Sorry to be late, but the Hustle just got back from having breakfast tacos with the city manager. (Oh, you namedropper!)
Marc Ott just wrapped his second annual “Breakfast with the City Manager,” a little get together with the City Hall press corps. We’ll recap Monday, as there’s lots more happening – including a proposed city boycott of Arizona.
… The Copper State’s state recently passed “papers please” law effectively legalizes racial profiling by requiring cops to stop anyone they have a “reasonable” suspicion of being in the country illegally and request their immigration documents. Suffice to say, it’s set off a shitstorm of controversy around the nation, which has recently trickled down to Austin. The city issued a press release yesterday, noting we’ve joined other cities around the country in considering a boycott of Arizona in response to the new law – specifically, limiting employee travel there, and terminating business relationships with Arizona companies.
The Hustle’s posted the full release at our stylin’ new Tumblr blog, but we’ll pull the quotes from the sponsors of the item, to be considered at council’s next meeting, May 13, below.
Mike Martinez: “The reasons for introducing this measure are two-fold … First and foremost, we want to ensure that we are not exposing city employees to risk by sending them into an uncertain and potentially hostile environment in Arizona. Second, we want to send a loud and clear message to the State of Arizona that our community stands in vehement opposition to racial discrimination in any form. This resolution has precedent in past Council actions … For example, we’ve previously passed policies prohibiting the city from doing business with manufacturers who utilize sweatshop labor. It is squarely within the Council’s purview to determine with whom the city should or should not do business based on their practices.”
Bill Spelman: “Arizona’s new immigration law puts anyone traveling to the state in jeopardy of being detained, based on a law enforcement officer’s ‘reasonable suspicion’ that that person might be an undocumented immigrant … That’s wrong, and I can’t responsibly allow our city employees to be placed at such a risk.”
Lee Leffingwell: “While I’m normally reluctant to support the Council formally weighing in on issues outside of our jurisdiction, Arizona’s legislation potentially has a direct impact on our employees, and is generally so offensive that I believe it demands our attention, … I’m supporting this resolution because I believe that we have a responsibility not only to protect our own employees, but also to speak out loudly against racial discrimination wherever it exists.”
… As we noted yesterday, Transportation director Rob Spillar briefed council yesterday on the “Project Prioritization Process,” which informs both the city’s Strategic Mobility Plan and the potential November bond election – which we also touched on this week, as it sounds like some council members are getting cold feet, due in part, to the city’s reduced bonding capacity. Tack on the additional proposed urban rail bond election, slated for November 2011, and Leffingwell’s stated desire for an omnibus bond in the range of our 2006 bond election (which was $567.4 million), and pretty soon, you’re talking real money.
In his questions to Spillar, Bill Spelman seemed to be hinting that mobility issues that may seem to have an obvious solution – a stop sign, for instance – can sometimes require deeper study to produce optimal, if not initially obvious, results. “It seems a lot of gaps will require a lot more attention than we’ll have time to think through over the next few months,” he said, later being assured by Spillar that the draft package of projects scheduled for June 24 release would have good information about shovel-ready projects.
So far, it looks like the 2011 budget aren’t the only the only financials up for discussion this summer.
What the hell else is happening?
The only real action on the city calendar is today’s Live From the Plaza jam, featuring Amber Lucille; City Hall, 301 W. Second, 12pm.
However, we wouldn’t be surprised if a council quorum materialized at the One Green Step eco-awareness event this Saturday, May 1 at the Pan Am Recr Center, 2100 E. Third, 2-4pm. Just mention “free giveaways,” and the Hustle is there.
Got something you wanna show the Hustle? Email it to wells [at] austinchronicle.com, tweet it @CityHallHustle, drop by the Hustle’s Facebook or Tumblr page, or leave a comment in the section below.
This article appears in April 30 • 2010.