About the Author
Mike Kanin is the Publisher of the Austin Monitor. As such, he doesn't report on much--aside from the workings of the Monitor--any more. In his previous life as a freelance journalist, Kanin has written for the Washington City Paper, the Washington Post's Express, the Boston Herald, Boston's Weekly Dig, the Austin Chronicle, and the Texas Observer.
Newsletter Signup
The Austin Monitor thanks its sponsors. Become one.
Most Popular Stories
- Parks Board recommends vendor for Zilker Café, while voicing concerns about lack of local presence
- Office slowdown sparks new downtown housing ambitions
- City leaders evaluate surprising ideas for water conservation
- Audit: Economic official granted arts, music funding against city code
- Downtown Historic Resource Survey eyes seven new districts eligible for designation
-
Discover News By District
Popular Whispers
Sorry. No data so far.
Travis Commissioners OK new CAMPO policy board design
Monday, March 15, 2010 by Michael Kanin
The expansion of CAMPO’s policy board has cleared an initial hurdle last week, as an ambivalent
The proposal now must get the approval of the five other CAMPO executive bodies. These are Hays and Williamson counties, the City of
“We only have one vote of the six, but I think that we should take the lead and try to get (this) done,” said Biscoe. “I don’t know that I would feel the same way if I were not chair of CAMPO, but I am the chair. And I think that (our approval) will help promote regionalism more than anything else at this point.”
Huber, Eckhardt, and Biscoe serve as
As part of the CAMPO reconfiguration, the organization has proposed to strike the portion of the Joint Powers Agreement that reserves seats for three elected officials from small cities in its jurisdiction. The court’s consternation centered on this pending loss of small city representation. Biscoe told the court that he and Huber had put together an option that would have preserved, and potentially increased, formal CAMPO membership for small cities. He said that it had been defeated by an effort lead by “the city of
Huber wasn’t inclined to pass the measure for the sake of regional togetherness. “I don’t consider being opposed to this being a sore loser,” she said. “We put a lot of thought into the option…and there was a lot of last minute discussion and I’m not sure there was as much good analysis in the process that took place between the committee recommendations and the ultimate CAMPO vote.”
She then read a letter from Lakeway Mayor Dave DeOme into the record. In it, DeOme called the pending CAMPO refit a “significant disappointment” to his city, and noted that he felt it “does not foster regionalism in any way.” Huber added that the
Huber told In Fact Daily that she felt as though the “the effort to evaluate the composition of the CAMPO board” was “perhaps somewhat flawed.” She added, “it did not include (an) accurate evaluation of what composition was appropriate as (the area) move(s) forward.”
She noted that she was “disappointed” and “surprised” that her court hadn’t voted down the measure. At the hearing, she told her colleagues that she thinks, “it wouldn’t hurt CAMPO to reconsider this composition because indeed we are moving toward a centers approach that needs the input from these small regional centers.”
For her part, Eckhardt echoed the sentiments of her colleagues. “I do think that it is definitely a con…that the small cities’ representatives are removed,” she said. She also suggested that it might be a good idea for the Travis County Commissioners to wait for their
Instead, Biscoe decided that, as CAMPO chair, he should move for his commission to take a positive step. He told In Fact Daily that in voting for the measure, he was “deferring to democracy.” “Part of my job is accepting the will of the majority,” he said. He added that he hopes that
You're a community leader
And we’re honored you look to us for serious, in-depth news. You know a strong community needs local and dedicated watchdog reporting. We’re here for you and that won’t change. Now will you take the powerful next step and support our nonprofit news organization?