Beside the Point

It ain't easy being Green – Water Treatment Plant, that is.

Almost before it began, the doomed utility staff proposal to move the wetworks from downtown to a parcel of Roy G. Guerrero Park, off Pleasant Valley, was squashed last week by the City Council. To little surprise; like an elevator prankster, the tone-deaf proposal pushed all of Austin's hot buttons at once: dumping downtown's detritus east of I-35, infringing on parks and greenscapes, and drafting in the dreaded "backroom." Man, it must be crowded back there.

That's where Thursday's discussion began, literally – during a lengthy stint in executive session, where Green was the hot-potato property. When council emerged, Raul Alvarez moved to release more information about the two privately owned alternative tracts, kept confidential under real estate exceptions. Will Wynn promised that information on cost, on adjacent neighborhoods – everything but prospective sites' locations – would be released. But with his characteristic, uhh, zeal, Brewster McCracken wanted to take things a step further – by directing staff not to include Guerrero as an option in its presentation to council next week. The move was defeated on the consensus that the posting language wasn't broad enough for an actual vote – but not before everyone got their ya-yas out about what a dumbass idea the move was.

"There was an incorrect story out there that this council has ever voted to include Guerrero," McCracken said, "which we have not." The deacon of Place 5 was, of course, speaking to the "open government" Prop. 1 proponents' insistence that Guerrero had been a "done deal," with four votes already in the can. While it'd be easy enough to flush that notion down the rhetorical crapper, there's no discounting the influence the upcoming election had on the decision, especially one proceeding under the charged atmosphere of "openness" and "transparency." The soon-to-be-if-not-already-official line is that the Guerrero selection was a comedy of errors, hinging on the admission that the land selected in the park's southwest quadrant had already been slated, pending funding, for further construction – a grand entrance as drafted in Guerrero's master plan.

Which is nice and tidy, but doesn't truly address the public outrage. "Maybe we didn't do a very good job in floating that balloon," said Betty Dunkerley, trying to summarize the move that wasn't. "The answer we have gotten back is that there's not any interest in it." Oh, we'd say there was plenty of interest, just not much enthusiasm.

Council officially pulls the plug on the proposed move to Guerrero today, in a 1pm briefing posted for action. The briefing is but one of four scheduled; others include a presentation on Austin's "Financial Forecast"; revised proposals for new facilities and a public library in November's possible bond election (delayed from last week in what we fear is a portent of things to come); and info on the Enhanced Traffic Incident Management Program. ETIMP also goes by the nom de plume of Rush Hour Rapid Response Initiative, trumpeted earlier this week by sponsors Wynn and McCracken. The initiative seeks to "use existing technology infrastructure to monitor traffic and expeditiously remove problems," says the mayor's press release – which sounds similar to bond proposals for traffic calming and stoplight synchronization, yet powered with "existing infrastructure." Whether this is a preemptive measure in fear of a cancelled bond package remains to be seen; it might depend on the sunniness of said "Financial Forecast."

Considerably less bright in disposition will be the cab drivers assuredly filling council chambers. Item 31, postponed from last week, is an ordinance allowing Yellow Cab Inc. to buy folding competitor Roy's Taxi's permits. Announcing the postponement, Wynn emphasized that drivers would receive a "full hearing," and council-watchers should expect nothing less. Irate drivers hacking for Roy believe the sale will effectively give Yellow Cab, which charges passengers and drivers more, a monopoly. The Urban Transportation Commission apparently agreed, recommending the transfer of permits be denied. The fare stops at council, which last week alluded to the possibility of selling the permits to a new cab franchise.

So much for traffic calming.