The council’s holiday season officially began last week, the first of six
off-weeks in the last quarter of 1995. Still, members of the housing
subcommittee met on Tuesday to try to guide the city safely into the next seven
days.
For Jackie Goodman, chair of the subcommittee, that means pouncing on a
recently discovered, $2.5 mil-lion surplus in the budget of the Neighborhood
Housing and Conser-vation office (NHC). Often considered the council’s most
authentic bleeding heart, Goodman hopes to send out goodwill worth $375,000 to
two social service agencies.
At the meeting, she sponsored an item requesting that $300,000 of the
surplus go for the Infant Parent Program, an arm of the Austin/Travis County
Mental Health/Mental Retardation Center that provides early education and
therapy to families of children with developmental delays. If approved by the
full council, Goodman’s gesture will cover part of an $800,000 undertaking to
nearly double the size of the program’s facility, with the rest of the money
coming from private sources.
She’d like the other $75,000 for Connections: A Resource Center for Child
Care Professionals and Parents. The three-year-old agency also hopes to expand
into nearby office space, and to increase staffing and office equipment.
Despite a request from absentee committee member Eric Mitchell that the
items be postponed, Goodman, Gus Garcia, and Brigid Shea followed staff’s
recommendation to send the proposals to the Community Development Commission, a
16-member board of community reps charged with offering input into the
neighborhood department’s proposals. The idea that the community’s opinion on a
neighborhood project actually matters is somewhat of a rarity – the CDC has had
reason to meet only once this year.
Speaking of Mitchell’s absenteeism, city hall rumors have been swirling
over the past couple of months that there’s a fifth member on the subcommittee.
Indeed, a call to the city clerk’s office confirmed that Bruce Todd is that
member, though the lame duck mayor has not been spotted at one meeting this
entire year.
Anyway, it’s no wonder Mitchell requested shelving the items. He has his
own plans for the windfall, which comes as a result of cancelled projects and
unanticipated savings in the housing department’s budget for Community
Development Block Grants. Mitchell wants about $100,000 to help the Austin
Midnight Basketball League expand services, says NHC director Bill Cook. On
Monday, October 23, the CDC reviewed both Mitchell and Goodman’s proposals, and
is recommending council approval.
Another proposal Mitchell introduced to the city council is also in need of
funds. Former state Representative Wilhelmina Delco and other black community
leaders are requesting $1.25 million for an “intergenerational” rehabilitation
getaway at the Travis State School in far East Austin. The school, scheduled
for closure at the end of 1997, would be reopened as a “village” for single,
pregnant mothers, “at-risk” youth, and senior citizens, under the name “Vision
Village.” Delco and company need the funds to purchase the land and help
refurbish numerous facilities there. By dint of unanimous council direction
three weeks ago, the city manager is currently in search of available funding
options. Housing staff have recommended that the group apply for part of the
windfall.
Mitchell, who refuses to speak with reporters from this newspaper, and
says he gets a “rash” when he tries to pick it up, was unavailable for comment
on his proposals.
Other business at Tuesday’s housing subcommittee meeting dealt with
Mitchell’s East Austin redevelopment plan. Speculation abounds that he may also
want the NHC surplus money to supplement the recently approved $9 million
federal housing loan that may incarnate his dream to rebuild East 11th and 12th
streets. Staff hope the loan will be sufficient to build a 40,000 square foot
office building as well as acquiring 56 parcels in the area. Coupled with a
two-story, 8,000-square-foot office building that the city is currently
constructing, staff think the investments will “prime the pump” for private
redevelopment in the rest of the area, permitting rentals and land sales that
will help repay the loan.
Here’s how the process is designed to work: according to housing staff, who
briefed the housing subcommittee members about the plan at last week’s meeting,
the NHC will disburse the loan to the Urban Renewal Agency (URA). The URA, a
committee of four mayoral appointees, will acquire the parcels through purchase
or through eminent domain. Eminent domain, whereby a government entity – in
this case the URA – can force property owners to give over their land, albeit
for a fair market price, has many East Austin residents and business owners
worried about fairness and community support for this project. Residents who do
not wish to move will find themselves forced out. According to comments made by
Mitchell to the daily, re-sistance by residents and business owners will not be
brooked.
Once the land is acquired, the URA will sell it to either a private
developer or a non-profit corporation, which may be public or private. It will
only sell the land if URA design specifications are met, allowing the body to
retain control of the project’s progress, aesthetics, and other factors.
An enthusiastic Mitchell has already formed his own private non-profit, a
“community-based” group of nine members, under the name “Austin Redevelopment
Authority” (ARA). “Community-based” is the key phrase here; it turns out that
many of the proposed members don’t live anywhere near the area to be
redeveloped. The council has yet to approve Mitchell’s proposal, which is
already gaining a fiery resistance from Brigid Shea.
At last week’s meeting, Shea voiced her preference for staff’s original
recommendation: a public non-profit, which would allow more community
involvement in the plan’s implemenation than would a private non-profit. Their
recommendation included representatives from surrounding neighborhoods, unlike
Mitchell’s proposal which calls mainly for business representatives and
political leaders from outside the community.
Staff suggests including representatives from the adjoining Guadalupe
neighborhood, among others. Guadalupe neighborhood residents have expressed
concerns about the likely use of eminent domain and possible gentrification, as
well as exclusion from the process.
It’s no wonder. On a memo from housing staff in August recommend-ing that
the Guadalupe neighborhood be a member of the public non-profit, Shea says
Mitchell’s office had scratched off the Guadalupe listing and written a big
“No!” next to it.
Since August, housing staff seem to have broadened their
horizons. Though Cook says the housing department still holds true to its
original recommendation, it was not included in backup material for last week’s
briefing. “[In August] everybody was focusing on who the developer would be,”
says Cook. Now, Cook realizes that “it’s not important who is the developer.
The point is that the [community] input comes in the creation of the plan
itself,” not in the implementation stages.
After the meeting, Shea approached staff and promised to “hold [NHC staff]
personally responsible if this thing blows up” in the face of the
neighborhoods. She added later, with reference to the planning process and the
use of eminent domain, that “staff is engaging in activities that will cause a
jihad in East Austin. They’re scaring the crap out of the neighborhoods.”
Members of the East Austin Strategy Team (EAST), a group led by former
Mitchell campaign opponent Ron Davis, also wants inclusion. EAST will embark on
a petition drive to demand that all Central East Austin redevelopment proposals
include the “formal participation and approval” of neighborhood groups. The
drive officially begins at noon on Saturday, at Lott Park on Curve Street
between East 11th and 12th Streets.
Also, the redevelopment plan will be discussed at a town hall meeting
called by Mitchell on October 24 at the Metropolitan AME church, 1105 East 10th
St.
n
This week in council: Shea is giving her joint-use idea its
greatest exercise yet, requesting that city staff combine resources with the
State Comptroller’s Office and the LBJ School of Public Affairs to audit the
finances and management of the Public Works Department. n
This article appears in October 20 • 1995 and October 20 • 1995 (Cover).