The Austin Chronicle 2017-01-06

58.6 MB·English

by  The Austin Chronicle

State Secrets The Game of Vice Wake and Bake and Bake Seedy Celluloid Sinful Songs
P.16 P.20 P.34 P.36 P.48
JANUARY 6, 2017
VOLUME 36, NUMBER 19
austinchronicle.com
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ISSUE
Forget Resolutions:
Celebrate the New
Year by Embracing
All the Bad Things
That Are So Good
CONTENTS
JANUARY 6, 2017
VOLUME 36, NUMBER 19
CO-EDITOR & CO-PUBLISHER Nick Barbaro
CO-EDITOR & CO-PUBLISHER Louis Black
EDITORIAL
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Kimberley Jones
NEWS Chase Hoffberger
ASSISTANT NEWS, GAY PLACE
Sarah Marloff
USED, COLLECTIBLE, ARTS Robert Faires
FOOD Brandon Watson
AND UNIQUE SCREENS Josh Kupecki
MUSIC Raoul Hernandez
WEB James Renovitch
1608 S. CONGRESS AVE. CALENDAR
CALENDAR, CLUBS & SPORTS LISTINGS
512-916-8882 Mark Fagan
southcongressbooks.com ARTS LISTINGS Wayne Alan Brenner
STAFF WRITERS
SUN-THU 11-7 | FRI-SAT 11-8 Kevin Curtin, Michael King,
Mary Tuma, Richard Whittaker
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
FILM Marjorie Baumgarten
DEAR GLUTTON Emily Beyda COVER STORY: The Vice Issue PHOTO BY TODD V. WOLFSON
DAY TRIPS Gerald E. McLeod
MR. SMARTY PANTS R.U. Steinberg
PRODUCTION 4 PAGE TWO 36 SCREENS
ART DIRECTOR Jason Stout
PRODUCTION MANAGER Chris Linnen FEEDBACK
DIGITAL SWTREABT DEIGRYE CMTiOchRa Berli aBna rBtnaerrtyt 36 THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY A film primer for
GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Zeke Barbaro, Carrie Lewis the best in wicked entertainment
STAFFP PRHOOOTFORGERAADPEHRESR SK Jaoth GMnr ecAgNn deSevtirintstos, ,n D,D aJaanvnieea l RlBeai rWncdhhauitmlle, 8 NEWS 38 FFiIlLmM: G LoIlSd,T aINndG SSi lHenidcdeen Figures, A Monster Calls, One Piece
INMToEnRDtNainSn i qTGhuroeam yM,a Wosn iDlrlo aMen,ch BC, raSyriaethnrr yRa, oMDlloiia,r zgT,ua Jcnek fMef reG Wnaemhnamdtelielzly,, 8 POINT AUSTIN BY MICHAEL KING 44 SHOWTIMES
ADVERTISING 10 PUBLIC NOTICE BY NICK BARBARO
ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Cassidy Frazier
SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Jerald Corder, CIVICS 101 36
Bobby Leath, Elizabeth Nitz,
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVESC Caraorllyy nC Pahllaillhipasn,, LDoaisv idR iKchlewpipnee 11 Council; Naked City; Death Watch; Lege Lines;
LEGAL NOTICES Jessica Nesbitt Fetal Burial Update; CodeNEXT; and more
OPERATIONS COORDINATOR
Kristine Tofte 14 THE HIGHTOWER REPORT
DIGITAL COTOamRDaIrN PATriOcRe BY JIM HIGHTOWER
MMAARRKKEETTIINNGG DMIRANECATGOERR /KPaRr eSnaar aRho Wgeorlsf 16 SCANDALOUS Crimes, carousing,
LUV DOC/CIRCULATION/SPECIAL EVENTS Dan Hardick and contravention from the Capitol 40
STREET TEAM Kelsey Baker, Sommer Brugal, Anna grounds
Cherian, Andrea Dane, Andrea Fuentes, Daniela
Garcia, Orchid Garcia, Sandra Gisi, Lisa Gossett, 21 NEWS OF THE WEIRD
Ashley Greenstein, Jenna Herrington, Elias
Huerta, Will Josma, Allen Martinez, Patricia May,
Bobby JMoincakse yS, pCiraam, iClloek Ma oTrreelvl,in Aon, dArlelyw W Oasreregni, 22 CALENDAR 46 MUSIC
NATIONAL ADVERTISING Voice Media Group
(888/278-9866, www.vmgadvertising.com)
OFFICE STAFF 46 PLAYBACK BY KEVIN CURTIN
OFFCICOEN MTRAONLALGEERR LJiezs Fsria Cnakpline 20 ARTS & 48 VICE PLAYLIST Can you name
CREDIT MANAGER cindy soo the seven deadly sins? We’ve
ACCOUNTING ASSISTANT Chelsea Taylor CULTURE added three more!
SYSINTEFMO SD EASDKM/ISNUISBTSRCARTIOPRT IBOrNaSn Cdaornr iWe aYotkuinngs 52 RECOMMENDED THIS WEEK
CTIHRE GCRUUMPLY AUNTCLIEO HaNnk 20 THE GAME OF VICE Dstuoenle fdro anntmd atanl kTso mFr eFera Wnke egke,t sto 48
RNeECWHs EAtCNKaD O IuMUTPr ROaOUVRnEDt ToAmn LdFearetiirwcci haGi leddre,f eRlarus bV, eeSgnua zF,e loPttreeer srJy,o JhDonrnasioknena,, FJKaoereveli-dnS EoKsminqmkuaievdreesl,,, 24 s BeUrvZeZ u FpR tEhEe Dd iTshhe B VYi rRtuOeBsE oRfT G FoAsIsRipE,S or liberating you to w–T ihmQicuehi,n U oGuSar Wlwaevhieoskl,e lPy ,wa Weleea kDlk iieasrn d,L euDvkeoeetnepsd ,
Guide NEorricm M RceKeidn,n Neyic, kG Rraonste MmealncB,hr Zyeaer,nb P ZSaiourkml eMmlbineaorcsrh,, 26 J AoRhnT SS wLaISngTeIrN: GLuSm Cehnasr lo&t tCeu’sr rWenetbs ”and “Elizabeth Chiles and LCoasll iCopoea sMt,u Msiocvailnsg, LPeaonpooraldm &a s,
TEOSF SAEEAUNTSUTTIRIANILN D GGIN UAIINNDGE, TMhSaoarmym aB sAr ynFcdaeew, rcJseiomtnt ,-C RDaaolCimuggiouO sFr,ir ,e NGJeermefTgf a CRBnr,eo SeIstBbasmy,, U R SHotuTebrv tBOe, r ADesRzahsvnlSiesyy,, 3207 CGOAMY MPULANCITEY B LYI SSTAIRNAGHS MARLOFF HMKanhiisdda gFnmei,c toFtmriloeeensn,h, KLLneigiafhitgthshe,t r,B GElavircillsk T, rBCipohloeaktk,sr ,a
FIRST LOOKS, MoRraemnoir,e Lza, nMciek eM Ryeedrsd,y C, aBlreyba nP rRitoclhlia, rMda, rAcl eSjaanvldorva, DAY TRIPS BY GERALD E. MCLEOD 54 VENUES
RECENT REVIEWS, Chuck Shepherd, Jen Sorensen, Kahron Spearman,
MINI-GUIDES, Tim Stegall, Michael Toland, Tom Tomorrow, Roy 20 55 ROADSHOWS +
AND MORE. Tompkins, Jay Trachtenberg, Libby Webster,
Todd V. Wolfson CLUB LISTINGS
BACK
62 THE LUV DOC
SHOT IN THE DARK
32 FOOD COMIX
MR. SMARTY PANTS
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austinchronicle.com JANUARY 6, 2017 THE AUSTIN CHRONICLE 3
ing van ride through Boston, insisting on
The Path Back to Believing
visiting his high school, where the band first
played, to visit a beloved teacher, Eric Davis.
Over the years for me the culture has lost
It only takes a moment for the ordinary to transform not just potency but meaning. This not
because it offers less but because after so
many years engaged, I am without appetite.
I ain’t much of a lover it’s true You were lost, once before, on a day much ended up living together in a small house “Once you’ve given up the ghost, every-
I’m here then I’m gone like this on Franklin Street just down the block from thing follows with dead certainty, even in
And I’m forever blue When you’d made up your mind not to come the Orson Welles Cinema. the midst of chaos” is Henry Miller’s open-
But I’m sure wanting you And I couldn’t persuade you At first I think they figured I might be ing sentence of Tropic of Capricorn. Having
– “No Place to Fall,” Townes Van Zandt Or wait till tomorrow, or pass the time there a week, at the outside two. Instead, all but given up already, after the election
– “Andalucia,” John Cale like barnacles or Bartleby, I just stayed. And there was little left. If I had not mostly given
It doesn’t happen much anymore, though stayed, ignoring their at first subtle up already, I would have after the election.
it used to all the time – the ongoing steady, Living on the other side of the state in attempts to dislodge me. The tastes gone from even the most reli-
expected beat of life ripped to a rising high Charlotte Harbor next to the Peace River, Already significantly distracted most of able pleasures. Listening to “Pancho and
accompanied by a searing cartoon-like most mornings I’d pick a bag of grapefruits the time, early on Eric told me that he Lefty” recently, I realized how flat and life-
explosion of flame, smoke, dust, and sparks. from one tree, a bag of oranges from anoth- always had the feeling that there was a tape less it sounded, saddened that I would
A moment of meaning – created by listen- er. Then, while listening to the album over running in my head, constantly question- never hear it again with the deep resonance
ing to a song, watching a and over, I’d squeeze ing, “Is this a movie; is this a movie?” it offered for so long. And even then, it was
dance or movie, looking at a enough to make a half gal- Still, they trusted me to babysit John, never quite as extraordinary as the first
painting, reading a novel or lon of each. Forever uniting maybe because I cheerfully changed dia- time I heard it performed, by Townes Van
poem or comic book – PAGE the taste of the air and the pers. When they went to the hospital for the Zandt at Castle Creek.
mushroom clouded inside TWO heavy scent of citrus with birth of their second child, I was there at A week later, Sandy and I were visiting a
your head. The ordinary the album’s music. home taking care of John. film shooting in Louisiana, where extras sat
transformed, swiftly mov- BY There are no shortcuts Not all that much later, I was left to care at a bar far from Austin, though designed to
ing from black and white LOUIS through my memory, no for Theo, the new baby. As soon as she fin- look like a mid-Eighties Austin club.
into color, until all you saw BLACK brief stories. Just came ished her bottle, she started to spit up all The scene was of a too-wasted musician
was awash in flame. back from a week with over me. Fretting, I walked the floor not who, while performing, had forgotten both
Once that was the way Sandy and family at a resort knowing what to do. words and music. Lost he sat there.
and the beat. Now, so many hotel in the Caribbean. So I called my mother. Quite tickled, she Then a friend lumbered up behind him,
years and so much life gone There watching the oldest laughingly assured me there was nothing to leaned into the mic to sing a verse loud and
by, there is a flatness usually unmarred by of the grandchildren, a boy of 6, my worry about. Then she laughed again. true. He left the stage as soon as he led the
the unexpected. Music, once both prayer thoughts almost had to drift to my youth. Watching the three kids playing, ages 2, performer back to the song.
and the answer to prayer, shrunk into an Living so little in the real world and so 4, and 6, their mom pregnant with a fourth The past enacted in the present evoked a
over-the-counter drugstore salve. Lyrics much in one of stories, it was not just diffi- child due this summer, I remembered that déjà vu. The song and performance achiev-
rich in meaning, evoking memories, now cult and confusing, but seemed so pro- day, walking the floor, uncertain and ing an emotional immediacy that tran-
just words. foundly foreign. unmoored. Yet overwhelmed, I was certain scended the film. My eyes filled with tears,
There were years when the mundane was Years later, in 1972, after receiving a B.A., that by then I knew who I was and where I more from the power of what was happen-
rare and meaning was often. Living in I moved with my professor Eric Davis, his was going. I didn’t. Just a child, I really ing than because of a past recalled. Beyond
Florida, I bought John Cale’s Paris 1919 at a wife Gay, and son John from the small col- knew nothing at all. detail and feeling, I remembered not just
record store in Coconut Grove. lege in Vermont back to Cambridge. We Decades passed, moments resonated with the past but how to believe. Until I again
that past. While a student at Brown in Rhode believed. Magic was alive, poetry afoot,
Island, John Davis visited Austin. After music again the kindle for igniting desire.
graduating, he formed Folk Implosion with Days later by the ocean, I watched as the
Lou Barlow. After that, during one long children played. Watched as the child I once
SXSW night, the remarkable Deb Pastor was, as a stranger, a parent, and a member
reminisced about when road managing the of the family. Once I was lost but now was
Lemonheads, Evan Dando initiated a careen- found, been blind but now could see. n
FEEDBACK LETTERS & COMMENTS
OOPS!
“Pressley vs. Casar: Appeal
Rejected” and “Yogurt Shop Suspect’s ON THE LAURA
Appeal Unsuccessful,” both from last
week’s “Naked City” (Dec. 30), incorrectly PRESSLEY
stated that the U.S. 3rd Court of Appeals
CAMPAIGN:
confirmed a lower court’s decision. In fact,
in both cases it was Texas’ 3rd Court of
“I’m neither Rep nor Dem, but glad
Appeals that confirmed the rulings.
the sad & delusional saga of Laura
Pressley is ending. Hope the court
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR must be signed with holds her to the fines, after having
full name and include daytime phone number,
ironically wasted so many taxpayer
full address, or email address. Letters should
be no longer than 300 words. resources.” – Brad Emmons
We reserve the right to edit all submissions.
Letters may not be edited, added to, or
changed by sender once we receive them.
“Naked City: Pressley vs. Casar Appeal
General email address: [email protected] Rejected,” News, Dec. 30
Postmarks forum:
austinchronicle.com/forums/postmarks
Mailing address: The Austin Chronicle,
PO Box 4189, Austin, TX 78765
CONTINUED ON P.6
4 THE AUSTIN CHRONICLE JANUARY 6, 2017 austinchronicle.com
austinchronicle.com JANUARY 6, 2017 THE AUSTIN CHRONICLE 5
FEEDBACK LETTERS & COMMENTS CONTINUED FROM P.4
ON THE OVERTIME RULE:
“People need to be paid for time spent working and if a business model relies
on an employee working after hours without pay, the model is broken. I'm glad
to see this company changing pay practices to more fairly compensate these
employees.” – Lindsey Drake
“AISD's Overtime Ailments,” News, Dec. 23
UPDATED DAILY
AUSTINCHRONICLE.COM/POSTMARKS
“Wtf is an eatery?” – Johnny Hilbun “Yeah I am more than a bit miffed
“Top 10 Modern Asian Eateries,” Food, Dec. 30 at the oh, so obvious absence of
Counter Culture. The best vegan TERRY ALLEN SATURDAY
restaurant in Austin, in the opinion JANUARY 14
of MANY. And what about Mothers? PERFORMING JUAREZ AND LUBBOCK ON EVERYTHING
What isn’t already vegan on their
ON OUR menu, can be made vegan. They
SUNDAY
END-OF-YEAR are a vegetarian/vegan restaurant JANUARY 15
after all! What a snub. Especially to
LISTS: CC. If you haven’t eaten there, you
need to get your asses over there
NOW. I do appreciate the addition
of some relatively unknown places
on this list though.” – betty
“no radiohead fu ck this list” – antony
“Top 10 Stops When We’re on the
“Drank the Lemonade,” Music, Dec. 30 Vegan Wagon,” Food, Dec. 30 TICKETS & INFO: AUSTINTHEATRE.ORG OR 512 474-1221
THE PARAMOUNT THEATRE • 713 CONGRESS AVE • AUSTIN, TEXAS
6 THE AUSTIN CHRONICLE JANUARY 6, 2017 austinchronicle.com
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austinchronicle.com JANUARY 6, 2017 THE AUSTIN CHRONICLE 7
NEWS
QUOTE WEEK
of the
“[The] Court finds that Private Plaintiffs’ refusal to perform, refer
for, or cover transitions or abortions is a sincere religious exercise.”
– U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor’s Dec. 31 injunction halting specific Obam a -
care protections for transgender and abortion-related health care services.
HEADLINES
NO REGULAR CITY COUNCIL
meeting this
week or next – the new and re-elected members
will be sworn in Friday, Jan. 6 (6pm in Council
chambers), and Council will elect a mayor pro tem.
A retreat/workshop is scheduled for Jan. 11-12. The
next regular meeting is Jan. 26.
CITIES FOR ACTION,
a coalition of more
than 100 mayors (including Austin’s Steve Adler)
in support of progressive action in defense of immi-
grants, has asked President Obama to accelerate
the DACA program for immigrants who arrived as
children, and to expand the Temporary Protected
Status protections for immigrants fleeing persecu-
tion or emergencies. See “Council: In With the New
…” p.12.
CONGRESSIONAL REPUBLICANS BALKED
at their own House Republican Conference’s plan to
gut the independent Office of Congressional
Ethics, after massive public outcry. Among the
Congressmen behind the plan: Texas Republican
Blake Farenthold, who has his own history of ethi-
cal troubles. See “Scandalous,” p.16.
FORMER APD ASST. Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez
Chief Jessica Robledo congratulates her command staff after their
didn’t stay out of a job for long. On Wednesday, it swearing into office Wednesday afternoon
was announced that she’d accepted a job as Interim at the Travis County Commissioners Court.
N
Chief of Police in Pflugerville. The longtime cop will SO Hernandez was also sworn into office on
R
be sworn in on Friday at 2pm. DE Wednesday. She replaces Greg Hamilton,
AN who served as county sheriff for 12 years.
AFTER TEASING A POTENTIAL run at the OHN
J
impending opening for the House District 46 seat in
Congress, Travis County Democratic Party Chairman The Age of Trump
Vincent Harding announced Wednesday that he
will remove his name from the candidacy. Dawnna
Dukes, who’s long held HD46, will retire Jan. 10.
AS D.C. MOVES BACKWARD, CITIES MUST LEAD FORWARD
ALL ABOARD THE BENDY-BUS!
Capital
Metro is getting rid of its two-tier pricing system. As its header reflects, the default beat of national vote, equally striking is the rural/ gut the Affordable Care Act – which Texas
Beginning Jan. 8, the MetroRapid and MetroFlyer “Point Austin” is city politics, and its con- urban dichotomy: Trump’s strongest sup- and other states have done their best to
routes will cost the same as a regular bus: $1.25 per ceptual premise is “think globally, write port was in the least populous regions, undermine and render ineffectual – and
trip, $2.50 for a day pass. locally.” I’ll occasionally wander into nation- meaning that he could win the electoral col- Speak er Paul Ryan has targeted Medic aid
al and international subjects, lege – like the U.S. Senate, and even Medicare for various “block grant”
PLANNED PARENTHOOD TEXAS
officially at least attempting to link with a historical imbalance and “voucher” alternatives, in his vision of a
requested a preliminary injunction to block the them to an Austin perspec- of representation – while feckless Ayn Randian utopia. How much of
state’s effort to remove the reproductive health tive and context. And as is POINT badly losing the national this vandalism can be accomplished before
care provider from Medicaid. More than a year likely the case with many popular vote to Hillary Clin- an effective public backlash occurs remains
AUSTIN
after the initial threat, Texas officials issued PP a Austinites this post-holiday ton. In our local context, that uncertain. But just as the Legis lat ure has
final notice of Medicaid termination right before season, the City Hall hiatus BY means cities will become the gerrymandered Texas for Repub lic an domi-
the holidays. In the legal request filed in 2015, PP has left me brooding over MICHAEL default front lines of the new nation, similar redistricting projects and
slams the state for conducting a “politically moti- the national condition. Even conflicts, and of the new national restrictions of voting rights will
KING
vated witch hunt” on baseless allegations ground- prior to Donald Trump’s resistance. We’re long famil- continue to make state governments even
ed in the highly edited, misleading YouTube videos looming inauguration and iar with that default line in more unrepresentative of their constituents.
published by a radical anti-choice group. the planned nationwide pro- Texas, of course, where sub-
tests, we are entering very urban and rural legislators WAYS TO RESIST
THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION
uncertain times, amidst a public polariza- impose a reactionary agenda on major cities Austin is already in the crosshairs. GOP
made a recommendation regarding APD’s DNA lab, tion more sharp than I can recall since the – prioritizing “border security” and “gun legislators have indicated their intentions
voting Monday to suggest the city, county, and APD Sixties and the Vietnam War, as even a skim rights,” for egregious examples, over public to undo City Council’s work on workers’
to “urgently” prioritize a six-month interim solution of the Chronicle’s online forums will attest. education and health care. rights, immigrants’ rights, transportation
for the lab – all but impossibile. APD Asst. Chief Beyond the obvious racial and gender The same pattern is about to be repeated regulations, environmental protections,
Troy Gay estimated a two- to three-year timeline polarizations that were reflected in the on a national scale, as Congress is poised to
CONTINUED ON P.10
to complete two reports – one for what ailed the
lab and another plotting its reconciliatory steps.
ONLINE//FETAL BURIAL RULES |AUSTINCHRONICLE.COM/NEWS
8 THE AUSTIN CHRONICLE JANUARY 6, 2017 austinchronicle.com
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NEWS ARTS & CULTURE FOOD SCREENS MUSIC
POINT AUSTIN CONTINUED FROM P.8 Threading the Needle Is that any way to run a city? Of course
and so on. More broadly, they’ve reiterated not. Whatever LDC the planners wind up writ-
their biennial determination to starve local ing, it has to be adhered to: If CodeNEXT
governments of resources by further con- IS THIS THE YEAR OF URBAN PLANNING? becomes merely the new starting point for
stricting taxing powers beyond the already developers and neighbors to negotiate vari-
tight property tax “rollback” standard. It’s Early last year, Mayor Steve Adler declared code, cannot create anything: It can, at best, ances from, it will be a failure. So the pres-
not news to most Austinites that despite all that 2016 was to be Austin’s Year of Mobili ty. create the conditions for market forces to sure will on the Planning and Development
their rhetorical breast-beating over “local The Uber/Lyft overreach created a temporary create the sorts of development the planners Review Department, and especially the cur-
control,” a majority of Texas legislators detour, but by year-end, Hizzoner had achieved want to see. Planners can look at a certain rent and future City Councils, to have the dis-
arrive at the Capitol with a reflexively a major triumph with the passage of a $720 area, for instance, and decree that there cipline to hold the line on the new code, and
authoritarian ideological agenda, bristling million mobility bond, finding just the right should be a multistory mixed-use complex on keep it from being varianced into meaning-
with unfunded mandates while eager to balance of suburban roads, urban bike routes, the corner, stepping down to two- or three- lessness, as is the current situation.
repress any local community movements and the redevelopment of major transit corri- story multifamily and commercial buildings All of this implies a level of place-specific
for more autonomy, more independent dors, that could pass voters’ muster (quite along the main streets, and single-family cot- detail (the long-anticipated “mapping” stage
thought, more progressive governance. easily, as it turned out), and hopefully make tages further into the neighborhood. But they of the CodeNEXT process) that some council
That also means that city leaders, here a real dent in Austin’s transportation snarl – can’t make anyone build that stuff. And if a members have shown little patience for –
and elsewhere, will need to bow up once though it will take at least eight years to see landowner decides it would be more profit- and that has often frustrated the develop-
again and defend their communities from if the benefits are as advertised. able to put an office tower on the corner, and ment hawks on the dais and in the public,
state overreach. Under current political No time for resting on laurels, though, luxury townhomes on the rest of the proper- who tend to reflexively view small-area plans
conditions, it won’t be an easy fight, but because 2017 brings an even bigger chal- ty? Well, that’s where the code comes in. It and compatibility rules as NIMBY tools, and
neither are victories impossible. Austin’s lenge, that will have to roll out over an even has to be flexible enough to allow that condi- have repeatedly pressed for new regulations
leadership on renewable energy, for exam- longer time frame: This year’s big push is tions might change, and neighborhoods might to be applied on a blanket basis citywide,
ple, has led both the state and nation in going to be finding the sweet spot in plan- evolve, over the multi-decade life of the code, with no local exceptions.
creating facts on the ground that can’t be ning and development regula- but also firm and well-defined Mayor Adler has repeatedly promised skit-
wished, lobbied, or bullied away by tradi- tions, that can create the con- enough that it will actually tish neighborhood associations that – espe-
tional fossil-fuel money and power. It is ditions to make a real dent in work to guide development cially with the new, development-friendly corri-
PUBLIC
just possible that model can become a tem- property costs and availability the way it’s intended, without dor plans just approved – there can be
plate for similar local actions (e.g., the cre- in the long run, without mean- NOTICE the need for continuous enough new density built along those transit
ation of local ride-hailing companies as while forcing current residents amendments and variances. corridors to tip the supply-and-demand bal-
alternatives to corporate giants) that pre- out of existing neighborhoods, BY A perfectly successful ance toward affordability while actually eas-
NICK
empt state power by establishing economic or destroying their character. building code rewrite would ing the economic pressure on existing neigh-
or political conditions too difficult for state CodeNEXT, the new Land BARBARO put development attorneys borhoods and small businesses.
lawmakers to undo. Development Code, is and lobbyists out of business: The mayor explained his “80%” strategy
intended to embody and Code would be specific early on in his tenure: a compromise that
EARLY VICTORY enable the Imagine Austin enough, and accurate and makes 80% of the people happy on both
No, it won’t be easy at the state level, nor master plan completed a few flexible enough, to provide the sides of any given conflict, is probably about
certainly under the incipient Trump regime years ago (and already due for an update this clarity and transparency that everyone on all as good as you can ask for. Last year Council
at the national level. Although Trump him- year). And Imagine Austin is built on two sides of the issue has been clamoring for. threaded that needle on the mobility bond: It
self seems permanently preoccupied with competing promises and goals, repeated in Developers and neighborhood activists alike checked enough boxes to get buy-in from the
building and propagating his personal various ways throughout the 350-page docu- complain that the current regulations are road warriors and the bicyclists, and the tran-
brand – whatever the priorities of his nom- ment: that Austin must grow in density, unclear, complicated, and subject to interpre- sit evangelists and the neighborhood preser-
inal party – the glowering crew he has because the existing sprawl scenario is toxic tation and modification, often based on politi- vationists. This year, Council will try to dupli-
nominated for his Cabinet is largely old- and the urban core has structural problems; cal considerations and who has the loudest cate the feat with CodeNEXT, and while they
school right wingers determined to reim- and that existing neighborhoods and districts or best-connected voices at City Council. Want won’t have to get voters’ approval for the
pose what they recall as the natural order must be protected, because they provide to build 10 feet closer to the property line final results, they will have to achieve a con-
of the 1950s – the supremacy of wealth, much of Austin’s character and are under than code allows, and bump up the impervi- sensus on the dais, with a council that’s phil-
power, and whiteness. increasing pressure from market forces ous cover? You might be able to do that, with osophically just about split down the middle
Yet as happened in this week’s reversal (largely the cost of the dirt they sit on). the right attorney. Want to block that three- between the housing supply-siders, and the
of the Republican gutting of the Office of One thing just about everyone realizes story apartment building that’s going up right “neighborhood defenders.” n
Congressional Ethics, broad public pres- (though the rhetoric sometimes indicates outside your bathroom window? You might be
Send gossip, dirt, neighborhood plans, and other
sure and political embarrassment forced a other wise) is that CodeNEXT, or any building able to do that, with the right attorney. useful grist to [email protected].
retreat that even The Big Tweeter endorsed,
describing the House move against the
CIVICS 101 DUTY NOW FOR THE FUTURE
OCE as bad for the optics of his new
administration. Similar divisions between
partisan ambitions and presidential pan-
THURSDAY 01/05 SATURDAY 01/07 HOLIDAY TREE RECYCLING MONDAY 01/09
dering are likely to emerge over the next
Turn your tree to mulch. Drop it
several months – over taxes, over immigra- JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT: BUILDING BRIDGES A community off at Zilker this weekend. No arti- CODENEXT ADVIS ORY GROUP
tion, over health care, and so on – that local THE RADIANT CHILD discussion on “un-segregating ourselves.” ficial snow, and please remove MEETING Hear presentations, and present
The third installment of the Carver 10am-noon. Mt. Zion Action & Resource Center, decorations and stands. Also, your issues. 6pm. Waller Creek Center, 625 E. 10th.
advocates and activists will need to identi- Museum’s That’s My Face Young 2951 E. 14th. Free. www.traviscountytx.gov. curbside pickup is available on www.austintexas.gov/department/codenext.
fy and exploit wherever they occur. Adult Film Series, screening influ- TRAVIS CO. SHERIFF’S OFFICE your normal trash day; trees over
The rapidity of the GOP retreat on ethics ential works by black filmmakers. BUILDING BRIDGES TOWN six feet should be cut in half. TUESDAY 01/10
was remarkable, and suggests that these 6:30pm. G.W. Carver Museum & Cultura l HALL Senior Corrections Officer James 10am-2pm, Jan. 7-8. Zilker Park, 2100 BLACK LIVES MATTER AUSTIN
guys will be running in all directions trying Cgoevn/tdere, p1a1rt6m5e Annt/ggeelionrag. ew-wwaws.haiunsgttinotne-x as. Terxapylnaoinr aanndd Sanesnwioer r Dqeupeusttyi oJnosn oCnu lnine w Bgoavr/todne pSaprrtimngesn tR/dh.o wlidwawy.-atrueset-inretceyxcalsi.ng. GtheE NneEwR yAeaLr wMillE dEeTbr IiNef Gth eB LdMay’s’s f iMrsitl l imonese tMinagr cohf
to claim mandates and the high ground carver-museum-and-cultural-center. cadets and recruits for the TCSO. 1:30- Texas, and hold several working committees:
while imposing policies that are in fact CELEBRATING THE RAG 3pm. Millennium Youth Complex, 1156 Hargrave. SUNDAY 01/08 Educa tion, Criminal Justice Reform, Housing,
broadly unpopular. That they will succeed An ode to Austin’s underground RESTORING CIVIL DISCOURSE LUTU CITIZEN LOB BY IST Health, Economics, Transporta tion, and Civics.
in many instances will only reinforce that newspaper of the Sixties. Join edi- AFTER THE 2016 PRESI DENT- TRAINING AND POTLUCK 6-7:30pm. 1705 E. 11th. www.fb.com/blacklivesmatteraustin.
tors of the new book Celebrating IAL CAMPAIGN Common Ground for Left Up to Us hosts a Citizen
contradictory dynamic, leaving openings The Rag: Austin’s Iconic Under­ Texans hosts panel discussion on restor- Lobby workshop and lunch to prep ONGOING
to expand the popular resistance to ground Newspaper for a speaking ing civility to our political discourse, and for the 85th Texas Lege session ART INSPIRED BY BARTON SPRINGS
Trumpism and its already ragged imple- and signing engagement. what the latest political landscape chang- beginning Jan. 10. Become part Now accepting sumissions for a show running
mcaenn dtaot iionn t.h Heo mwe manutcihm de,a mis aagse m hue cahn din t hoeuyr 7wpwmw.. tBhoeroakgPbeloopgl.ec,o 6m0/3th Ne.- rLaagm-baoro. k . eSP. spH emaarekte,a rnJso fnionarc thtluhadene f TuRitlouosrvees . o R2fa -4dmpesmme. oyY,ca Rrraboocdry o.e urgichk ocTeiftx iaazsen n Sertany.tg eSa Eugmne.dp, lJ oaaynne. ed8s , w Unenoliolo-ninn-,2 f o:3r0mpemd. MEagdaeuysc 1 ast2hio-o nSu elCdpe tan. pt4ep rl.ay .tA Drthteiaesd tBslin eoev:fe Marllaylr cbSha. c3Sk1hg. erZofi flukienelrdd Hs i lal snidde
hands as it is in theirs. n Library, 2200 Hancock. Free. www.cg4tx.org. 1700 S. First. www.leftuptous.org. Theater, 2206 William Barton Dr. www.austintexas.gov/splash.
10 THE AUSTIN CHRONICLE JANUARY 6, 2017 austinchronicle.com