There’s
a mood that’s
unique to council meetings — a kaleidoscope of moods really — spun by surges
of hope and failure, of regret and relief, and propelled by sundry other
passions that escape comprehension. Life-or-death importance is attached to
things quickly forgotten, and the preferred order of business is progress. But
at times the machine slows, allowing reflection in the midst of madness.
In an hour-long ceremony before the curtain closed on their council careers,
Max Nofziger and Brigid Shea drew a final tribute from their colleagues, people
with whom they spent a good portion of their lives but couldn’t fully trust.
Lauded by Mayor Bruce Todd and Pro Tem Gus Garcia were Nofziger’s nine years of
commitment to the environment, the arts, downtown, and his leadership through
the economic crisis of the late Eighties. Shea’s farewell was less enthusiastic
but equally kind. In a drier eulogy, Todd described her efforts to protect
Barton Creek and to re-use Bergstrom housing for the poor. Disregarded was
Shea’s sound fiscal conservatism, she being perhaps the stingiest of all the
councilmembers, as witnessed in her lonely opposition to a publicly funded
baseball stadium last year and her tireless crusade against publicly funded
growth in the suburbs.
Shea maintained that chintziness even to her last meeting, filibustering
against a measure allowing the Circle C empire a $2.5 million bond issuance.
Although state legislation in 1995 christened the Circle C MUDs as sovereign,
removing them from the city’s development regulations and preventing their
annexation, the MUDS must still win city approval for debt issuances. According
to city lawyers, Austin can reject the issuance only if Circle C violates its
contract with the city, and that hasn’t occurred.
Nonetheless, Shea stormed on, spurred by regret that Austin taxpayers are
helping pay for the recreational pursuits of Circle C residents. You see,
Slaughter Creek Park and the bicycle track known as the veloway, both within
Circle C and therefore outside the city, are maintained by Austin taxpayers. To
stall the issuance, Shea played every trick in the book, even seeking ways to
shift the maintenance costs onto Circle C, and begging her colleagues to see
her reasoning. But alas, it was quibbling in vain. In the end, only Nofziger
joined the resistance with an abstention.
For the most part, the past three years have been like that, with Shea and
Nofziger taking the lone stand on tough environmental issues, helping establish
them as the leaders of the council’s progressive/green majority. Indeed, in
their last meeting, the two led the majority in passing a measure to create an
environmental czar at the city, who will oversee the environmental efforts and
commitments of the city’s departments. Bruce Todd left the dais on the vote,
and Ronney Reynolds and Eric Mitchell voted no.
Only the best is remembered in parting, and last Thursday’s farewell ceremony
was no different. Overlooked was Shea and Nofziger’s failure to help keep the
environmental feeling of 1992 alive, something that arguably could have been
possible if the two had prepared a strong replacement ordinance after the Save
Our Springs ordinance was struck down in court. So running underneath the
festivity was the myriad of emotions again. With the appreciation for their
accomplishments was a relief that things were changing, an anticipation of the
new council, and the new energy they’ll bring.
With little ado, the council also approved another sweetheart deal for The
Friends of Eric Mitchell, an informal group seemingly presided over by the
former chieftain of the Neighborhood, Housing and Conservation Office, Gene
Watkins. Among other duties, Watkins — who with Mitchell’s help last february
secured a position as a consultant on the SCIP II housing contract with the
city — is also a consultant for the Rites of Passage Development Corporation,
a group headed by the Rev. Sterling Lands II of the Greater Calvary Missionary
Baptist Church.
Once again, Watkins asked and he did receive. For a mere pittance, Rites of
Passage wrested ownership of the Meadows Glen Apartments in Northeast Austin
from the city’s Austin Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC). Rev. Lands
says that Rites of Passage wanted control of the apartments to make them more
affordable to low-income families, and to combat the high crime that encircles
the complex by creating social programs like community and family building
focus groups. “We’re looking to design and help the neighbors interact so that
area is drug and violence free,” Lands says.
But while the goals are righteous, the path is costly. The city sold the
41-unit complex for $342,000, though it’s appraised at $733,000. To help Rites
of Passage make the purchase, the city provided a $342,000 loan, repayable over
30 years at 0% interest. The loss of the complex will cost the AHFC about 6% of
its budget for next year, since the complex earned $6,000 a month in profit.
The Rites of Passage also got another $100,000 loan from the city to help
create an operating reserve for long-term maintenance needs. The loan is
forgivable if Rites of Passage fulfills its plan to rent out the apartments to
low-and-middle income residents over the next five years, and if they hire an
experienced management company.
That’s where things get murky. Rites of Passage will drop the rent to
an average of $250 a month, from the previous range of $332 to $550. Under the
city’s rates, the apartments generated $16,396 a month in gross rents. Under
Rites of Passage’s rates, the complex will generate $10,250 a month, about what
the city pays to the management company, Capstone Real Estate Services. Since
Rites of Passage plans to keep that management company, the group should just
about break even once the new rates are effective. That means the group will
not get the $6,000 in monthly revenue that the city did. Not that it should,
since Rites of Passage is a non-profit organization. But the city’s rates could
apply for some time, since under the Federal Uniform Relocation Act the current
residents can not be forced out. Staff estimates that it could take as many as
two years for the current residents to leave, which could mean the apartments
will continue to make a profit until the new rates are phased in.
However, current Neighborhood Housing and Conservation Office (NHCO) head Bill
Cook says that Rites of Passage will not make a profit because staff will
require higher loan payments until the new rates are phased in. But as of vote
time, neither staff nor the councilmembers knew how that would work. Maybe
that’s because Eric Mitchell threw the item in as an addendum to the council
agenda only three days before the meeting. Watkins refused any explanation of
the project, except to imply that The Austin Chronicle is racist for
investigating it.
At the meeting, Shea did manage to question NHCO’s Cook as to why the city
should sell for a song one of its profitable ventures. Cook responded
that it was an opportunity to provide cheaper rents to low-income residents.
But despite the lack of info, what gave the item credence was a co-sponsorship
from Gus Garcia. Garcia is the conscience of the council, and if he says things
are above-board, then you can expect little opposition. Perhaps that’s why Shea
and Nofziger left the dais instead of voting “No.” In their absence, the item
passed unanimously.
This week in council: no meeting.
This article appears in June 21 • 1996 and June 21 • 1996 (Cover).