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AUSTINITES ARE STRUGGLING WITH AFFORDABILITY

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  • Ole Cowboy

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    For you Austin folks this is gonna CURL your hair:

    AUSTINITES ARE STRUGGLING WITH AFFORDABILITY, BUT THE AUSTIN CITY MANAGER IS NOT

    Austin-Detail-Image.png

    by JAMES QUINTERO, MICHAEL GALYEN
    Jun 8, 2018

    Many Austinites are struggling with affordability right now, but there’s at least one person who’s not—the Austin city manager.

    In addition to his $325,000 base salary, $7,200 annual executive allowance, and other health and retirement benefits, the city manager is also the beneficiary of a very generous $4,500 per month housing allowance. If you’re curious what that’ll get you in and around Austin, check out KUT’s article: Here’s What Spencer Cronk Can Afford to Rent on a $4,500-A-Month Allowance.

    As if that’s not infuriating enough, the Austin city council will next week vote on whether to extend Mr. Cronk’s temporary housing allowance, which has been in place since February. The current measure is set to expire in August and, if the extension is passes, the allowance will continue till next February.

    CBS Austin reached out to the city for comment and were told that he hasn’t found housing yet because “he has been busy since starting the job”. While running a large city like Austin may indeed be a busy job, it is a poor excuse for taking from the public coffers. Especially when there are so many other higher important priorities.

    For example, that’s money that could be put toward the city of Austin’s almost $10 billion in debt. Or its $2.4 billion in unfunded pension liabilities. Or its heavily congested roadways and thoroughfares. And the list goes on.

    There are countless better ways to spend this hard-earned taxpayer money. Neither Austin officials nor taxpayers should not support renewing this kind of administrative excess, especially when so many others are struggling just to make ends meet.

    https://www.texaspolicy.com/blog/de...ordability-but-the-austin-city-manager-is-not
     

    busykngt

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    I feel quite sure he got into “public service” because he had a sincere, heart-felt need to help his fellow man. Not to get rich as Cooter Brown!

    Local CBS station [DFW] just did a spill last week about several of the ISD heads and their ridiculously high salaries (& benefits)! Hell, a good number of ‘em make more for running a school district than the governor does for running the whole state! Just obscene!
     
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    Big Dipper

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    I feel quite sure he got into “public service” because he had a sincere, heart-felt need to help his fellow man. Not to get rich as Cooter Brown!

    Of course he wants to help “his fellow man”.

    When asked about his understanding of the distinction of Austin, within Texas, on LGBTQ issues – Cronk is openly gay, and married – he answered, "I am thrilled to be in a community that embraces all perspectives. ... I am proud, as a gay man, to be able to enter this space and reflect on the opportunities I have been given, and I want to open doors to everyone else to be at the table."
    https://www.austinchronicle.com/new...er-spencer-cronk-engagement-and-transparency/
     

    Ole Cowboy

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    Of course he wants to help “his fellow man”.

    When asked about his understanding of the distinction of Austin, within Texas, on LGBTQ issues – Cronk is openly gay, and married – he answered, "I am thrilled to be in a community that embraces all perspectives. ... I am proud, as a gay man, to be able to enter this space and reflect on the opportunities I have been given, and I want to open doors to everyone else to be at the table."
    https://www.austinchronicle.com/new...er-spencer-cronk-engagement-and-transparency/
    Just wonder how much being GAY had to do with his hiring, my guess, only about 99%. As I have been saying for years, the creation of "Protected classes" of people will lead to their ruling the country.

    I worked on C staff (CTO) in several corps and I can tell you that CEO's are petrified when a minority comes in for a job interview. All to often I saw them getting hired with near zero qualifications and then they redo the slot and move most of the major duties over to other people.

    In Govt its worse, every leader is afraid of an EEO complaint. In the military a EEO complaint goes in and officers record and it's a career ender, no matter the legitimacy of the complaint, even if ruled no action taken.

    MLK Holiday came as a result of blacks taking off on Friday and Monday nearest the MLK birthday. And daring the command to do anything about it. So the Govt made it a Nat Holiday because it became a major issue in the military. In one unit I served in as a Platoon Ldr, when we went to the field which was almost weekly, the blacks just did not go and the commander refused to support me in making them do so. So if we were out M-F which was standard they just did as the pleased.
     

    AustinN4

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    Austin has ALWAYS been an expensive area to live.
    Trust me on this, it is way, way worse now. But a $4500/mo housing allowance is insane. He says he doesn't have time to look for a house. BS!

    It world be cheaper to give him a week or to off to settle his housing needs than to keep paying that temp housing allowance.
     

    Moonpie

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    Gunz are icky.
    Those upper level city bureaucracy positions frequently have all manner of little hidden perks.
    You can bet he gets a vehicle(s)and fuel/maint on the city dime as well. And not just any vehicle. It will be a $70,000 Surburban or some such.
    The medical insurance will be top notch as well.
     

    Big Dipper

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    Some of the “wonderful” things Austin City Council does (has done) to make Austin LESS affordable.

    1. Big tax incentives to businesses to relocate to Austin. (Of course nothing is done to reduce expenditures, so those tax dollars ultimately recovered from the residents.)

    2. No. 1 leads to more demand for housing (and nothing is going to increase the amount of land). And these geniuses haven’t figured out that they can’t repeal the law of supply and demand, so purchase prices and rents go up.

    3. They spend all kinds of money for social justice types of things (just keep increasing those taxes) like $30 million to “end homelessness” (currently estimated to be 2,147 people). ( “According to the report, over $30 million of the citywide budget is allocated for direct services within the community.“ https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2018/05/city-council-approves-plan-to-end-homelessness/)
     

    busykngt

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    The city motto of Austin is 'Keep Austin Weird'. So nothing there surprises me.

    Back before that motto was adopted, it was: “Onward through the fog”.

    They still operate in a fog, if you ask me!

    I lived there for almost a decade; in fact, my son was born there. Like all fairytales, once-upon-a-time, when Austin was a smaller place (MUCH, much smaller), it was actually a great little place to live. Then all the people moved in...
     
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