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Message to City Council
Postpone the Vote, Let Tovo deliberate, Respect the Voters!
Richard Viktorin, of Audits in the Public Interest in Austin, Texas, is a CPA and a former director at Texas Department of Commerce who worked in economic development. Vitktorin offered critical and well documented testimony to the Austin City Council on June 9. Viktorin’s points were that State Comptroller Susan Combs “gamed” the numbers to justify the plan for the state to subsidize Formula 1 racing and did it in violation of the spirit of transparency in government. Viktorin is now joiningChangeaustin.org‘s call upon the Austin City Council to delay Thursday’s vote on Formula 1 until newly elected member, Kathie Tovo, takes her seat on the Council in late July.
Viktorin’s point is, “The public has not yet seen the F1 contract nor F1’s economic impact study which was promised no later than last week. Council may vote this Thursday to allow the City Manager to both negotiate and execute the contract with F1. Once the city signs a deal, this will trigger $25MM per year for 10 years from the state of Texas, with the possibility of amounts much higher than $25MM going to F1 annually. City Council is ducking the issue and passing the buck to the City Manager. They are dodging their obligation to the citizens of Austin. Delay the vote. This will also respect Saturday night’s election results and allow Kathie Tovo to deliberate on this important issue.”
ChaChangeAustin.org founder, Brian Rodgers, broke the story last Spring on the City Council’s open meetings violations, one reason for Randi Shade’s defeat last Saturday. Rodgers said, “If Formula 1 is such a good deal, surely it can withstand a thorough review by its critics. Let’s allow Kathie Tovo a chance to deliberate on this, out of respect to the voters of Austin.” |
