Early Voting has started and continues until Friday, November 1st. This is a crucial time for our community. Find locations and poll hours here. Please vote.
We told you about Mayor Watson’s plan to fast-track the purchase of two buildings to house the Police, Fire and EMS, without an RFP. The property is owned by Brandywine Realty Trust. Days before Watson’s announcement of the proposed purchase, Brandywine Operating Partners and an executive contributed $11,000 to the Austin Leadership PAC supporting Kirk Watson’s re-election as Mayor. Watson was confronted at a Public Safety Committee Meeting with the fact of the contribution. Watson said he would “make decisions” regarding that info at a “later point”. After public testimony against the purchase, the item was passed on the consent agenda with an environmental amendment from Alison Alter. Mayor Watson with knowledge of the contribution did not recuse or abstain from the vote.
We told you how the Austin City Council violated its rules in order to marginalize public input and diminish the democratic process. We alerted you to court rulings finding the Mayor and Council in violation of the Open Meetings Act.
You now know that the Mayor and Council are deregulating land use, taking planning and decision-making away from the community, and putting it in the hands of the market by diminishing or eliminating off-street parking requirements, single-family zoning, compatibility standards, and reasonable height and density controls. These actions will destabilize neighborhoods, displace vulnerable residents, and increase concrete, runoff, heat, and property taxes while failing to provide affordable housing.
After the election a city commission appointed by the council will act on a proposal to allow commercial uses such as convenience stores and restaurants to replace homes in residential neighborhoods. Allowing commercial uses such as these on all single-family zoned lots will complete the deregulation of residential land use and mark the end of residential neighborhoods.
Vote like your community depends upon it, because it does.