#atxcouncil: Challenger Candidates oppose Soccer Stadium Boondoggle

"Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens."
Exodus 18:21

Lost in the shuffle of last Thursday's council meeting is that two challenger candidates testified **AGAINST** the stadium proposal.

2014 District 3 runner up Susana Almanza, who recently announced a 2018 re-match, went first:



[Disclosure: This author voted for Almanza in the 2014 D3 runoff.]

Highlights:

• "Austin has a housing crisis, not a soccer crisis."

• "Will Precourt['s] deal become another Austin boondoggle?!?"

• "Why is the city cutting a rushed deal with Precourt?!?"

• 10 ways to spot a city hall boondoggle:
• Herd of lobbyists.
• Emergency Passage.
• False deadline by out of town investors.
• Contracts only available hours before they need to be approved.
• Ridiculous "economic impact" claims.
• Rules are suspended.
• "Making Austin a world class city."
• Voters have already rejected it.
• Multiple Excutive sessions.
• Austin is "the only city of its size that doesn't have one."

Longshot Mayoral candidate Alexander Strenger also spoke in opposition.

Before we get to Strenger's testimony, however, we need to ask a question: Where the heck has Laura Morrison been?!?  This should be a no-brainer for Morrison, yet she's been completely absent.  This is even more baffling considering that her most prominent supporters are leading the opposition.

That being said, ladies and gentlemen, meet the one candidate for Mayor who's currently opposing the soccer stadium:

Highlights:

• "My name is Alexander Strenger, and unlike Mr. Precourt and Mr. Suttle, I am a resident of Austin and respectable taxpaying citizen."

• "This is a very Trumpian business proposal."

• "We're in an affordability crisis, we have a traffic crisis, and to bring in an absentee owner who refuses to pay property taxes and wants to pay rent at fraction of what...[the other proposals would pay]...is a slap in the face to all of the citizens here in Austin."

• "Precourt doesn't want to pay taxes; the parking situation is a disaster."

• Health code violations in Precourt's Columbus stadium.

• "I used to work with first grade kids and I can tell you this: My first graders would have written a better proposal than the deal that's being laid out on the table."

• "Building a dome around Austin and giving flamethrowers to our police is a better use of city resources than this debacle."