I should have worn waders today.<\/p>\n
(Fun fact: “Knee Deep In the Schadenfreude” was Starship’s working title for “We Built This City”.)<\/p>\n
Local elections are coming up. I’m not sure what’s on the ballot for Austin specifically and Travis County in general. But in Lakeway, where I’ve been spending a lot of my time, three city council seats are up. Also, the city is considering a proposition to issue $23 million worth of bonds so they can build a new police station.<\/p>\n
The new cop shop is kind of a big deal. I haven’t heard a lot of opposition to it, but most of the people I’ve been around in Lakeway are police or police supporters. I’ve been down and toured the current police station, and it is small and cramped and crowded: there’s no room to grow. On the other hand, the figures I cam up with for a certain property owner I know came out to around %6 a month more in property taxes. This is someone who is on a fixed income: six dollars here, six collars there, pretty soon you’re talking about City of Austin property taxes.<\/p>\n
Reasonable people can differ on the merits of the proposition and the candidates. But here’s the problem: Lakeway’s mayor, Joe Bain, who is active on NextDoor (and has a blog on the city website) decided he’d be smart.<\/p>\n
“John Smart” on NextDoor, to be exact.<\/a><\/p>\n Posts made under the name \u201cJohn Smart\u201d included advocating that residents vote for incumbent City Council candidates Bridge Bertram and Ron Massa.<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n …<\/p>\n