ties to big donors from naming campus buildings after those donors. (Guess that could mean Dollar Bill won't be naming any more buildings after buddy Jim Bob). Find the bill's full text under Maxey's name at http://www. house.state.tx.us/common/houseleg.htm... -- R.B.

Eric's Temerity

Last Thursday, when Councilmembers Daryl Slusher, Jackie Goodman and Gus Garcia (SGG) introduced a resolution to hold a public hearing on crime and safety in East Austin, Eric Mitchell -- who considers that area of town his main squeeze -- fairly bristled with annoyance.

Only moments before he turned disagreeable, Mitchell had gathered council support for his own resolution for a day-long work session on policing and public safety. But when the SGG resolution popped up, Mitchell turned petulant. He argued that East Austin shouldn't be singled out for hearings on public safety. "Peace and safety is critical all over Austin. This is nothing new at 11th and 12th Street," he said. He went on to criticize the proposed hearing as "reactionary," and that the "root causes" of crime in East Austin should be addressed before a hearing is held.

"Even Opie and all those folks on Happy Days have somewhere to hang out," Mitchell argued, adding that it's a lack of appropriate youth activities that perpetuates crime. Mitchell, while addressing no one in particular, accused council of not supporting his efforts to rebuild East Austin. "You voted against the ARA [Austin Revitalization Authority], the entertainment center, and SCIP II [housing development]. Where are you coming from?"

Slusher, attempting to smooth Mitchell's ruffled feathers, agreed that root causes of crime need to be addressed, but that a public hearing would give residents a chance to have their say on the issue. Still, Mitchell was in no mood to acquiesce. He returned to his own previous proposal regarding community policing, arguing that a walking beat would help resolve the problems in high-crime areas throughout Austin. When Mayor Bruce Todd chimed in that cops on the beat come with a price tag, Mitchell retorted: "I don't think it's as simple as a numbers game."

When the matter came down to a vote, most observers thought it passed unanimously. But Mitchell had quietly mumbled his abstention, prompting an aide to approach him on the dais to confirm his non-vote. Now, with council moving forward on both resolutions, a work session on police issues is set for Feb. 26 -- the day after the long-awaited release of the police department audit. And at the regular meeting on Feb. 27, council will adjourn early, and reconvene in East Austin for the hearing. -- K.V.

AISD Exec Quits

After only 11 months on the job, AISD techno guru Tom Burnett resigned Jan. 24. In a Jan. 10 memo to Superintendent Jim Fox, Burnett said he had accepted a position as national education manager for Power Computing Corporation.

Before accepting the newly created position with AISD, Burnett headed strategic initiatives for Apple Computer in Austin. Attempts to reach Burnett were not successful, but a family member who answered his home phone told the Chronicle that another development in Burnett's career had occurred. Now, Burnett plans to return to Apple Computer instead of accepting the position with Macintosh clone-maker Power Computing.

Burnett had been hired to develop and manage the district's far-reaching, $65.5 million plan to deploy technology in every classroom in AISD, which is to be funded out of the $369 million bond issue of 1996. But several trustees have sharply questioned the ultimate wisdom of the plan, and have had concerns that costs are rising far above the funds allotted. Trustees were to consider a network design in November, but the item never got to them, and the consulting firm hired to help AISD create the design has all but dropped off the map.

"I think it was a good deal," said AISD trustee Ted Whatley of Burnett's decision to find another berth. "We needed somebody to show us the value and the application of the system -- and we were being sold, not educated." Trustee Jerry Carlson said that Burnett had been on the right track with bringing technology to all the district's classrooms, but that the board didn't have a clear picture of what was needed to make it happen.

A more vocal critic of the plan, Albert Cortez, said he shares Fox's vision of integrating technology with instruction, but believes there are other ways to accomplish it. Cortez has designed a model that he says would cost only $16 million. He furnished copies of the plan to all nine AISD board members Jan. 27. It remains to be seen where his efforts go from here. -- R.A.

Love that Bob

"It's going to be a shit storm before it's all over with." That's the prediction of one member of the Texas Senate in reference to political donations made by UT System heads to Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock. The local daily seems to be downplaying the story, perhaps because it was scooped by the San Antonio Express-News, which broke the Bullock piece Sunday. On Monday, the American-Statesman buried a wire-service version of the story on page B2, and on Tuesday, it ran a staff-written article quoting UT Chancellor William (Dollar Bill) Cunningham as saying, "I have never put any pressure on anyone" for political donations.

It's just coincidence, then, that 122 members of UT's upper administration, from 16 different UT sites, along with several regents and big boosters, have given Bullock some $170,850 over the past four years. And it's probably also a coincidence that their contributions were submitted on or about the same day every year since 1992. "Everything points indirectly at Cunningham," says the senator, who asked to remain anonymous. Who else, the senator asks, would be able to get contributions from all the different sites and bundle them together?

At a Monday press conference, Bullock could not recall how many meetings he has had with UT officials in the past six months. He said UT officials have lobbied him recently on the expansion of the football stadium, a project that Bullock supports. Bullock also insisted that he was not aware of and is not responsible for any of UT's fundraising activities. "We assume," said Bullock, that fundraising "is done in a proper manner."

The Express-News listed Mark Yudof, UT's executive VP and provost, as the largest UT-Austin contributor to Bullock, with total contributions of $2,750. Yudof said several times that he knew of nothing improper in the way UT had handled the fundraising and that he knew his checks to Bullock were being bundled with other contributions from UT employees. "In 20/20 hindsight, I'd prefer that we hadn't bundled the contributions," says Yudof.

Perhaps this isn't about UT at all, but rather another indication of Bullock's clout. And UT officials, by coordinating this fundraising effort, are simply protecting their investment in the man who controls the Senate. -- R.B.

Trail Mix

The Austin Metropolitan Trails Council (AMTC) is chomping at the bit for a share of the prize money coming out of the next city bond election, which is likely 6-12 months off. AMTC members want approval of $13.5 million to develop six trails. After criticism last fall from some suburbanites that trails would bring an "urban runoff" of undesirables into their back yards, the AMTC focused its requests on areas of the city where it already has strong support.

About $5 million would go for the proposed Walnut Creek Trail, touted as the next Barton Creek Greenbelt of north and east Austin. Half the money would buy a 4.3-mile-long trail from MoPac to I-35. The rest would be used to acquire up to 1,000 acres of land along Walnut Creek southeast of I-35, eventually creating a 15-mile trail from MoPac to the Colorado River.

Most of the other requested funds would go to complete gaps in the inner city's "hub and spoke" trail system, made up of eight creeks feeding into the Town Lake Hike and Bike Trail. AMTC also wants $500,000 for Shoal Creek Trail improvements, and $1.2 million for northwest Austin's Bull Creek Trail. Several trail leaders are pushing hard for $10 million for the proposed Colorado River Park on Town Lake in southeast Austin as well. Ted Siff, Austin chief for the Trust for Public Land, noted that while the requests seem like a lot of money, Austin needs the additional greenbelts just to stay up with current growth. -- N.E.