One in the Chamber

"Beside the Point"'s topic this week – Paul Robbins' quest to get City Hall chambers open to the public at all times, when not being used – is before the dais right now. Former Council Member Jackie Goodman just spoke. She was her silky, polite self, noting, "My horoscope this morning said, 'Try not to annoy others with the force of your convictions.'"

Paul Robbins is making the case right now, reading a letter signed with several prominent names of support. Below the fold, the letter, and all its signatories.

Dear Mayor Wynn and City Council,

We are involved citizens who are interested in the future of Central Texas. We ask that you consider our request to enhance civic participation in Austin by reestablishing the custom of citizen access to City Hall.

For decades prior to the new City Hall opening in the year 2005, it was a well known and time honored tradition that City Hall Chambers and meeting rooms were open to the public when not used for City business. It was customary for City Council candidates, both incumbents and challengers, to make their announcements in the Chambers. Activists of all opinions would comment on issues of the day. Press conferences and forums on civic affairs were everyday events.

In a sense, City Hall and Chambers became the equivalent of Austin's village square. It was a focal point for involvement and connection with the local level of elected government. It was a meeting place for a variety of people and points of view. We find it disturbing that this custom was no longer honored, perhaps forgotten or not known of when the new City Hall opened, and we ask you to revive it. It is the City Council's prerogative to determine how and when City Hall is used, and we ask you to change this new and nontraditional policy.

Austin has changed greatly in the last few decades. It has become a center for high-tech commerce and creative industry, and swelled in population. But this city should never change its core values of encouraging people to participate in the symbolic meeting place for civic events and public affairs. Our city has not changed that much in the few years between when the old City Hall was demolished and the new one built that it cannot keep its values.

Citizen use of City Hall is symbolic, and this was articulated by the architect in the very design of the building. It means that all civil points of view are given a forum in spaces specifically designed for assembly. It means that any citizen can participate in their government. It means they are invited to do so. To discourage City Hall use when there are practical means of accommodating citizen access is to say that City government does not want to hear from its citizens and is closed to new or different ideas.

We ask that the City Council devise a fair way to share access to this beautiful new building with its citizens. City Hall is the People's House. It does not belong to anybody. It belongs to everybody.

Sincerely,

Former City Council Members
Raul Alvarez
Jackie Goodman
Max Nofziger
Brigid Shea
Bill Spelman

Activists
Jon Beall
Steve Beers
Shudde Fath
Eddie Gary
Jack Goodman
Constable Bruce Elfant
Marguerite Jones
William Jones
Laura Morrison and Austin Neighborhoods Council
Mary Ann Neely
Lauren Ross
Barbara Rush
Kathy Smart
Robin Rather
Craig Smith
Bruce Willenzik