#TXLEGE: The state ONLY taking over policing in Central Austin is POINTLESS

"O God, behold our shield,
And look upon the face of Your anointed."
Psalm 84:9

Umm...ok:

In his latest move in a political fight against Austin over police funding, Gov. Greg Abbott says he is considering a proposal to put the state in charge of policing a large area in the middle of the city, including downtown, the Texas Capitol and the University of Texas at Austin.

Abbott floated the idea during a campaign tele-town hall Wednesday while discussing his push to punish cities that "defund the police" during the upcoming legislative session, which begins in January. He has for months railed against the Austin City Council's August vote to slash its police department budget by one-third, primarily by shifting some responsibilities out of law enforcement oversight. He has also already proposed measures such as freezing property tax revenues for cities that cut police budgets.

"Something else that I'm thinking about doing, and that is because we have people coming from across the world and across the country into our capital city, as well as to the university, we can't make our fellow Texans be victims of crime ... because of the city of Austin leadership," Abbott said, "and so what I think we need to do is have a Capitol zone area that the state will be in charge of policing, and we can use city of Austin police officers for this."

Why?!?

If the Governor were to actually do this (a big if), the criminals will simply move outside the zone. If you're going to go this route, have the state takeover law enforcement over the whole city. That way you actually achieve your objective. Or, you could revoke the city's charter.

Bottom Line: This type of poll-driven half measure that won't accomplish anything, but will invite the full fury of a backlash; classic Abbott.

#atxcouncil, ProjectConnect: The Ultimate Cautionary Example

Exit 96th st. and Second Ave

"Understanding is a wellspring of life to him who has it.
But the correction of fools is folly."
Proverbs 16:22

We just finished reading "The Last Subway: The Long Wait for the Next Train in New York City," by Philip Mark Plotch.  We're not going to do a full book review (although there's a very good one here), because most of the conclusions are obvious.  Nevertheless, for those interested in that level of detail, we strongly recommend Plotch's book.

We snapped the above photo during our recent trip to New York City. We had to see it. Because we never thought it would happen in our lifetime.

Obviously, we’ve all heard horror stories of construction projects taking years, if not decades, longer than anticipated to complete. Ten years. Twenty years. If you’ve been following the subject long enough, you’ve seen the examples.

But how about 113 years?!?

Because that’s how long it took New York City’s second avenue subway line to materialize after being originally proposed.

From the moment the system opened in 1903, a second avenue line was planned. Unfortunately, due to a combination of economic fluctuations, political incompetence, and the general arc of history, it never got done. Finally, in 2017 (ie. Just four years ago), a very truncated version finally came online.

The ‘completed’ version added a mere three stops, from what was originally envisioned as a Bronx to Brooklyn line. This despite the fact that project costs ballooned from an anticipated $300 million to over $4.6 Billion. Thus, did the second avenue subway become one of the most expensive per mile infrastructure projects in American history.

What does this mean for Austin?!?

Austin voters will are being asked to approve a gargantuan tax increase to fund the city council’s light rail proposal. Rail proponents claim their project will cost $7.1 Billion and that construction will take around a decade.

Given council’s long standing lack of credibility, there’s every reason to be skeptical of the numbers they’re selling. Still, it’s impossible to know what the final totals will be. All you know for sure is that the numbers are likely to be much higher.

The Second avenue subway, however, is a real world example where “the numbers are likely to be much higher” means fifteen times the cost and a full century behind schedule.

Bottom Line: We really would be well served to avoid making this obvious and predictable mistake.

#atxcouncil: Attacking Trump (while asking for money)

"An evildoer gives heed to false lips;
A liar listens eagerly to a spiteful tongue."
Proverbs 17:4

“Mobility for All” is the establishment aligned political action committee promoting Project Connect. They recently sent out the above mailer. Not surprisingly, it attempts to cast citizens concerned about the initiative’s 25% tax hike as captives of a cabal of non-binary, non-gendered, boogiepersons in the minds of liberal Austinites.

But for as much as the views of “weapons dealers” may or may not swing the election, one choice of target is: Trump Inauguration Attendees.

Because, whether they want to admit it or not, Project Connect’s supporters are the ones asking Donald Trump for money.

As the trade publication “Mass Transit mag” explained this summer: “CapMetro will now pursue 45 percent federal funding of this $7.1 billion, with a local match for the remaining funding coming through a voter-approved tax rate election for Project Connect.”

Whether or not they want to admit it, right now that means asking Donald Trump for the money. Obviously, Biden could [Note: Probably will] win.  But Austin voters have to make their decision on Project Connect BEFORE they know the answer to that question.

On the other hand, asking 45 (Trump) for 45 (percent of the funding for Project Connect) is an amusingly ironic set of numbers.

Bottom Line: Seriously, y'all are the ones asking him for money, not us.

#atxcouncil: Casar goes full CoronaBro over today's UT Football Game

"His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and oppression;
Under his tongue is trouble and iniquity."
Psalm 10:7

LOL:


Not much to say.

Not really surpising either.

Still.

(Don't you dare suggest it's about control).

Bottom Line: Homeless encampments are totally cool and pose no COVID risk...but heaven forbid you have an event in a large outdoor venue with abundant protocols.

Abbott's "Back the Blue" Initiative...can't hurt

"To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:"
Ecclesiastes 3:1

UPDATE: Apparently, the Democrats response is this.  LOL.  Basic pattern over the last year holds.
-------

Sure, why not:

Gov. Greg Abbott made his latest political move to fight efforts to cut police funding Wednesday, calling on all Texas candidates in the November election to sign a pledge “backing the blue.”

“Some cities in Texas want to defund and dismantle police departments in our state,” the Republican governor said in a YouTube video promoting his pledge. “This reckless action invites crime into our communities and threatens the safety of all Texans including our law enforcement officers and their families.”

This summer, as unrest and sometimes violent protests against police brutality and racial injustice rocked Texas and the nation, a revived movement for social justice called for the community and policymakers to rethink the role of police. Alongside proposed reforms to policing practices and accountability — like requiring officers to intervene in other officers’ bad actions — some have also sought to shift local funding away from policing and direct the funds toward other social services.

We're not really doing cartwheels over this.  Buuut...we can see a modest amount of good coming from it.   One and a half cheers.

PushJunction says it well:

This is a red meat issue that obviously polls well, or Abbott would not be pursuing it less than 54 days from the general election.

Of course it's political.  But so what?!?   Falling crime rates are the biggest public policy success of the past 25 years.   If the Democrats want to hand Abbott this opportunity, you can't blame him for taking it.

Bottom Line: Keep your expectations low, but there's no reason to not give it a shot.

#atxcouncil: Hospital CEO pushed back on Adler's COVID narrative in real time

"Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord,
But those who deal truthfully are His delight."
Proverbs 12:22

Remember, a couple months back, when the approved narrative was that Austin was going to be overwhelmed by COVID?!?

Yeah, about that:

Pic 1 - CEO of St. David's shoots down Adler's attempt to gaslight and scare the hell out of Austinites in late June. I've also included Adler's initial email in pics 2 and 3. pic.twitter.com/djAEzCzWQV

— johnnyk2000 (@johnnyk20001) September 4, 2020

We actually had some health care industry sources telling us the same thing at the time. of course, that didn't fit the narrative. So nobody listened.

But it's nevertheless interesting that one of the top health care executives in town concurred.

Of course, none of this is surprising.

Bottom Line: While things got tighter for a few weeks, hospital capacity has been fine this entire time.

Williams' ad tells you everything about how #atxcouncil's "Police Defunding" must poll

"Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time."
Colossians 4:5

Powerful:

Before we comment, we must make on thing **VERY** clear: Congress has NO jurisdiction here. However much Roger Williams might disapprove of council's decision, he can't actually do anything. Still.

For this ad to run at all speaks VOLUMES about how police defunding polls.

Hint: It ain't popular.

Bottom Line: While the tenth amendment reigns supreme on the policy side, you can infer a lot about the politics of the issue based on this ad.

WillCo #TXLEGE: Flannigan's a known liability...but GOL-LY James Talarico

"They have all turned aside,
They have together become corrupt;
There is none who does good,
No, not one."
Psalm 14:3

James Talarico is a Democrat state rep from Round Rock who got swept in during the 2018 wave.  He's best known as a chump who took promises from Dennis Bonnen at face value.   Nevertheless, to this point, we've expected Talarico would win re-election fairly easily.

But this is insane:

Talarico disclosed the $2,500 donation in a June 3 post on Facebook, in which he also called on others to donate to Austin Justice Coalition and included a link to its website. Valdez commented, “It’s obvious that Rep. Talarico stands on the far left and opposes anything law enforcement does to protect the citizens of Williamson County and the citizens of our district.”

Asked his views on defunding the police, Talarico told Honest Austin, “Our system of policing is deeply broken. We must replace it with something new and something better.”

“As they have throughout our history, the voices in the street—particularly Black voices—are calling us to imagine a different world. We expect protestors to be nonviolent. But what if we expected our government to be nonviolent? What if we stopped bringing a gun to every emergency?”

Talarico continued, “What if we called a three-digit number to summon highly-trained crisis interventionists to address a problem in our neighborhood? What if we made rehabilitation, reconciliation, and restoration our operating principles?”

“We need to invest in community-based solutions that cure the societal ills that we ask the police to treat: poverty, homelessness, substance abuse, mental health disorders… We must empower our communities, not police them. Only then will we have true public safety.”

Besides donating to the Austin Justice Coalition, Rep. Talarico also made a $50 personal donation to the reelection campaign of Jimmy Flannigan, an Austin City Council member who helped lead the charge to slash $150 million from the city’s police budget.

Talarico explained that Flannigan, who chairs the Council’s Public Safety Committee, was “a long-time friend of mine and a selfless public servant,” noting that he supported Flannigan’s positions on transportation, affordable housing, and government transparency.

That's just such an astounding thing to read: A sitting state rep, in Williamson frickin' County, just endorsed the Austin city council's "send a social worker" approach to public safety.

Understand something: People move to Round Rock is to escape the jurisdiction of the Austin city council.   That's the only reason why Round Rock is a thing.  Pledging to bring the worst aspects of Austin's approach to public safety hardly seems promising in WillCo.

It's...quite something.

Furthermore, let's not overlook the whole Flanngan connection. We get it: They're friends (although that, in and of itself, is revealing). And James Talarico wants to support his friend. Still.

Like it or not, James Talarico's friend was a primary ringleader of Austin's policies related to police defunding and (let's not kid ourselves) homelessness.

Like Austin's homeless encampments?!? Vote James Talarico!!!

Bottom Line: This race just moved from "Leans D" to "Tossup."

#TXLEGE: Honestly, just ABOLISH the damn #atxcouncil

"Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?"

2 Corinthians 6:14

Widely expected, but still:

The Austin City Council unanimously approved a $4.1B budget on Thursday that includes up to $150 million in cuts to police budgets over the coming year, although only $20 million will be cut immediately, city officials said.

What else is there to even say?!?

This will, obviously, be a complete debacle. As someone who grew up in New York City, the phrase "Dinkinsesque" comes to mind. Consequences are completely predictable.

But there real question is what's next?!?

There are those who will say we need to vote out the current council. Sure. We absolutely should. Rah, rah, Mackenzie Kelly and all that.

But we've done that before, and while it certainly helped, we're still here.

There are those who will say we need the legislature to step in. We're not opposed. But there past few years have shown that that's an inconsistent solution.

If we're going to take this to the legislature, we need to stop playing defensive whack-a-mole.

The Texas legislature has the authority to revoke the City of Austin's charter. They should use it. It's (long past) time.

We've actually been looking into this for awhile. At some point, we explain everything in more details. But some quick hits on pracitical considerations:

•  All city ordinances would be null and void, we'd simply live under state law.
  

•  State law already covers the crimes that actually matter (eg. murder, rape, assault, financial/property crimes).
  

•  DPS could absorb APD (and their pension liabilities).
  

• The county already covers the important courts/criminal functions.
  

•  Besides public safety, the biggest item in the city's general fund is what's called "development services."  This basically means all of the land use/permitting/zoning restrictions that make it impossible to build anything in this town.  Adios.
  

•  Defaulting on the City of Austin's municipal debt sends a good message to Wall St.
  

•  Sell the soccer stadium/land parcel to the team at it's full assessed value at the time council approved their deal in 2018.
  

•  The biggest challenge is how to privatize Austin Energy/Water in an open and transparent manner.  Obviously, they go private.  But it's got to be done properly.  Otherwise, you're looking at what happened with the oligarchs circa 1992 in the former Soviet Union.

Bottom Line:  We've tried everything else.

#atxcouncil: Lying Lawless Liars do what Lying Lawless Liars do

"If a ruler pays attention to lies,
All his servants become wicked."

Proverbs 29:12

Not even a little surprising:

A petition to reinstate Austin's ban on public camping—abolished a year ago in a widely-debated move by Austin City Council to address homelessness—does not have enough signatures to make it on the November ballot, Austin City Clerk Jannette Goodall ruled Wednesday.

On July 21, the local nonprofit group "Save Austin Now" said they had collected 24,598 signatures—well over the 20,000 required to put their initiative on the ballot in November.

In reviewing the petition, however, the city clerk said she discovered a number of issues.

Nearly a hundred signatures were removed because of requests from signers. The clerk's office also discovered that the petition contained two versions of the language being proposed in the ordinance, which led to 397 signatures being removed. Of the remaining 24,201 signatures, the clerk's office used a random sample to verify the petition.

Furthermore:

When Austin City Clerk Jannette Goodall ruled yesterday that a petition to reinstate the city's ban on public camping did not have enough signatures to make the November ballot, it was the first time since 2002 that the city invalidated a petition because of lack of signatures, she told Austonia on Thursday.

Goodall used a random sampling method that the city adopted in 2002 in her review, according to a city spokesperson. State law allows cities to use any reasonable sampling method in determining whether citizen-led petitions contain the required number of signatures.

Matt Mackowiak, a cofounder of Save Austin Now, the group behind the petition, said Thursday that the group has not yet decided what legal action it may take. In an email sent to Austonia, he wrote that their deadline is "as soon as possible."

Mackowiak, who is also the chairman of the Travis County Republican Party, said in a statement issued Wednesday evening that it is exploring legal action in response to the clerk's ruling.

Local attorney and activist Fred Lewis - who has spearheaded other citizen-initiated petitions, including one last year that opposed an expansion of the Austin Convention Center - said he would expect the group to file very soon, likely with the state district court.

This is because the last day for the city to order a referendum in the November election is Aug. 17, according to the state election schedule.

"You're talking two or three weeks this has got to be decided - at most," Lewis said. "The court may not be able to decide it in that time."

There's not really a lot to say.

There are two realistic possibilities:

• The city is lying (almost certainly correct).
  

• The city is interpreting state law in the friendliest way possible.
  

Honestly, that's a distinction without a difference.

Either way, this development was completely predictable.

We hope Save Austin Now has planned for this contingency.

Bottom Line: People and institutions with a track record for dishonesty behaving dishonestly shouldn't surprise anyone.

#atxcouncil: COVID, Homelessness, and the ongoing lunacy

"If a ruler pays attention to lies,
All his servants become wicked."
Proverbs 29:12

Austonia has a write up this morning about a homeless encampment in central Austin. The whole thing is worth a read. But let's focus on this one sentence:

Due to the pandemic, however, the city has implemented a moratorium on clean-up efforts.

Can we take a second and reflect on how insane that is?!?

We had planned to write a long post on this topic, but apparently we did that in March:

Is this a joke?!?

At a time when 90% of the city is shut down due to a mayoral edict...they're going to allow homeless encampments to remain in place?!?

No, really...is this a joke?!?

We said our piece on this topic when they shut down #Sx, but it bears repeating: Under normal circumstances, we think the so-called 'public health' claims about homeless encampments are exaggerated. The real issue with the encampments is the petty crime and general unsightliness. In the current situation, however, homeless encampments ought to be the first place you look to shut down transmission of infectious diseases.

Instead, those are the one place that will be left completely alone.

Lunacy.

Here we are, almost six months later. The only thing that's changed is that we're now only about 50% closed.  And that edicts are coming from the governor as well as the mayor.

But we're still allowing homeless encampments to fester during a global pandemic.

Madness.

Bottom Line: It's astounding that, half a year into a global pandemic, we're still having this conversation...yet here we are.

#atxcouncil: Flannigan's proposal would beget bureaucratic turf wars/"information siloing"

"Every prudent man acts with knowledge,
But a fool lays open his folly."

Proverbs 13:16

Since Jimmy Flannigan made his "Defund APD" proposal the other day, there's been a lot of ink spilled over his call to physically demolish APD headquarters.  That's fine.  It's certainly newsworthy.
In fairness to Jimmy Flannigan, this website has been calling for moving governmental offices out of the downtown area for at least five years.  Technically, this could fit under that rubric.  If this proposal were being made by someone trustworthy, it **MIGHT** be worth considering.

Unfortunately, this proposal is being made by Jimmy Flannigan.

But there's a lot more to Flannigan's proposal than the physical location of APD's offices.

Specifically, Flannigan wants to split the current police departments in five component parts:

*** Department of Emergency Communications & Technology 
- Civilian Director of Emergency Communications 
- Budget of approx. $65mil (incl. support & transfers)
- Responsible for 9-1-1/CTECC, regional intelligence, records management, forensics, and emergency-specific technology

*** Department of Patrol
- Sworn Director of Patrol designated by the city manager and approved by the city council (according to state law). This department head could be designated as one of the 5 commanders that make up a geographically broad “Commander’s Council” to help democratize patrol leadership, ensure more diverse voices are making state-law-required decisions, and ensure a ready list of alternative department heads if necessary.
- Budget of approx. $197mil (incl. support & transfers)
- Responsible for DTAC & 4 Regions of patrol, tactical, and district reps 

*** Department of Investigations 
- Sworn Director of Investigations designated by the city manager and approved by the city council (according to state law).  
- Budget of approx. $95mil (incl. support & transfers)
- Responsible for detectives, investigations, and organized crime units

*** Department of Traffic Safety 
- Sworn Director of Traffic Safety designated by the city manager and approved by the city council (according to state law).  
- Budget of approx. $25mil (incl. support & transfers)
- Works in partnership with the Austin Transportation Department and should have mobility-focused civilian executive management in the Manager’s office

*** Department of Professional Standards
- Sworn Director of Professional Standards designated by the city manager and approved by the city council (according to state law).
- Budget of approx. $25mil (incl. support & transfers)
- Covers Internal Affairs, Recruiting, and Training. Future cadet class decisions would impact this part of the budget and would help separate those dollars from being reallocated without Council authority.

It doesn't take a genius to see how this unfolds: The new departments spend more time fighting each other than fighting crime. Political Fiefdoms develop. The five department heads game the new system so that nothing is ever 'their' fault. Accountability disappears.

On the bright side, creating five new municipal departments could create five new cottage industries for lobbyists.

So there's that.

Here's what's really crazy:

An information silo is an information management system that is unable to freely communicate with other information management systems. Communication within an information silo is always vertical, making it difficult or impossible for the system to work with unrelated systems.

In the event, God forbid, that Flannigan's proposal were to become reality...information siloing is pretty much guaranteed.

Nature of the beast.

That's before you account for the fact that this has to go through the rest of council.

Yikes.

Bottom Line: This is all completely predictable.

"You're going to be disappointed": An open letter to Peter Rex about Austin Texas

"Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me:
Ezekiel 3:17

Dear Mr. Rex,

I read, with great interest, your Wall St. Journal op-ed "I’m Leaving Seattle for Texas So My Employees Can Be Free." You sound like me a decade ago. The only difference is that I moved to Austin from New York City, not Seattle.

Allow me to break some news you need to hear: If perceived differences in public policy are your primary reason for relocation to Austin, you're going to be disappointed. VERY disappointed. It's not 2006 anymore. Dazed and Confused was a quarter century ago.

I understand the urge to flee the Seattle city council. Unfortunately, Austin's city council is no better. Where Seattle has Kshama Sawant and her allies, Austin has Greg Casar. Austin today is Seattle five years ago.

And the trend lines are, unfortunately, identical.

Allow me to illustrate: In 2019, the Austin city council passed an ordinance to encourage camping by the homeless. Homelessness predictably skyrocketed. Sound familiar?!?

Unfortunately, homeless encampments are just the most tangible, visible, manifestation of misgovernance in Austin. They're hardly alone. Over the past decade, Austin has been a laboratory in how to NOT run a city.

Off the top of my head, within recent memory Austin has seen:

• The Uber debacle.

• The assault on short-term rentals.

• Entitlement programs at the municipal level...funded by employers.

• Multiple attempts at rewriting our land use development code that, while laudable in intent, have descended into lawless farce in practice.

• A coordinated assault on the integrity of police chief Brian Manley, the only remotely competent official in the entire city government.

But at least they got their boondoggle soccer stadium...and they want to spend $10 Billion on some trains.

Again, you're from Seattle, does any of this sound familiar?!?

-------

But a ha, you say, Texas is a Republican state. And surely the Republicans at the state level will protect me from Democrats at the local level!!!  Right?!?

LOL.

The only difference between the Travis County Democrats and the Texas GOP is that the former will stab you in the front.

When you observe it up close, you will rapidly discover that the Texas legislature is a uniquely wretched collection of cowards, drunks, imbeciles, and perverts. Far too many Texas legislators are more interested in sexually harassing young women than in protecting entrepreneurs and taxpayers. To be fair, there are also plenty of run of the mill financial criminals. Carlos Uresti was all of the above.

The Texas to which you think you are moving is a figment of the collective imaginations of Fox News, Political consultants, and the self-serving politicians who hire them.

Speaking of self-serving politicians, Governor Greg Abbott is worthless and weak.  He has no core convictions beyond Dave Carney's tracking poll. There is a lot that could be said on this topic, although the fact that Greg Abbott put a lobbyist named Mike Toomey in charge of Texas' COVID policy encapsulates it all.

While Greg Abbott's poll driven COVID dithering brought his fecklessness into public view, it's hardly the only example. When Austin passed the afore mentioned homeless camping ordinance, Greg Abbott vowed swift and decisive action. Unfortunately, by Greg Abbott's standards, swift and decisive action means nothing more than running his mouth on Fox News. Greg Abbott could have called a special legislative session to override the Austin ordinance. But Greg Abbott didn't. And Greg Abbott won't. Because Greg Abbott is worthless and weak.

If you're looking for a visual manifestation of Greg Abbott's callow failure, check out the intersection of Burnet Rd. and U.S. Hwy 183...and understand that the state of Texas has 100% jurisdiction over this right of way:

Burnet and 183 - Aweek ago vs. Today.

(But @GregAbbott_TX sez he wants to help w/ #AustinHomless)#TXLEGE #atxcouncil pic.twitter.com/Uw4bZartWD

— cahnman (@cahnman) February 7, 2020

In terms of grandiose rhetoric accompanied by meager results, Greg Abbott is the right-wing Bill DiBlasio.

The less said about Lt. Gov Dan Patrick and house speaker Dennis Bonnen, the better.

-------

There you have it.

That's not to say that everything is bad in Austin anno 2020. Longhorn baseball looks solid. One of these years, the football team is going to click.  Evil MoPac has his moments.

Then again, for one of the highlights to be a parody Twitter account that was founded to ridicule our leaders' inability to fix Austin's endemic traffic speaks volumes.

I wish I had better news to report. I really do. But that's reality. And that's what you're getting yourself into if you relocate here.

Consider yourself warned.

Sincerely, 

Adam Cahn

East Riverside

Austin, TX

P.S. Do feel free to forward this letter to Elon Musk and Joe Rogan.

#atxcouncil: What's another $10 Billion between cronies?!?

"Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord,
But a just weight is His delight."
Proverbs 11:1

Because of course:

Austin City Council and the Capital Metro board unanimously approved a $9.8 billion, 30-year transit plan—Project Connect—that will add three light rail lines, new bus lines and park-and-rides to the Austin region.

....

With their greenlight, the plan is likely to go before voters in November. If passed, more than half of the project budget—$5.4 billion—would come from local taxpayers in the form of an increased city property tax rate. Federal grants would cover the rest.

At this point, honestly, there's not a lot to say.

They have the votes on the dais.  They know they have the votes on the dias.  And they're using them.

The political strategy is obvious: Enough Democrats in Austin hate Trump that the plan is to create a "politics as team sport" effect that gets it across the finish line in a presidential year.

Will it work?!?

We don't know.  It's certainly the case that Trump's impotent buffoonery does no favors anyone or anything perceived to be remotely close to him.  On the other hand, $10 billion is an ASTRONOMICAL price tag even by the standards of council.

If the voters are focused on national issues, it's likely to pass.  If the voters are focused on local issues, it fails.  Where the voters are ultimately focused remains to be seen.

Either way, that's a lot of money.

Bottom Line:  We won't really know the macroenvironment for several more months, but with a price tag like that....

The Real Austin Experience

"Even in laughter the heart may sorrow,
And the end of mirth may be grief."
Proverbs 14:13

From Alexander Strenger (the Former Mayoral Candidate):



Bottom Line; Honestly, it speaks for itself....

#atxcouncil: Annnnnd in the LEAST Surprising News of the Year

"If a ruler pays attention to lies,
All his servants become wicked."
Proverbs 29:12

You don't say:

The annual point-in-time count of people who are homeless showed an 11% increase in people experiencing homelessness in Austin and Travis County in 2020, including more than 1,500 people who were unsheltered.

The point-in-time count of the homeless population took place on Jan. 25, with 886 volunteers fanning out through the city and county to survey people living on the streets, in shelters or transitional housing units.

In total, volunteers counted 1,574 unsheltered people living outside, in tents or in cars, marking a 45% increase in the number of unsheltered homeless people over the 2019 count, which tallied 1,086. Meanwhile the number of people in shelters or transitional housing was 932, a 20% drop from 2019.

There really isn't a lot to add.  This was completely predictable.  Suffice to say, this is terrible for BOTH this vulnerable community and those with whom they interact.

Also, considering that the count was done in January, there's no way this isn't an undercount.  Homeless encampments have grown visibly larger since the Coronavirus showed up.  There are probably a number of reasons why this is the case, although the fact that the state has stopped enforcing its areas of jurisdiction certainly doesn't help.

Bottom Line: What else could you expect?!?

#TXLEGE, #atxcouncil: Casar recognizes he's unelectable (at least outside his council district)

"When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice;
But when a wicked man rules, the people groan.
Proverbs 29:2

Bullet dodged:

I've made my decision about running for office. Here it is: pic.twitter.com/5wten6NpLC

— Gregorio Casar (@GregCasar) May 4, 2020

Blah, blah, blah.

This can only mean one thing: Casar polled the district.

And the results weren't to his liking.

The results could have shown one of two things:

• Casar would lose the runoff to a Republican.
  
  or
  
  
• Casar wouldn't make the runoff.

The former is bad for the entire local Democrat machine.  The latter is bad for Casar's agenda.  Either way, the smart play is to avoid getting embarrassed.

Bottom Line:  He can do plenty of damage in his current position, but his political ceiling is very low.

#atxcouncil: We Won't Snitch (but be responsible)

"For strangers have risen up against me,
And oppressors have sought after my life;
They have not set God before them. Selah"
Psalm 54:3

Well, this is all sorts of terrible:

Adler then stated that they are hoping for Austinites to “self-police,” and affirmed that “these kinds of orders carry with them criminal penalties and the force of law.” At this point, he urged residents to report those who are not complying with the order. “If you see violations in the community, construction sites, restaurants, it’d be good to call 311 and let the city and the county know that that’s happening.”

It's completely self-explanatory why that's awful.

That being said, seriously people, be responsible.

Here's what we mean by "responsible": Don't gratuitously hang out in large groups.  It's just reckless.  It gives the petty tyrants all the ammunition they need.  In terms of responsible...this ain't it.

We're not saying that every individual needs to comply with every jot and tittle of this looney tunes order at every second of their life.  Certainly not.  But there's a difference between common sense and stupidity.

Bottom Line:  Steve Adler needs to back off...but neither should he be given easy material with which to work.

#atxcouncil: While we're on the subject of the homeless and "social distancing"

"If a ruler pays attention to lies,
All his servants become wicked."
Proverbs 29:12

Our post yesterday about the homeless and so-called "social distancing" motivated us to finally get pictures of the homeless encampment down the street from us.

This is at the corner of Riverside and Pleasant Valley on the west side of the street.

Pretty self-explanatory.

But at least they're getting valet trash service at taxpayer expense:

Finally, this was a block and a half down Riverside from the other encampment, but there were probably close to a dozen under this bridge.

Bottom Line: Meanwhile, the rest of us are forced to huddle indoors like hostages.

#atxcouncil: Meanwhile, the Homeless aren't "social distancing"

"If a ruler pays attention to lies,
All his servants become wicked."
Proverbs 29:12

This speaks for itself:

I went to downtown Austin to see if the homeless were practicing social distancing. They weren’t. Also getting more territorial and violent. No law enforcement in sight. pic.twitter.com/zTEJQ3YBiu

— J Owen Shroyer (@allidoisowen) April 9, 2020

So, at a time when the rest of us are being told to hostage in place, the city is letting the homeless continue to run wild.

Lovely.

As we've stated previously, under normal circumstances we tend to think that the "public health" argument is exaggerated.  But we're not currently in normal circumstances.  For where we are right now, homeless encampments ought to be the first place to go.

Instead, they're the one thing being protected.

Bottom Line: This really does tell you everything you need to know.