Ever since the city of Austin and Computer Sciences Corp. entered pre-nup negotiations for what could be the most complex public-private union in local history, city officials have placed the multi-faceted proposal under tight spin control. Assistant City Manager Toby Futrell has taken the show on the road, meeting with downtown and neighborhood groups, and the city’s Web site (http://www.ci.austin.tx.us) provides cheerful updates on the downtown deal.
Meanwhile, the city’s hired guns — Thompson & Knight real estate lawyers — are hammering out the knotty details, with James Cousar serving as the local T&K point man and Geoffrey Osborn working out of the firm’s Dallas office.
The way things are moving, the city expects to wrap up its CSC negotiations by mid-February. “We’ll know by then whether or not we can come to an agreement,” said Futrell. “Then we’ll put it out there for two weeks for public review.”
After that, there likely will be a public hearing midway through the two-week review period and one week prior to council taking final action on the deal. So if things go as planned, City Council could be voting on the labyrinthian agreement somewhere between early and mid-March. Then, as they say, the rest is history. –Amy Smith
This article appears in February 5 • 1999 and February 5 • 1999 (Cover).