Will Bill Bunch delay the charter election?
And a new trail!
The Austin to Manor Trail is complete
This is very exciting! The orange trail segment below is 2.9 miles that connects Manor to the existing Southern Walnut Creek Trail. The trail, which the city is unveiling at an event on Saturday morning, will go under SH 130.
You can learn more about the project here. The newest segment was funded through three different sources: Travis County ($1.27M), City of Austin mobility bonds ($3.27M), and federal funds distributed by CAMPO ($3.77M).
At a total cost of $8.3 million which comes out to $2.87 million per mile. That is significantly lower than the $4M/per mile that was estimated for "trails/shared use paths" in the recent update of the city Bicycle Plan. There of course should be big variations in the cost of building trails based on topography, right-of-way acquisition, etc.
The Bills sue the city
Well, this was predictable. Bills Bunch & Aleshire are at it again:
Claiming that City Council has again violated the Texas Open Meetings Act, the Save Our Springs Alliance on Monday filed a lawsuit seeking to block the city’s placement of 13 proposed charter amendments on the November ballot.
...In Monday’s filing, the environmental organization alleges Mayor Kirk Watson and City Council violated the public’s right to speak by lumping all 13 of the proposed charter amendments into a single agenda item.
The lawsuit notes that when the proposed charter amendments appeared on Council’s July 18 agenda, SOS executive director Bill Bunch appeared before Council and requested time to speak on each of the proposed amendments. When Watson denied the request, Bunch responded: “All right. I have to see you in the court again.”
...Attorney and former Travis County judge Bill Aleshire is representing the SOS Alliance in the lawsuit. “The Austin City Council is becoming lawless, and this lawsuit is another example of their arrogant disdain for transparency,” Aleshire said in the statement. “Mayor Watson and the Council majority are undermining democracy with violations of the Texas Open Meetings Act.”
Sigh. I don't have the legal expertise to comment on this. I wouldn't be surprised if the Bills are technically correct, and a judge rules accordingly. If that is the case, it would be a major unforced error by Watson, who has already been humbled in court following a previous spat with Bunch over speaking times.
