Austin Neighborhood Council Gains Ground on Key Austin Commissions

by: Karl-Thomas Musselman

Tue Jul 28, 2009 at 04:39 PM CDT

It is well known that the City of Austin Planning Commission is a pipeline for higher office and whose appointed membership greatly effects the direction and design of the city. This May's race between Chris Riley and Perla Cavazos, both former Planning Commission members being case in point. But with the current retirements, expirations of terms, replacements, and upcoming term expirations, it's clear that the Planning Commission as a whole has drifted towards a heavier influence by the Austin Neighborhoods Council.

Here is the new make-up of the Planning Commission with the year in which their terms expire (so most recent appointments are at the top).

2011: Chair, Dave Sullivan (Reappointed- Shade)
2011: Vice Chair, Jay Reddy (Reappointed- Riley)
2011: Danette Chimenti (Spelman)
2011: Kathie Tovo (Morrison)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2010: Mandy Dealey (Wynn)
2010: Clint Small (Wynn)
2010: Saundra Kirk (Cole)
2010: Dave Anderson (Wynn)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2009: Gerardo Castillo (Martinez)*

*term expires this Friday

The bolded names are brand new to the board and both are very closely aligned with the ANC. Councilman Spelman's appointment Danette Chimenti was Morrison's successor to the ANC. Morrion's appointment Kathie Tovo, former Bouldin Creek Neighborhood Association President, was almost a candidate this spring in the Place 1 race and is thought to still have council aspirations. Commission member Dealey ran previously in 2005 for Council, losing in a 4 way race to Jennifer Kim.

With the Planning Commission having in the last year lost Chris Ewen (not reappointed) this indicates a shift on the board. A close eye should be given to Martinez's next appointment as Castillo's partial term expires this Friday. Beyond that, Mayor Leffingwell will get to replace all 3 of Mayor Wynn's appointments next summer so given his close relationship with Martinez, will make or break the direction and diversity of the Planning Commisison in its next iteration.

Also of note from Bradford's piece was the Board of Adjustment which is the funnel through which variance requests are routed (for instance, business designations for noise requests). Another 9-member board like the Planning Commission, two "nay" votes can kill a variance request.

Councilwoman Morrison has appointed quintessential neighborhood activist, and once again, former ANC President Jeff Jack to the Board of Adjustment where he will join former ANC President Bryan King who Bradford notes as "a reliable nay vote". The other appointments from last week include former ANC South Central Representative Clarke Hammond (Leffingwell) and the reappointment of Nora Salinas (Martinez).

And then there's Morrison's choice of Mary Arnold for the Waterfront Planning Advisory Board which guides the development debate along Lady Bird Lake. That one's already stirred up controversy beyond Bradford with the Austin Chronicle critiquing the choice as not following the Waterfront Overlay ordinance's commands for a diverse professional board with specific categories of representation which Arnold may or may not particularly fit.

In sum, none of this is to say that appointments to city boards and commissions will behave or vote in similar patterns just because they have similar backgrounds in their activism and interaction with the City. But Bradford's closing statement in his article is all to true, and is reflective of what happens under our current system of local government.

Someone should just draw up a list of the dozen or so neighborhood representatives who seem to serve on every board and commission.   When one is appointed, we can cross her off the list and move to the next name.  When we get to the end of the list, we can simply return to the top of the list.

I thought Austin had a deeper pool of neighborhood activists.

I've commented on this before. So long as Austin is captivated by low turnout and lack of interest from the broader electorate, we will be captivated by a limited pool of dedicated activists whose ranks are not growing in proportion to the city's population. While some of those long time activists are revered institutions and others reviled (it often just depends on which side of a local skirmish you are on), the question might be would Austin's citizen-government be improve by having more activists on top of just long time activists?  

On a personal note- it is easy to offer a critique in Austin and I think that's healthy to the larger debate we as a community are having on the nature and structure of our government (single member districts, campaign finance, public financing, etc). But in addition to words, there is action. And along those lines, I'm now serving with the newly created Austin Bike Theft Task Force which is making some real progress, and am in discussions to help restart my own inactive neighborhood association, Kealing, in Central East Austin.  

Unplugged at the Grove Shut Down Due to Noise Complaint

by: Phillip Martin

Fri Jun 12, 2009 at 10:39 AM CDT

The first full day I was back in Austin a couple weeks ago, I went to Unplugged at the Grove. For those who don't live in Austin, Unplugged at the Grove is a concert series hosted at Shady Grove, a cool Austin restaurant on Barton Springs road in South Austin. They have local artists play for ninety minutes to two hours in a small setting; you can eat food, drink beer, and see free live music from some of Austin's best artists.

That is, until Captain No Fun calls the cops on you, which apparently happened yesterday.

Apparently, the opening act went beyond the 75 decibel limit (remember -- the 75 decibel limit is somewhat similar to chamber music being played in a small auditorium). Neighbor No-Fun threatened to do the same the following week.

From Austin 360:

Thursday’s opening act Sahara Smith was in the middle of her set when Austin Police showed up with a decibel meter and ordered the show stopped. Headliner Jimmy LaFave never played in front of a crowd estimated at 600. “Unplugged” booker Marsha Milam said the complaint came from a neighbor who told Shady Grove management that he’d call the cops next week, too.

“We’re gonna be back with live music next Thursday and the Thursday after that,” vowed Young. “I’ll pay the bands even if they only play five minutes. We’re not gonna give up the fight.”

I think you all know where I stand on this -- the music ends before 9:30pm, its on a loud, loud street in Austin anyway, and considering that my best friend lives a block off of Burnt Road in Central Austin where they have been bulldozing and building new apartments for several months, the idea that Unplugged at the Grove is too noisy is laughable.

Here are competing sides from the comments at Austin 360.

By stex5150

June 11, 2009 9:19 PM | Link to this

It is carpetbaggers like this that need to just pack up and go back to wherever they came from. They have no idea what Austin is all about or what made the company the carpetbagger works for want to locate in Austin. If you are stupid enough to buy a house or condo without researching the area for noise, traffic or crime then you really are not the genius you think you are. The Austin music scene was here long before 75% or more of these carpetbaggers got here but they all want to complain about the noise in their overpriced condos that were built right in the middle of the “Live music capital of Texas”. Think before you buy or go back to wherever you came from, preferrably sooner than later.

By YeahIsaidIt

June 11, 2009 9:23 PM | Link to this

They shoulda arrested the whole lot of them! Don’t want to hear no stank’n music in this overpriced town. Used to have a good neighborhood till all the weird crowd showed up and brought their drugs and tree huggers with them. And not to mention the bike losers. We don’t need know Stevie Ray statue…we need a statue of W…he saved America. Hail the New World Order and down with dull and awful live music. Anyone know the guy that called the cops? He needs a medal! Yeah I said it!

The noise ordinance thing -- pushed by neighborhood associations and Austin City Councilwoman Laura Morrison -- is complete nonsense. When I go camping at state parks (which I also did when I was back in Texas), then quiet hours don't start until 10pm. Before then (and normally after), you'll have lots of families running around, pick-up trucks playing country music -- and in the middle of nowhere.

And everyone is fine with it. And everyone has a good time.

But in the middle of a city, where there have been restaurants for decades, noise exceeding chamber music levels at a small auditorium is considered unruly at 8pm? Are you serious? Did someone confuse Barton Springs road with Georgetown's Sun City or something?

Whoever wants to run against Laura Morrison next election cycle, I'll support you.

Mayor Leffingwell -- let's see what we can do about this.

Update:

Just got an interesting e-mail: the homes across the street from Barton Springs have been around a long time, and those neighbors are (A) used to noise, and (B) the traffic on Barton Springs is loud, too.

The only new living areas there are those condominiums they put up where the trailer parks used to be -- those parks where, ironically, Jimmy LaFave -- who was headlining last night -- used to live for a while. Which means, more than likely, the complaint came from someone that just moved into the neighborhood willingly. 

Either that, or Laura Morrison is just traveling the city, telling kids to get off of her lawn.

Austin City Council Place 4 Runoff Election Results: Morrison Wins

by: Karl-Thomas Musselman

Sat Jun 14, 2008 at 07:08 PM CDT

Results from Travis County Elections
FINAL 207 of 207 Precincts Reporting 

                EVote   EVote%   EDay  EDay%   TOTAL   TOTAL%
Laura Morrison  6,064   60.19%   7,767 69.73%  13,831  65.20%
Cid Galindo     4,010   39.81%   3,371 30.27%   7,381  34.80%

7:25- A couple of notes as I look at the precinct by precinct votes. The perfect storm of a) it being a runoff, b) a June election, and c) a Saturday election is clearly shown in that there are only 5 total early votes cast in the University of Texas campus box. Morrison won Pct. 148 3-2 (actual votes). Morrison won the other low turnout West Campus boxes... Pct 277 was 75%-25% (16 total voters) and my home Pct 266 was 70%-30% (60 total voters).

8:20- The first 10% of Election Day precincts have reported. Morrison's margin widened from 20 points in early vote to 50 points on election day.

Based upon this and commentary from the campaigns, Burnt Orange Report is calling the race for Laura Morrsion. We will continue to update the results as they come in.

8:45- Over half reporting now and Morrison continues to rack up the election day margin.

8:50- More regular updates coming out now with another 25 precinct reporting, this time, even more favorably for Morrison.

9:00- Cid Galindo managed to win both of the votes cast the University of Texas campus precinct today. As a result, he has reversed Morrison's 1-vote lead there and won the UT Campus by a 4-3 vote.

9:05- Cid Galindo has conceded and is talking to his supporters. I have to personally say that I did appreciate him running. At some point I'd like to go back to school and do my master's work in urban studies and geography (my undergrad minor) so I have a real appreciate for the perspective he brought to the table in this race.

10:05- Final report is in. Morrison wins 65-35 with almost exactly 5% total turnout for the election for a grand total of 21,212 votes cast.  

Don't Forget to Vote Today

by: David Mauro

Sat Jun 14, 2008 at 00:44 PM CDT

By the end of the night, we will have a new councilmember for Place 4. While the last month of the campaign has been dominated by negative mailings and robocalls, we should remember that both candidates are actually well-qualified candidates and that neither is half as bad as their opponent would have you believe, as the Statesman's editorial this morning pointed out .

Both are good candidates, experienced in city government and possessing a long list of civic involvement. Morrison has been president of the Austin Neighborhoods Council, and Galindo has been a member of the city Planning Commission.

Despite their considerable achievements, the runoff campaign has been bitter, with charges, countercharges and repeated phone calls to voters’ homes. The candidates have attacked each other in advertisements for a month.

This page has endorsed Morrison in the runoff. We believe she has a broader grasp of city issues, and her years working out neighborhood disputes should give her good experience in resolving conflicting viewpoints on the council. Also, Morrison’s background in engineering and business should serve her well.

What are your thoughts on today's election?

While endorsements and her nine point lead in round one probably make Morrison the favorite, with turnout estimated to be at 25,000, Galindo certainly has a chance to pull an upset. 

Where to Vote: List of today's polling places
BOR Endorsement: Laura Morrison
Austin Chronicle Endorsement: Laura Morrison
Statesman Endorsement: Laura Morrison
Candidate's Websites: Morrison and Cid Galindo

Morrison, Galindo Launch New Ads

by: Matt Glazer

Thu Jun 12, 2008 at 11:02 AM CDT

Cid Galindo: "In Her Own Words"

Laura Morrison: "Unbelievable"

(Disclosure: I work for Laura Morrison and support her candidacy 100%.  Because of my involvement in her campaign, I present these ads for you with no commentary.)

Laura Morrison's McMansion

by: m1ek

Tue Jun 10, 2008 at 01:07 PM CDT

The McMansion ordinance specifies a limit of 0.4 FAR (floor to area ratio) for single-family-zoned property in Austin. This means if you have a 6000 square foot lot, like I do, your total living space must be 2400 square feet or less, with a few exemptions (this is a big change from the prior rules which allowed an unlimited FAR; 2.5 to 3 stories; but 40% maximum impervious cover). A few exemptions apply, such as habitable attic space and basements (both too expensive or too impractical for most folks) and for detached garage space (but not garage apartments - and I'd like to have one of those on top of my detached garage someday too). I worked hard against this ordinance in 2006 and 2007; even partially succeeded in getting the Planning Commission to approve a 0.5 FAR where garage apartments and duplexes were present to mitigate the drastic impact this would have on affordable housing; but in the end the City Council passed the ordinance as-is (0.4 FAR).

My next-door neighbors (family of 5 in about 1100 square feet with a garage apartment which is currently being used by the kids' aunt) were left with about 300 square feet with which to expand, thanks to this ordinance. They've decided to build back rather than up, so they can fully utilize that 300 square feet rather than having any of it obstructed/unusable due to stairs; so despite being rammed through in response to a "drainage emergency", there's pretty strong anectdotal evidence that the ordinance will actually increase impervious cover!

FAR isn't the only thing in the ordinance, but it's the one that hurts the most. Laura Morrison was the chairwoman of the task force that wrote the ordinance.

Now on to the crackplog:

In the past, you've seen me point out the hypocrisy of two or three folks heavily involved in the McMansion Task Force for living in homes which violated the expressed spirit, if not technically the letter, of the ordinance. The spirit being "out-of-scale houses (McGraw) and/or homes which 'tower over the backyards of their neighbors' (Maxwell)".

Somehow, I missed this.

Laura Morrison chaired this task force - and lives in a home which, according to TravisCAD, is worth $1.4 million and has 8,537 square feet. Pretty big, but I had previously assumed it fit well within the 0.4 FAR required by McMansion. Yes, this is a big old historic house, but that's not the metric of the ordinance (it doesn't say "big houses are OK if they are stunners", after all).

A few days ago, though, I was alerted by a reader that Morrison's lot is actually too small -- but she's not subject to the ordinance anyways, because according to said reader, her lot is zoned MF-4 (the McMansion ordinance only applies to single-family zoning). A little history here: the Old West Austin neighborhood plan (which I worked on in a transportation capacity) allowed landowners to choose to downzone their lots from multi-family (most of the area was zoned that way after WWII even though existing uses were houses) to single-family (SF-3) if the property was still being used that way. Apparently Morrison passed on this opportunity (many others took it up; I remember seeing dozens of zoning cases come up before City Council on the matter).

So let's check it out. Unfortunately, TravisCAD doesn't have the lot size, but Zillow does.

Home size: 8537 square feet
Lot size: 20,305 square feet
FAR (before loopholes): 0.42

Caveats: I do not know if Morrison is using the property in ways which would be comforming with SF-3, but I found it very interesting that her ads are attacking Galindo for building duplexes which actually comply with her ordinance yet the home she herself lives in would be non-compliant in a similar scenario, or require loopholes to comply. It's often referred to as a "converted four-plex", and the owners' address is "Apt 9", which may suggest continuing multi-family use, which would also be evidence of hypocrisy given her stand against any and all multi-family development in the area except for a few cases where that plan mentioned above quite effectively tied her hands. Either way, Morrison clearly broke the spirit of her own ordinance and her own activism against multi-family housing, and anyways when you write the ordinance, as she did, it's really easy to make sure your own property is just barely compliant. You notice that you're right over the edge; so you exempt attached carports, for instance, which, oops, you just happen to have!

Again, I can't believe I missed her the first time around - her hypocrisy on this ordinance is more odious than that of McGraw and Maxwell combined. I apologize for my lack of diligence on this matter.

(Hey, BATPAC: yes, your latest cowardly anonymous attack on me did indeed motivate me to finally take the time to write this! Good show!)

Dismal Turnout in Austin Runoff- Last Day to Vote Early

by: Karl-Thomas Musselman

Tue Jun 10, 2008 at 11:00 AM CDT

Today's the last day to vote early before Saturday's election. Burnt Orange Report has endorsed Laura Morrison.

On the Web: www.lauraforaustin.com
Early Vote Sites (consolidated): Complete Listing  

Morrison: "Cid Galindo Must Stop Harassing Voters"

by: David Mauro

Mon Jun 09, 2008 at 02:24 PM CDT

In a new e-mail, Laura Morrison accuses her opponent Cid Galindo of "harassing voters" with "deceptive phone calls."

Here's an excerpt from the e-mail, the full text of which can be found after the jump.

Today I called on my opponent – Cid Galindo – and groups supporting him to stop the telephone harassment of voters, especially seniors, during the runoff election for Austin City Council, Place 4. While we have only placed one automated call to refute false charges made by her opponent and one live call, voters have been assaulted by repeated phone calls on behalf of Cid Galindo – with some voters complaining of receiving upwards of 30 calls.

Laura Morrison has been endorsed by Burnt Orange Report, the Austin Chronicle, the Austin American-Statesman and every endorsing Democratic club.

Early voting ends tomorrow (pdf list of locations) and Election Day is Saturday, June 14.

Galindo's No Good Very Bad Week

by: Burnt Orange Report

Thu Jun 05, 2008 at 11:00 AM CDT

On Tuesday, the Austin Chronicle fact checked one of Galindo's recent hit pieces and it looks like the piece was heavy political rhetoric and light on facts.

Galindo Mailer: "Pay a big tax just to sell your home."

Facts: No tax is proposed, or has ever been considered by the city. Home sellers would not be required to pay for any upgrades. Homeowners would be investing in their own house, not paying monies to the city.

Galindo Mailer: "Every home in Austin would have to pass a city energy efficiency inspection before it can be sold."

Facts: The task force is considering a voluntary program only, initially. Homes would not have to pass an energy efficiency inspection. Sellers would be required to have an energy audit, and to provide that data to prospective buyers. Homes built in the last decade would be exempt.

Galindo Mailer: "Homeowners could be forced to spend thousands of dollars on new air conditioners and appliances."

Facts: Expensive items like HVAC units and new windows would not be required. The program would prioritize low-cost improvements such as weather stripping and duct sealing. A spending cap of 1?2 of 1 percent of the sales price has been proposed ($923 for a median-priced home). A home buyer's up-front investment would be offset by subsequent utility bill savings. Long-term, the upgrades would provide homeowners with continued monthly savings, reducing the cost of homeownership.

Galindo Mailer: "Waiting for the city to get around to inspecting a home would cost homeowners even more."

Facts: As directed by city council, the task force is developing a program that would not hold up property closings. City inspections would not be required.

The week got worse when yesterday, FOX and KVUE both ran stories questioning Galindo's commitment to affordable housing.

The KVUE story highlights the community outrage as half million dollar homes pop up in traditional, historic east Austin neighborhoods. The FOX story goes one step further discussing his failure to disclose the development projects in East Austin while Galindo sat on the Austin Planning Commission.  A mistake he didn't disclose at all on the planning commission and didn't fix until March for his city council race (three months after he started running).  Galindo even admits this was a mistake.  We of course agree.

Both stories show local Austin residents questioning Galindo's commitment to affordable housing, when he is jacking up property values and displacing east Austin residents.  

One story that hasn't been told yet is the fact that Cid has deep ties to the Republican Party.

After a little research it appears that Governor Rick Perry is a long time family friend. Cid's father and business partner is a "Bush Pioneer" who raised over $100,000 for George Bush. Cid himself is on record as donating $1000 to Senator Phil Gramm during his doomed presidential bid.

Cid is president of the Galindo Group, which says on its company website that it is a strong supporter of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, the James Leininger funded radical right wing "think tank" in Texas.  The Foundation, which is closely connected to the Texas state GOP, supports vouchers, opposes environmental laws and recently crusaded against pre-kindergarten programs in public schools.

In February he began to deceive Austin Democrats when he sent out blatantly partisan e-mails to Democrats announcing:

"This week I cast my ballot in the Democratic Presidential Primary that has captured the imagination of our nation and imbued us with a determination to turn the page and set a new course for our country."

Galindo's constant deception is one of many reasons Burnt Orange Report endorsed Laura Morrison.  Don't forget to vote early voting lasts until Tuesday June 10 and Election Day is June 14.

Statesman Endorses Laura Morrison

by: Karl-Thomas Musselman

Mon Jun 02, 2008 at 03:35 PM CDT

Budget issues will dominate City Hall for the immediate future, and both candidates speak of fiscal restraint. But neither has had to wrestle a city budget hemorrhaging red ink. However, Morrison's experience on the Community Action Network Council and bringing together disparate views from the city's neighborhoods should serve her well in budget discussions.

Galindo has more to offer than the urban plan that has dominated his campaign, but planning is his expertise and his passion, which makes him seem like a single-issue candidate.

Galindo has definite ideas about how Austin should grow. He sees limiting sprawl and improving mass transit as the best answers for Austin's growth headaches and traffic congestion. Galindo's knowledge of urban planning and his service on the city's Planning Commission are impressive. He's also on the board of Envision Central Texas, a bold effort begun several years ago to institute a regional plan for growth in the Austin area and beyond.

Morrison and Galindo differ on several important points. He opposes the November vote rolling back the city's subsidies for the Domain development in North Austin. She supports it as long as the issue is confined to the Domain only. He voted against the McMansion ordinance that limits the size of homes on smaller lots in certain city neighborhoods. She helped draft the ordinance and supports it.

Read the full endorsement here.