About that Domain proposal…

City Council continued to weigh the ins and outs of the city budget on Tuesday. And, outside of City Hall, Austinites pondered a budget talk suggestion that the city could back out of a 2003 agreement with the Domain. A statement from the Austin Chamber of Commerce made it clear that it was no fan of the idea and noted it had the support of “more than 100 business leaders” who have also shared their opinion with Council. “We are deeply troubled by Council Member (Leslie) Pool raising questions that some would say cast doubt on Austin’s integrity,” said Ellen Wood, chair of the chamber’s board. “The Austin City Council, acting on behalf of the citizens of Austin, executed an agreement in 2003 to develop the Domain. This agreement was voted on and approved. In 2008, Austin voters made it clear that integrity matters by affirming this agreement at the ballot box. The suggestion by a public official that we might seek now to break this agreement sends a dangerous message in and out of the region that Austin is not trustworthy. It’s not the right way to treat people. We gave our word. We call on the City Council to defend the integrity of Austin citizens.” On the other hand, political action committee IndyAustin joined the call to put an end to the subsidies and has apparently folded it into their multipetition campaign calling for public votes on CodeNEXT, voter referendums and billboards, though there is no Domain petition yet.