Beside The Point

Government's swollen corpus sways at a – how shall we put it? – deliberate pace. Unless it involves a brain-dead lady on life support or smoked-out Southern Cali Republican homeowners, honk your horn and drive slow through Bush country.

It's the same closer to home; unless it's an unauthorized administrative payment to a traveling tech conference (but think of the rewards!) or pushing a site plan for a shuttered mall uphill before more restrictive laws take effect (ditto the traffic!), it's slow going.

Yet it's hard to look at the lonely path of board and commission reform and not feel a little flabbergasted. The history: A B&C task force was convened by City Council – in 2001. The task force issued a report streamlining and standardizing such groups – in 2003. Now reforms come before council for approval – today, Nov. 29.

To be fair, it's not like the changes could have been banged out in one Red Bull-and-vodka lost weekend. The draft language stretches nearly 70 pages, a wholesale rework of the entire Boards and Commissions chapter of the City Charter. Like the original, it details the charge and composition of every group from the African American Resource Advisory Com­mis­sion to Zoning and Platting – but it also lays out several notable changes and new guidelines. For incoming volunteer members, there will be required training in city government, ethics, conflict resolution, and more; a beefed-up passage covering potential conflicts of interest requires commissioners to affirm at each meeting that no potential conflict exists. (The prohibition making lobbyists ineligible to serve still stands – unless you're a former mayor, natch. Heeeyo!) Causing moderate heartburn are limits allowing no more than nine years (three three-year terms) of service, which could elbow out some of the most senior serving commissioners. (Personally, BTP sees the proposed limits as akin to laws protecting the elderly – not to mention the rest of us.)

Better late than never? Sure, but it's worth considering what's prioritized and what isn't, once it arrives in City Hall's rarefied atmosphere – e.g., reform and citizen-generated initiatives vs. commercial waivers, rebates, and incentives. As I traded e-mails recently with a local politico regarding the revisions, he tagged B&C reform as "an important goo-goo effort that disappeared into the maw of the City Hall Borg. Just as is happening to charter review." How long until the question of single-member districts is resolved: months or years?

Speaking of the charter, caustic council watcher Paul Robbins writes in regarding the "quaint, archaic document": namely, a provision under Chapter 5, "Powers of the Council," which declares it has no powers to "sell, convey, or lease all or any substantial part of the facilities of any municipally owned public utility." As the city rushes to deindustrialize the Green Water Treatment Plant and Seaholm to match the faux-postindustrial Second Street condo-holocaust, Robbins asks whether city designs on the plants are sufficiently "substantial." Good question.

Green Is as Green Does

Seaholm sale questions are scheduled for executive discussion today; additionally, the same firm lawyering the power plant will be given a contract for Green. After a two-week hiatus, that's one of a bunch of big agenda items. On consent are $125,000 and $200,000 grants to UT's Austin Technology Incubator program for biotech and wireless tech, because the university doesn't have enough money; a 10:30am presentation on the ATI program is also scheduled. Items from council include a review of the Urban Renewal Agency/Austin Revitalization Authority's plans for East 11th and 12th streets, "including recommendations related to vertical mixed use, public parking, and affordable housing." Also fun is Item 42, directing City Manager Toby Futrell "to establish a Waterfront Overlay Taskforce to evaluate the current ordinance for inconsistencies and ambiguousness." (We all know how well that worked last time.)

Council also unfurls several green, building, and green-building items: a Hike and Bike Trail enhancement plan (Item 43), boosting and broadening Austin Energy green building participation and incentives (Item 44), calling for the "highest optimal levels of sustainability" in municipal construction projects (Item 45) and for city buildings (Item 46). Add in several Eastside speakers during citizens' communications and dozens of zoning items, and we're looking at another long evening.

Punc­ture the boredom at [email protected].