Sometimes the jokes just write themselves – square in the seat of controversy over the open-government charter amendment (see “March Madness, April Fools,” p.28), what does council proclaim today, Thursday, April 6? Shred Day, of course, in honor of those tireless ream-wranglers at the Association of Record Managers and Administrators. Well done – how about commemorating it with 18 minutes of silence?
Like a self-fulfilling prophecy, the open-government amendment is looking more and more likely to have an impact on the November bond election, whether you believe it should or not. With further litigation over ballot language saved by the bell – i.e., the proximity to the May 13 election short-circuiting the possibility of another suit from SOS and company – you can now expect the familiar faces threatening to throw the bonds out with the bathwater if Proposition 1 passes. But the bond-baiting claims – that the funds aren’t there for both – look weaker in light of recent economic news, notably the city’s Financial Performance Report for the three months ending Dec. 31, 2005, showing Austin in the black to the tune of $52.7 million, $3.2 million above projections, with “record levels of sales tax” filling city coffers. Furthermore, the city’s worst-case scenario predicted a $36 million start-up cost for the proposition – a fraction of the $100 million in cuts council deemed necessary to the overall bond package.
How far council and officials – especially financial hawks like ex-city finance director Betty Dunkerley and Toby Futrell – will take the latest talking point against the amendment is the multimillion-dollar question. We might get the answer as soon as 1pm today (Thursday), when staff briefs council on recommended changes to the Bond Election Advisory Committee’s proposed $144 million in facilities bonding. Following is a presentation of FEMA’s Floodplain Mapping project – likely another chance for council to describe how the Prop. 2 aquifer-protection amendment will instead pave Barton Springs. Hoping to recapture lost ground (literally) in the debate, Item 39 from council is Lee Leffingwell’s resolution announcing an ordinance “relating to economic development and grandfathering … in the Barton Springs Zone,” his promised alternative to the charter amendment concerning limits on future aquifer development.
A late addition is a proposal from Brewster McCracken, Dunkerley, and Leffingwell requesting the Lege look into local caps on property tax during the special session – with the expressed intent of halving Austin’s from 10% to 5%; more on that no doubt to come. The lengthy consent agenda is stacked with housekeeping items: renewing funding to Austin/Travis Co. Mental Health and Mental Resources and the hospital district for MHMR and medical services (Items 4, 5, and 6); $50,000 in grants to APD’s Alcohol Control Team‘s underage boozing measures (Item 14); and a thick list from the purchasing department. Breaking the monotony is the 5:30 performance of veteran keyboard virtuoso Ian McLagan. Maybe he’ll drop some mod-cluster bombs from his touring days with the Stones – in light of the ongoing public hysteria, how about “19th Nervous Breakdown”?
This article appears in April 7 • 2006.