By Tom StiehmMayor of Austin

One of the most difficult aspects of being a local government official is trying to keep citizens in your jurisdiction informed. As I attend various functions throughout the state and speak to other mayors and city council members, it becomes apparent this is a common problem and not unique to Austin. Many different types of meetings seem to have different results in different areas. We in Austin have tried to meet on Saturday mornings at various coffee houses and at the library not as a regular council meeting but rather in an informal setting. These informal meetings had a small measure of success, so we attempted to have open meetings prior to our Austin City Council meetings on the first and third Mondays of each month. This had even less success than the Saturday morning meetings. We will continue to try different things in order to stay in better touch with our constituents for the most part. When people do attend these meetings, we have been able to assist them in resolving their concerns.

Informing people with what their city council is doing and just how their tax dollars are being spent will be more and more important as the projects of Vision 2020 move forward. We on the city council have many different responsibilities, but most of us believe one of the very most important responsibilities is creating and maintaining good jobs with a livable wage. As I’ve met with and spoken to both manufacturers and economic development professionals, it becomes clear one of the most important issues for prospective employers is the quality of life a town can provide to the employees of a company that is thinking about locating here.

Quality of life includes the quality of our schools, safety, healthcare, entertainment, shopping, etc. It is quality of life issues that Vision 2020 projects address: a recreation center, clean and usable waterways, bike trails, downtown development and others. These attractions will not only be enjoyed by the citizens of Austin but will hopefully help attract businesses with good jobs to our area. It has not yet been determined how these projects will be funded.

I do not feel the community is ready for or willing to accept a substantial property tax increase in order to fund these projects, and other sources need to be explored at the same time. It is not realistic to think the city will be the beneficiary of all these projects at no cost at all.

These are the issues the council will be exploring in the near future. To do so we will first need to inform our citizens of potential city involvement, and then find out what they want to do. I do not know most of the facts yet or what will become realities and how they will be paid for, but if there is an organization that is willing to step up and assist with these projects, we would be negligent not to listen.