No matter what legacy Eric Mitchell leaves after his political junket ends,
Austin will never forget his contributions to the ailing state of fashion in
local politics. Why, even Max Nofziger was reportedly seen sporting a necktie
at last Thursday’s meeting. Overall, Mitchell’s colleagues are still decades
from challenging his glamour, but they should take it in stride. Mitchell has
one trump card the others don’t: Much of his spending allowance originates in
the city’s treasury.
That’s because Mitchell’s insur-ance company, Wormley, Mitchell, &
Associates, is occasionally listed as a subcontractor by companies hoping to
secure city contracts. On at least two occasions, the attempts have paid off
for Mitchell:
* Three months before Mitchell was elected in May, 1994, the council
approved a $262,000 contract for Rodriguez Engineering Laboratories to do
material testing services for the Public Works and Transportation Department.
Then, on May 11 of this year, the contract was amended to add another $175,000;
Mitchell abstained from the vote. For the total contract, Mitchell’s company is
expected to receive $62,000. His most recent payment for the contract came on
June 15, bringing his total take up to that point to slightly under $41,000,
according to Rodriguez Engineering’s monthly subcontractor report.
* As reported here in July, on Dec. 8, 1994 the council unanimously –
Mitchell included – approved a $120,000 contract with Rodriguez Engineering for
materials testing at the new airport. Mitchell’s company is expected to receive
5% of the contract, or $6,000.
And at a Wednesday Work Session on August 11, Mitchell’s card came up
again, this time in the form of a vote to award a $700,000 contract for Central
Library renovations to Hilman Constructors, a company that uses insurance
provided by Mitchell’s company. Unfortunately for Mitchell, Hilman lost the
bid.
While the city’s ethics code states that no councilmember shall receive any
financial “benefit from any contract with the city,” city manager Jesus Garza
says that Mitchell’s company is not in the wrong, since it does not provide
“project-specific” insurance to the companies, but instead underwrites their
insurance policy.
Mitchell, too, claims innocence, and said at the Work Session that his
company, which is certified with the city as a Disadvantaged Business
Enterprise (DBE), had been incorrectly listed as a subcontractor since he was
only providing insurance. (The more DBE subcontractors a firm lists, the higher
the chances the firm will wrest the city contract from other competitors.)
Currently, however, listing general insurers as subcontractors is not
restricted in the city’s DBE ordinance. “There aren’t any clear guidelines”
about the type of company that may or may not be listed as a subcontractor,
says Marcia Conner, assistant city manager.
And while the businesses may have listed Mitchell’s company on their own
volition, the best-dressed councilmember wouldn’t be in this pickle if Wormley,
Mitchell, & Associates hadn’t been recently recertified as a Disadvantaged
Business Enterprise (DBE) at the city’s Small and Minority Business Resource
Center (SMBR). An SMBR official, speaking anonymously, claims that the SMBR
office sent a certification application to Mitchell himself in June. The
application was filled out and returned later that month, and Mitchell’s
company was promptly recertified as a DBE. The only reason to become a DBE is
to win city subcontracts or contracts.
The city’s Ethics Review Commission has not looked into the potential
“conflict of interest,” according to commissioner Jett Hanna. To do so, he
says, the commission would have to receive a formal complaint from a citizen.
“It’s certainly something we’d take a look at.”
In the future, Mitchell’s problems may be solved, though not necessarily by
his own actions; the ordinance that defines a DBE is undergoing changes to
eliminate the subcontractual listing of companies that are “peripheral” to the
completion of a city project, like printing houses or insurance providers. “If
the services your company provides don’t have a direct benefit to the project,
then that would not count on the [minority] goal,” says Conner. The new rules
were in the works months before Mitchell’s subcontracts were discovered in
June, and should take effect October 2.
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In addition to Mitchell’s flashy dress, his behavioral flair took
center stage at last Thursday’s meeting. The display came after Nofziger
protested an agenda item to pay for $600,000 worth of architectural work on
Mitchell’s pet project, the Central City Enter-tainment Center, with Community
Development Block Grants. CDBGs are federal monies normally used to provide
low-income housing. During the discussion, Nofziger complained that affordable
housing is a higher priority than “subsidized bowling.” Mitchell spurned
Nofziger’s comments by turning away in his “Relax the Back” chair; besides
manifesting his disinterest, the exhibition may have spared the public from an
outburst like the one on Aug. 16, when Mitchell protested a similar Nofziger
speech by shouting, “Screw you!”
During the vote, Bruce Todd was in Seattle, and Brigid Shea was off the
dais. The item passed first reading with only Nofziger voting no, but Mitchell
and his “other half,” Ronney Reynolds, hoping to pass the item on all three
readings and needing five votes to do so, called for another vote upon Shea’s
return. Shea, who had been absent from the vote in June which essentially
approved the center, abstained.
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Shea stole Mitchell’s spotlight on the vote to bring water-quality
regulations in East and Southeast Austin into agreement with more stringent
regulations in the rest of the city’s extra-territorial jurisdiction (ETJ), in
accordance with Senate Bill 14. Developer-friendly Reynolds asked city staff
numerous questions about the legality of the new ordinance, perhaps to allow
time for Judge Joe Hart to approve a request for a temporary restraining order
filed by a local citizen (thus preventing council deliberation). Shea,
suspecting Reynolds’ motive, “called the question” to halt debate and bring the
matter to a vote. Mitchell abstained. Reynolds voted no. The rest of the
council approved the ordinance.
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Finally, the council voted 5-0 to waive $400 in fees charged to
the new Seventh Street Market entre-preneurs who want to close Trinity Street
between 7th and 8th Streets for four Sundays this month.
With the item coming at the tail end of the meeting, getting five votes to
approve the waiver on only one reading provided the evening’s main
entertainment. As occasionally is the case, Nofziger could not be found. His
jacket and other possessions were still in his seat, but a search by a council
aide bore no Nofziger. No wonder, since once again, the ever-aloof
council-member had left the meeting without telling his co-workers.
That avenue exhausted, the four councilmembers on the dais solicited the
help of a council aide to bring the MIA Mitchell to the dais. Mitchell,
according to constant intimations by Mayor Pro Tem Gus Garcia, was backstage
relieving himself in the reading room. After a brief interlude, the aide
returned, stating that Mitchell wouldn’t come to the dais. The four
councilmembers fumbled with a series of solutions, until Mitchell made a
surprise appearance and cast the fifth approving vote.
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This week in council: Members have the day off to ready for
the
ever-hellacious budget week, which begins officially on Sept. 11.
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This article appears in September 1 • 1995 and September 1 • 1995 (Cover).