Get off our (Great) lawn

The Zilker Park Vision Plan died long ago, but its ghost continues to haunt the race for City Council District 5.

Incumbent Ryan Alter, facing a challenge next month from David Weinberg, who led the charge against the ill-fated plan, wants voters to know that he is NOT HAPPY about ACL turning the Zilker Great Lawn into a mud bath over the weekend.

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Alter put out the following statement on social media, describing the situation as "unacceptable":

Considering his district and his opponent, it's a predictable campaign flex by Alter. Three years ago he was under intense pressure to oppose the Zilker Park Vision Plan, a plan that many sincere parks advocates thought would address long-standing issues at the public space but that was cast by opponents as a privatization scheme on behalf of ACL. (To be clear, the park was not going to be privatized)

Few people at City Hall took the complaints about the Zilker Park Vision Plan seriously, but Council members, including Alter, were eventually forced to acknowledge that opponents had succeeded in turning the public against it. Nobody got a bigger earful about it than Alter, whose district does not technically include the park but includes the Zilker Neighborhood, from which sprang the most vociferous opposition to the ZPVP. One of the most outspoken opponents was Zilker resident David Weinberg, who started the Save Zilker Park PAC to campaign against the plan.

Weinberg is now Alter's chief opponent for reelection and says he is running against a City Hall "taken over by big money special interests and their lobbyists."

In an email to supporters, Weinberg described Alter's comments about ACL as "pretty rich," noting that Alter had received contributions from two C3 executives and accusing him of "strongly supporting the Zilker Vision Plan" three years ago. When I asked for evidence of that former support, Weinberg pointed to Alter's appointees to the Parks Board and Environmental Commission, who voted in favor of recommending it Council.

What's curious about the Great Lawn drama is that the lawn as it currently stands is largely a product of ACL. It was C3 Presents that in 2009 paid $2.5 million to install an irrigation system, plant Bermuda Grass and do a bunch of other landscaping stuff.

One thing that struck me observing the response on social media is how many people said the mud was no big deal and that the park is restored after the festival every year.

I asked Alter if he was suggesting that ACL should have been canceled due to the rain or if there is evidence of mismanagement. He responded that he merely wanted to "make sure that everything was being done to ensure the grounds would be available for the public again after the festival" and that he was concerned that the damage this year would require more time to repair than usual. He expressed confidence that the company would do what needed to be done to restore it.

In his email to supporters, Weinberg said the muddy mess was a "forgone conclusion as soon as C3 Presents decided to open festival gates just after Austin had been hit with a deluge of rain from Hurricane Polo."

So, is he saying the festival should have been canceled?

"If your goal was not to blow up the lawn, absolutely," he said in a text message. "But the festival is a huge economic development driver for the city, so maybe there was a cost benefit analysis made there. Wasn’t my call."

Tradeoffs!

It's very clear that many people in Weinberg's camp do not believe ACL belongs at Zilker, but Weinberg himself says he is not committed to the festival's ouster.

"I’m OK with the festival being there," he said. "I hope C3 does everything in their power to restore the lawn asap.  I am not ok with Ryan Alter offering up croc tears for the lawn when he takes $$ from C3 and supported the ZPVP."

So it seems like both candidates essentially back the status quo. Another way the candidates are alike: both Weinberg and Alter expressed concern about taking Barton Springs Road down to one car lane in each direction but have since embraced the changes. (For the record, some of us always thought it was a good idea!)

The District 5 race, by the way, won't just be about Zilker Park. It is also something of a proxy battle between the YIMBY and NIMBY factions in Austin politics. Weinberg describes himself as a part of neither faction but will definitely be supported by the anti-growth types who oppose the zoning reforms that Alter has backed, most notably the HOME ordinance.

I would of course be remiss if I neglected the two other candidates in the D5 race: former reality TV and porn actress Farrah Abraham and union electrician Liz Brink. Neither appear to be mounting serious campaigns and both are Republicans (Abraham was a big fan of the Melania documentary), which makes them DOA in D5. But they are women, which counts for something in down ballot contests in Austin. A not insignificant number of people showing up to vote for the statewide races will know nothing about any of the Council candidates and will opt for the woman. So they won't win, but they could very well affect the outcome of the race.

Here are the campaign websites for Alter, Weinberg, Abraham, and Brink.

Check out my recent article in Neighborhood Matters about why I love cemeteries.

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