Austin's proposition 1

A quick summary of it sounds like a good idea, but the more specifics I look at, the more of a giant money-wasting boondoggle it looks like, and the less likely it seems to actually accomplish any of its purposes. In addition, it looks like very intentional misdirection to advertise it as a "$720 million bond" when the actual costs are projected to be much higher, and there is no cap and very little apparent accountability. The city manager in a memorandum to staff said that the actual costs were going to be around $1.5 billion, over twice what the public is being told.

Also, it's being presented as a comprehensive traffic relief plan, but only about 6% of the project is actually for traffic relief. Plus, anyone associated with Austin has lost any credibility with me when it comes to announcing they have plans to relieve traffic considering how inefficient they've been with these attempts before and in many cases have spent time and money to change traffic flow in such a way as to make things worse than just leaving it alone would have been. Some of the current plan is going to make things worse as well and there is no way they don't know this full well. And the "city beautification" money just seems like a code phrase for gentrification.

 

Texas has some if the highest local debt in the nation, and it's because people blindly vote for whatever junk their city, school district or county float out there.

If you don't know with tremendous detail what's in a bond initiative as well as how much debt the local government at issue already has, you should default to a No vote.

 

I generally do and I believe many do. However, I think you are right and most just blindly vote "yes" to everything like they are accepting Itunes terms and conditions.

 

Of course, most people never vote in local elections of any kind. A very big percentage of local election voters have a direct interest in the outcome - government employees, contractors, etc. Others are ignorant but vote out of civic duty (which is dumb).

Ideally we'd have informed but disinterested voters, but since that's not going to happen, I'd rather see people vote in local and bond elections with cynicism rather than assuming good intentions.

My dad is a good example. He was once voting for Plano ISD Board of Trustees and was unfamiliar with a candidate and asked me about it.

Dad - What do you know about candidate X?

Deez - Not much. She has campaign signs that say "Because she cares." I'd just skip that race if I lived in Plano.

Dad - I'm going to vote against her.

Deez - Just because of her campaign slogan?

Dad - Yes. I'm not voting for someone who cares.

 

I voted NO

 

One of the biggest reasons I am happy to have washed my hands of Austin back in 2000 is the incessant stupidity coming out of City Hall. This bond proposal is yet another in an extremely long list of examples. You couldn't get me to move back to that (dare I say it?) cesspool under any circumstance.

 

Now that is gospel!! I scratch my head in wonder at all these traffic engineers these days. You should see what they've done here in Katy - here on the West side of Houston. Traffic on 99 now that they did the improvement, a Toll going North that runs around Houston, is a nightmare now for the folks here in Katy.

 

Traffic is a tough issue, especially in Texas. It would cost an obscene amount of money to build enough road to really fix things, and it's too spread out for public transportation to make a big impact. Nevertheless, there's no excuse for the stupidity that comes out of the Austin City Council.

 

I could fix a great deal of the traffic problems in Austin just by cutting the cycle time of the lights in half. The greens last way too long. I have been saying this since I moved here from Houston in 1995.

 

That might help, but it wouldn't make MoPac, SH-360, and IH-35 adequate roadways, and their inadequacy is the biggest part of the problem. Unfortunately, they're also what costs the most to fix

 

Be fair, Deez. I never said I would fix *all* of Austin's traffic problems.

 

The more I study proposition 1, the more the whole thing seems like a giant disinformation campaign to trick people into voting for it.

 

I am against giving the local government any more money for something that should already be in the budget. We have to give them more money for something they should already be funding through existing taxes? F that.

 

And Austin continues to self-immolate...

 

And I continue to be happy I moved out 16 years ago.