Texaspatriot’s Weblog

Nestled in the heart of Texas, just North of Austin, there’s a little town called Pflugerville. It would seem that corrupt city politics doesn’t overlook even a place like this…. at least no where there’s money for developers to be made.

It’s a fairly well known fact that the Austin City Council is populated by developers, much to the dismay of Austinites trying to hold on to some of the things that make their city unique and one of the best places in the country to live. Sure, you do need to grow and develop as a city, but do we have to lose the charm as well?

Well, it seems this is an all too familiar story in Pflugerville as well, only maybe not so well publicized. Today the financial reports for the Victor Gonzalez/Erica Grignon race came out today and one thing that was glaringly obvious – Victor Gonzalez is owned by the developers as well. Just go down the list of the donors to his campaign, as compared to Mrs. Grignon.

For example, Tim and Barth Timmerman donated a total of $750. Timmerman Investments just happens to be the company that’s developing the land around Wal-Mart. Steve Durhman of the Durhman and Bassett Realty Group also threw in $250. These numbers may seem small, considering some of the money raised for other campaigns – but out of a total $3575 raised for the entire campaign, they take on a whole new meaning.

And what about the big donor? The one that donated $2000 of the $3575 raised? None other than Rhett Dawson of RMD Development. One quick google searched turned up this little gem taken from the minutes of the Pflugerville City Council meeting:

C. 1.) Executive Session item: Consultation with legal counsel concerning New Sweden Wastewater and Development Agreements. 2.) Open Session item: Discussion with respect to New Sweden Wastewater and Development Agreements.
Mr. Buesing stated that Mr. Dawson has come forward and visited with them on a new way of doing the development agreement. Rhett Dawson, of RMD, stated that the proposal that he has offered is conceptual at this point and that he wanted to see if it is something that the Council may want to consider. He stated that it would mean purchasing assets of 973 now. He stated that he has given Mr. Buesing a very draft proposal that Eco Systems provided. He stated that Eco Systems would build and own and lease to the City for a 30-year period. He stated that he thinks it needs more work and could be made very attractive. He stated that this would be in lieu of having the City sell bonds to build the plant. He stated that the City is not collecting impact fees under the current agreement, and he is proposing that the City could collect full impact fees. He stated that there is not a whole lot on the table for them this evening, but he would like to receive some direction. He indicated that he is going to meet with Mr. Buesing again tomorrow. Mr. Wood stated that there is risk with this and that he does not think that they have all of the facts that they need to consider it at this point. He stated that he thinks Mr. Dawson should continue to work with the City Manager. Mr. Dawson indicated he would work with Mr. Buesing over the next few weeks. Mr. Gladney stated he would like to see some proposed contract language before he offers any comments.

How is development bad? Well, it’s not necessarily. What is bad is a City Council that represents the developers to the detriment of the people living in the City.

What about the recent complaint about a private fund-raiser that ended up constituting a quorum of City Council Members. If true and it seems likely that it is, Victor has violated the law, as well as the trust of the people of Pflugerville. Here’s hoping that the candidate who will represent the people of the city before the developers wins. Good luck, Erica. Pflugerville needs people like you on City Council. Maybe a voice of reason on the side of the people of your pfair City will help even out the playing field. Or at least make sure the people of the City are aware of how they are being sold out for the profit of a few.