Category Archives: Uncategorized

(Community Matters) from AP

(Community Matters) Excellent piece on the battleground states and stakes in today’s AAS Insight. I can’t find the state by state play (describing Florida, Penn, Ohio, Mich, Virginia, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Colorado, Iowa, Nevada, New Mexico, New Hampshire) on-line but have written to the reporter for a link. Perfect preface for playing with 270 Towin’s interactive map which let’s you create your own scenarios and see how Barack is going to win.

For instance, click on Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, go ahead and make them red (i.e., giving them to McCain). You’ll note that Barack will still hit the magic 270 electoral votes by winning in the battlegrounds of New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, Missouri, Minnesota, Michigan and North Carolina. Or, win Florida, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Missouri – losing Ohio, Colorado, Nevada, Minnesota, Michigan, North Carolina, Virginia and New Hampshire – and Barack still wins.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think we’ll lose Florida, Ohio nor Pennsylvania. Older voters in Florida LOVE Biden and many probably won’t care too much for Palin’s support for Jesus for Jews or the blasting/blaming sermon. Barack and Biden are increasingly connecting with blue collar workers in mid-America and the trend is pro-Obama in Ohio.

(Community Matters) With all due respect to the original work of the outside lawyers who helped expose the fiscal & governance abuses of management and the board, their insistence on a settlement which includes total immunity for management & the former board is outrageous – even more so in light of the Texland account and unreported self payments. Friendships aside, it’s difficult not to conclude that previous management seduced these normally scrupulous plaintiff’s attorneys to support this bad deal by offering the $4 million in fees for those lawyers. David Hall’s appeal and his support from thousands of co-op members is encouraging. I’m writing him a check today. full story

(Community Matters) Well, this photo didn’t really work out sowell but who cares, I adore her.

(Community Matters) Newsweek’s fact check of comments at the GOP convention. Quite interesting.

(Community Matters) Total tongue & cheek and offensive. Don’t listen

(Community Matters) McCain/Palin not even in office but already obstructing justice. here

(Community Matters) Pleased to see House Speaker Pelosi launching an investigation of Rep. Charlie Rangel. We’d have no credibility on reform otherwise.

(Community Matters) Super neighborhood event organized this morning by Sean Garretson. Lots of Chestnut neighbors, from both the Commons Project and the traditional neighborhood. Tommie & Will Meredith on hand to talk about development to date as well as future plans. We met in the middle of the Chestnut Commons development which has raised nearly $1.2mm for affordable housing, which I was on hand to discuss. As well representatives from PeopleFund, Austin Childrens Museum and Sustainable Food Center each explaining their plans to build on Featherlite. The MLK commuter rail station being built in the foreground of where we met.

(Community Matters) Brian Rodger’s Stop Domain Subsidies campaign sounds ill-conceived in that it’s asking the City of Austin to renege on a contractual commitment. And, it’s taking out of context the original council decision to support the mixed use retail & residential development in north Austin. Even the campaign’s title is misleading in that the Austin taxes rebated are invested and earning a return.

First, best to separate the referendum into two issues. The first, whether City Council ought to grant tax incentives to projects including retail should be one issue. The other should be whether or not we live up to agreements we’ve made in the past.

On the latter, in 2003 the capital markets weren’t open to mixed use development in the Southwest USA. Austin was in the tank development wise and there wasn’t any immediate prospects for an expanded tax base on the site developed into the Domain. Plus, Central Texans through Envision Central Texas were prioritizing denser development. As members of the non-development community, Robin Rather and I – we were both members of LiveableCity’s founding board at the time (I’ve since resigned)– both spoke at council in favor of the Domain development tax incentive agreement. Council approved it 6 to 1, there was significant negotiating and binding agreements were signed.

It strikes me as way too Bush/Cheney-esq how Brian misstates claims of contract noncompliance which the city staff counters and disproves. This doesn’t do anything to enlighten the conversation which we absolutely should be having – do we want to ban tax incentives for retail or mixed-use projects going forward.

(Community Matters) Friends and readers might remember that I don’t cheerlead for Attorney General Greg Abbott. Neverthelesss, kudos where they’re due. His brief in support of an inquiry investigating the truth of a relationship between the prosecutor and sitting judge at Hood’s trial is refreshing.

(Community Matters) gotta love the Daily Show