Council decides on $925 million bond and MLS negotiation
Thursday's Austin City Council meeting turned into Friday morning's council meeting.
It ended at nearly 4am. Earlier Thursday evening, Austin City Council ironed out the details of a proposed November “general obligation bond.” $925 million for things like parks, public safety and flood mitigation. Including $250 million for affordable housing alone.
"It's such a significant and major statement about who we are as a community and what our priority is and what our value is. And I'm proud to be part of that," said Mayor Adler.
Council Members Ellen Troxclair, Ora Houston and Jimmy Flannigan voted no.
Troxclair said “yes” there is an affordability crisis...but.. "The message that is not seeming to get through is that the more bonds we pass and the higher we raise taxes the more that people can’t afford to stay in the homes that they have and that is what is pushing people in to needing subsidized government housing," Troxclair said.
"Trying to satisfy the Austin City government spending is like trying to satisfy the Bastrop wild fire with more trees," said former Austin City Council Member and Director of the Travis County Taxpayers’ Union Don Zimmerman.
Zimmerman said Austin government is determined to bankrupt the city. "The Taxpayers’ Union thinks that we're going to have to have a city charter amendment to limit the spending of the Austin City government, that really is the solution. They're going to have to be legally forced to stop spending and stop wasting our money," Zimmerman said.
The City Manager will now draft ballot language.
"The cries in the city are because our Latino communities are being antagonized by ICE, not because they're crying for soccer, what the Hell are you talking about?" claimed one man speaking at the meeting about soccer."
Clearly not everyone is on board with bringing a soccer team to Austin but a great many are.
Soccer writer Phil West calls the sport the "beautiful game."
"You know, you sit, you've got a 2-hour commitment. There's a storyline, there's an arc and in the end there's definitely plenty to discuss," West said.
Anthony Precourt, owner of the Columbus Crew, who was at the meeting by the way, is proposing bringing his team to Austin and footing the bill for a $200 million stadium on city-owned land near the Domain. Council voted to enter into those negotiations and also see what other ideas are out there for developing that land, called McKalla Place.
"I believe that there's a good deal to be made here and that you'll be able to make that and come back on the 9th," said Mayor Adler during the meeting.
"I do think that they're going to do what they're going to do to get it done because I think they kind of have to at this point. From the time in October 2017 when they announced that they had interest in Austin, they set themselves on this course," West said.