Citizen Comment:
9 speakers!
- Two speakers: Mission Able fixed our leaking roofs, and we’re very grateful. Great organization. (That is in lieu of this, last month.)
- One speaker: The Land Development Code conversation took two hours last time. Maybe some of those comments could have been submitted ahead of time? Many of the comments were about data centers. People hate them! On a different topic, Flock Cameras helped Austin PD catch the shooter recently.
- One speaker: the downtown proposal for the new City Hall is terrible! They want to purchase the land and lease it back to the city? Are we just going to rent from them for 40 years?
- Finally, five speakers talk about Gerardo Reyes Gonzalez.
Who is Gerardo Reyes Gonzalez? On March 14th, SMPD stopped a son and father for a traffic stop, and ended up arresting them for “interference with public duties”. The son was later released, but the father (Gerardo) was handed over to ICE.
However, Gerardo had livestreamed the traffic stop on Facebook. So there was evidence that it hadn’t gone the way the officer was claiming. (Mano Amiga and the Hays/Caldwell Examiner have been all over this.)
SMPD ran an internal investigation:
The investigation found that Cortina violated the following department protocols:
an inaccurate statement on the probable cause affidavit, a failure to articulate the basis for detention, and failure to verify the juvenile subject’s location prior to making the arrest.
Of course, none of this ever comes to light unless there is video footage. (The officer got a light consequence.)
Anyway: this is a crisis because the dad is still in ICE custody, two months later, up in Hutto. The mom is disabled and the dad is the breadwinner, and a judge denied his release, so he could be facing deportation.
The speakers on Tuesday are calling on Council to release a public statement calling for the release of the dad and meaningful consequences for the officer.
(Petition and family GoFundMe if you’re so inclined.)
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Item 15: La Cima
La Cima is way out here:
It’s enormous! That’s about 3484 acres.
Quick backstory (Full backstory here.)
La Cima was first approved in 2013. It was about 1400 acres big, originally. (For the life of me, I can’t find a map of it.)
In 2014, it grows to 2,2029 acres, and it looks like this:
In 2018, it grows again:
In 2020, it grows again:
Next up, in 2022:
It jumped clear across Ranch Roach 12! They also got approved for a movie studio along the way, La Cinema. (Unofficial name, sadly.)
La Cima has sometimes been controversial, because it’s a massive build over the aquifer. Everything there will go directly into the underground water that feeds the river. If you want your river to stay clear, you don’t want to develop the land that feeds into it.
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So what now?
On Tuesday, there was some minor tinkering with how La Cima pays for roads and sidewalks and things like that. It’s not a big deal.
Mostly a lot of acronyms:
Everyone on Council says yes: 7-0.
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Sidebar: In my heart-of-hearts, I disapprove of PIDs. It’s like 500th in the list of things I don’t like, but it’s there.
Here’s the problem: a PID is an extra tax on the residents of La Cima. But it only helps the residents of La Cima.
Residents there are paying more in taxes! They pay an extra $1600-$2700 per year. If they think taxes are too high, they’re going to support candidates who want to cut taxes. When you cut taxes, you cut services. But the services that get slashed are for the most vulnerable, not for La Cima. La Cima funding (about $86 million) is locked down safely for 30 years, via the PID.
If there was no such thing as PIDs, the extra tax would be rolled into the cost of the house. It wouldn’t actually change costs for the buyer, but it would make the houses look more expensive up front. Developers prefer to keep housing prices looking low.
End of rant!
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Item 16: The New HEB sign
If you’ve driven by I35 and McCarty recently, you’ve probably seen the construction on our exciting new south HEB.
Trusted sources tell me it’s going to be nicknamed “HEBeast”, to distinguish it from Little HEB and Big HEB. (I report, you decide.)
The HEBeast is part of a larger development called McCarty Commons. In the development agreement, the developer agreed to specific rules about sign heights:
But what if, instead, their sign was AWESOME?
Like this?
You know, a real HEBeast of a sign. Way bigger than those other measly signs:
The new design would be 60 feet tall, instead of 42 ft like we were expecting.
So how tall is 60 ft exactly?
Taller than Wendy’s or Taco Bell. But slightly shorter than the Premium Outlets sign.
Much taller than all of these.
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What does Council say?
Here’s everyone’s reaction:
They’re pretty stoked.
Lorenzo: Can they design our next gateway sign?
Josh: For the record, I like our new gateway signs.
Jane: Since I-35 is elevated there, this really just lifts their sign up to regular height.
The vote: 7-0. Everyone’s all in.
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The actual meeting rang in at under an hour! The workshops were meatier.
The San Marxist 