Growth is the answer

On the eve of Prop Q, an anonymous real estate account on Twitter offered a pretty good take on the road forward for the city of Austin:

To be clear, city regulations are not the reason that development in Austin has slowed down in the last couple years. But in all likelihood, things will eventually heat up again in the Austin metro area. And when that happens, the city of Austin should try to get as big of a share of the regional growth as possible.

It's funny to think how rare it has been to hear elected officials articulate the truism that economic growth is a good thing. Whether you're a progressive who wants money for public services or a conservative who wants money for cops and low taxes, economic growth is obviously a part of the solution.

There are some people who actually oppose growth and have the balls to say so. That was essentially the gist of the 1970's environmental movement from which Save Our Springs sprung. They sincerely believed that economic growth and population growth were a threat to the environment, and if they couldn't stop it globally, the least they could do is stop it locally.

But most people aren't like that. Not if they're being honest with themselves. Workers want job opportunities and pay raises. Businesses want customers. Nonprofits want donors. Local governments want tax revenue.

To be clear, a pro-growth agenda does not need to entail corporate welfare. Indeed, I think it shouldn't! For instance, virtually every economist agrees that subsidies for sports stadiums are a bad idea. A pro-growth agenda in Austin need not involve Kirk Watson jetting around the globe offering handouts to Fortune 500 companies.

The first part of a sensible pro-growth agenda is to simply allow for the highest and best use of existing land. If there is a market for a high-rise on a piece of property in Central Austin, let the market build it!

The chorus of anti-growth activists would have you believe that dense development is a burden on city infrastructure, but the truth is the exact opposite. Single-family sprawl actually places the greatest burden on city services.

That is the contradiction at the heart of the West Austin conservative/NIMBY politics that are currently embodied by Council Member Marc Duchen. It wants lots of well-maintained and generously subsidized public spaces (Save Muny!!), lots of highly-paid police officers, and a fire station in every neighborhood. But it also wants low taxes and it wants most of the city to be off-limits to most types of development. There's no audit in the world that can square that circle.

Speaking of audits...

As I've said before, some kind of comprehensive efficiency study of every city department is not necessarily a bad idea, although it's very possible that the cost of the study will be greater than the value of the savings or increased productivity that it produces.

However, it has occurred to me that many of those calling for a city audit may not be aware that the city already has a full-time auditor's office with 29 employees. The office regularly publishes investigations of various departments.

Here, for instance, is a lengthy report by the City Auditor into allegations of city credit card misuse by a former manager at Austin Water. Here's another into alleged conflicts of interest among top officials at the Building Services Department. Here's one examining city practices for awarding funding to nonprofits!

Anybody can report tips of wrongdoing by city employees to the City Auditor or submit suggestions for audits of city departments or programs.

Unlike most other city officials, the City Auditor does not answer to the city manager. She is hired by City Council. Sure, that could make her vulnerable to political pressure, but it would be a pretty heavy lift politically for City Council to hold a public vote to fire the auditor.

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