When Willie Lewis first announced his candidacy for City Council in 1997, many thought he couldn’t topple incumbent Eric Mitchell. He did, but the contest was one of the most vicious in local history. Now, Lewis is running for a second term and the race for Place 6 — the seat traditionally held by an African-American — is already shaping up to be as noteworthy as the last one. Lewis will face former Dallas Cowboys linebacker Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson, an East Austin youth advocate, as well as Austin police officer and ordained minister Danny Thomas. At Lewis’ press conference Tuesday in front of Pecan Springs Elementary, the council member laid out a number of accomplishments during his term, including fixing several unsafe railroad crossings on the Eastside. But Henderson, reached by telephone in Tulsa Wednesday morning, said Lewis’ record on council shows that he hasn’t done enough for his East Austin constituents. “He’s spreading himself too thin,” Henderson said. “He’s chiming in on every issue that comes before council.”
Of course, Henderson has a record of his own to defend. A sexual assault felony conviction 17 years ago in California could work against him in the eyes of voters. Questions already are being raised about Henderson’s ability to serve in office, given the conviction and all, so the former Cowboy’s camp has solicited an opinion from the Secretary of State’s office. Austin’s Charter does not specifically address the felony quandary. Henderson said the conviction hasn’t prevented him from voting. “I’ve been in Austin for 10 years and I’ve been a faithful voter for as long as I’ve been here,” said Henderson, who grew up in Austin. He added that his criminal past was a product of his well-publicized addiction to crack. “I’m sorry for what I did,” he said. As for his record interfering with his ability to run for office, Henderson observed: “When John Johnson ran against [Mayor Bruce] Todd [in 1991], I don’t remember Johnson’s conviction being an issue.” But then, Johnson, an ex-Mafia “wheel man”and Sixth Street hot dog vendor, was never taken seriously…
For the past couple of years, microchip giant Intel Corp. has led a low-profile existence in Austin with some 300 engineers holed up in a South MoPac office. Now, Intel is scouting for a big plot of Austin land to build what would be one of its key “campus” centers in the country. Mike Edwards of Intel’s real estate team said the chip maker is looking for property on which to build up to 1 million square feet of office space that would also serve some “light” laboratory purposes, meaning the company won’t be building a chemical-heavy wafer fab plant. So that’s good news. The Save Our Springs Alliance and the Austin Neighborhoods Council, meanwhile, have made it clear to Intel that a move to an environmentally sensitive area just wouldn’t be prudent. Edwards said their wishes have been duly noted by Intel. As for available land, Edwards noted that downtown would be an attractive place to settle given its re-energized state, but he gave no specifics on prospective locations. He said the company has also looked at sites in the North Austin/Round Rock area and in South Austin along the Ben White corridor…
For those who think SOS should keep its nose out of private corporations’ real estate decisions, it may surprise some that the Downtown Austin Alliance honored the group Wednesday for spurring redevelopment downtown by trying to steer major construction projects out of the Drinking Water Protection Zone. SOS is credited for its work to lure CSC downtown from its original choice over the aquifer. Also honored for Smart Growth savvy were architect Sinclair Black, the renovated Driskill Hotel, and the Sutton Company, residential builders.
This article appears in January 21 • 2000.
