Brian Rodgers and others who organized the Stop Domain Subsidies campaign have formed a new group (PAC?) called ChangeAustin.org. It describes itself as "an amalgam of local activists dedicated to activism (Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Greens, and independents!)-new and old-who believe the future determines the past."
The Propositon 2 supporters were in fact a motley crowd: old-line neighborhood activists, local businesses who resented the City subsidizing their competition, average joe's who resented payola to swank shopping centers, and fiscal conservatives and libertarians. I have trouble believing that these normally fractious groups can organize into a cohesive political force. There just aren't enough issues for them to agree upon.
Roads, for example. ChangeAustin.org identifies "toll roads" as one of its hot-button issues. I think its agin' 'em, although their blurb isn't crystal clear. You don't need a PAC to oppose tolls roads, though; everyone but me and perhaps six of this blog's readers hates them.
So what does ChangeAustin.org want to do about roads? I'm not sure, other than hold townhall meetings to talk about them and, I guess, hope for a kumbaya moment:
The story on the Texas toll wars is a long and winding road - pun intended. Suffice to say, we at ChangeAustin.org would like to call a truce. Right now everyone is losing. We’re losing time and money, and we could be losing a lot of money as the new Obama administration gets set to invest in public infrastructure. This investment could help end the toll road war and bring us together to solve our transportation dilemma. But the “road warriors” must understand that the transportation paradigm has changed. We no longer can bet on cheap fossil fuels. We can no longer ignore the cost (financial and human) of growth for growth’s sake, to our environment and to our very way of life, in pure economic terms.
Many groups that have sprung up to address this issue. What we at ChangeAustin.org are advocating to do about this is something really quite simple. The new Austin City Council, following the election next May, could hold a series of townhall meetings across the city and invite neighbors from suburbs and inner cities, including our neighbors in surrounding towns and counties, to come together to see what we can agree on. We need to do this outside the confines of the CAMPO setting, which has become way too adversarial. It’s our strong feeling that–for much too long–people throughout the region have been divided on a narrowly framed debate. Toll roads or no tolls road, and if no toll roads, how do we intend to fund roads. Let’s end the debate and start talking, then go to our officials and tell them what they really need to hear.
Holding townhall meetings to discuss roads is laudable. Devising a sensible regional transportation plan is a good idea. But I don't see the various constituents of the SDS campaign coming together on roads; roads will be a wedge issue for them.
