Congratulations to Kathie Tovo on her win.
It was a nip and tuck there towards the end, thanks to the piles of cash developers threw at her opponent. Kathie hung in there and in the end won a resounding win.
Kathie will bring to city council an honest voice and speak for the neighborhoods that developers are chomping at the bit to develop into unaffordable housing for the privileged few.
I took a drive out to Stiener Ranch the other day with my son to show him where I used to work more than 10 years ago. As we drove towards the lake on Quinlan Park road, the vastness of the $500k+ homes was staggering. In the last 10 years hundreds of these behemoths have been built and they line the road and reach back into the land around the lake covering every empty space that used to be there. Then it struck me, these are the people that the developers are targeting for our central city neighborhoods and by the looks of the commute, there are plenty of them who would jump at the chance to buy a central city mac-mansion.
Fortunately for us, we now have two council members who are sensitive to neighborhood issues and with Imagine Austin looming we are lucky to have had Kathie step up and take a shot!
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Tax revenue job one.
Politics has become a four letter word. For evidence of this, look at the parallels between the Park-PUD (a.k.a. Pico-PUD) and the 2011 Austin City Council elections and in particular, the run off between Kathie Tovo and the incumbent Randy Shade.
To begin with, the Park developer went straight for a PUD designation for a tiny parcel on Barton Springs Road. After city staff reviewed the PUD proposal, they recommended against it. It then went before planning commission where it was unanimously voted down. That was in January of 2010. Later that year, all of the sudden and with little notification, it popped up on the councils agenda. When it was read, Council Spelman sounded like a used car salesman trying to sell an old broken down heap to an unsuspecting little old lady. Riley didn't sound like a car salesman but one could easily see that he had been bought. The only honesty came from Morrison, who voted against it. Unfortunately, she was the only no vote so it sailed through with a super majority
Clearly the passage of this PUD was guaranteed behind closed doors and with lots of money by developers with deep pockets. The same interests that are currently fighting a dirty fight to steal the run off election from Kathie Tovo, the clear choice in the regular election.
It would seem silly that a run off election is held if no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote, but that is the position that we find ourselves in now. Tovo took nearly 47% while Shade got barely 33%. The runoff will cost the taxpayers of Austin over $500,000 so that Shade can attempt the impossible. History doesn't lie, Tovo winning this election is nearly a certainty and Shade knows it. Unfortunately, her backers don't care. They think they can purchase this election as they purchased the Park-PUD. Keeping Shades seat on the council will assure them a super majority that developers count on for projects like the Park-PUD. Projects that exploit our town and drive housing prices so high that only the elite can afford to live in the central city. This isn't NYC, but it would seem that our current city council cares only about building the largest tax base possible and the developers are only too happy to oblige.
Shade needs to go. She lied to get into office and she has held true to the big developer interests for her entire term. Along with Shade, all those that voted for the Park-PUD need to go. They don't care about building a sustainable Austin. We need a council that will listen to the community and focus on sustainability.
To begin with, the Park developer went straight for a PUD designation for a tiny parcel on Barton Springs Road. After city staff reviewed the PUD proposal, they recommended against it. It then went before planning commission where it was unanimously voted down. That was in January of 2010. Later that year, all of the sudden and with little notification, it popped up on the councils agenda. When it was read, Council Spelman sounded like a used car salesman trying to sell an old broken down heap to an unsuspecting little old lady. Riley didn't sound like a car salesman but one could easily see that he had been bought. The only honesty came from Morrison, who voted against it. Unfortunately, she was the only no vote so it sailed through with a super majority
Clearly the passage of this PUD was guaranteed behind closed doors and with lots of money by developers with deep pockets. The same interests that are currently fighting a dirty fight to steal the run off election from Kathie Tovo, the clear choice in the regular election.
It would seem silly that a run off election is held if no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote, but that is the position that we find ourselves in now. Tovo took nearly 47% while Shade got barely 33%. The runoff will cost the taxpayers of Austin over $500,000 so that Shade can attempt the impossible. History doesn't lie, Tovo winning this election is nearly a certainty and Shade knows it. Unfortunately, her backers don't care. They think they can purchase this election as they purchased the Park-PUD. Keeping Shades seat on the council will assure them a super majority that developers count on for projects like the Park-PUD. Projects that exploit our town and drive housing prices so high that only the elite can afford to live in the central city. This isn't NYC, but it would seem that our current city council cares only about building the largest tax base possible and the developers are only too happy to oblige.
Shade needs to go. She lied to get into office and she has held true to the big developer interests for her entire term. Along with Shade, all those that voted for the Park-PUD need to go. They don't care about building a sustainable Austin. We need a council that will listen to the community and focus on sustainability.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)