Travis County Commissioners Court
August 3, 2004
Housing Finance Corporation
We do need the Travis County housing finance corporation, though. 1. Consider and take appropriate action on request from southwest key program, inc. For assistance with the construction of a new facility in the govalle/johnston terrace neighborhood, one block from johnston high school.
>> good afternoon, him harvey Davis, manager for the corporation. This was an item that was carried over from last week. Southwest key is requesting $100,000 in assistance to build approximately a 4 million dollar facility on janes street, located about one block from johnston high school. A couple of items that is -- from last week. One additional backup that I distributed to the board over the lunch hour, that is the -- the johnston harris neighborhood association has -- gave me this morning a deed restriction document. The other item was that the johnston terrace neighborhood association did -- did tell me that they felt that johnston terrace was a separate neighborhood organization or location where this facility would be located. And it's in a -- in a precinct that's separate from the govalle neighborhood that they felt was a -- was a different location from the johnston neighborhood. So combining the two they felt was not quite accurate. And I believe that some representatives are here from the johnston terrace neighborhood association. And if it's okay with judge, with you, I think they wanted to make a presentation.
>> is that okay with the court?
>> sure.
>> let's do that. Then we will hear comments from the proponents. This is posted for action today. We did --
>> yes.
>> I guess last week we did promise action. So, mr. Davis, the -- the deed restriction that we were given, I did not have a chance to read it over lunch. In fact I picked it up on the way down here. It says what in your view?
>> well, the document in my view says that -- that the -- that the property that is part of that deed restriction seems to be restricted to single family type of homes.
>> can we have cliff blunt take a look at it. Legal counsel?
>> yes, he's on vacation. He's not had a chance to look at it.
>> the second part ii question of that is has the city of Austin zoning folk also given us any indication, because obviously this is all within the city of Austin, as to whether the deed restriction has any relevancy, especially if they are going through any kind of a zoning change that could impact whether this is enforceable or not. So -- so the city is the expert in that area.
>> the information that I have -- that I have received from southwest key is that -- is that it is zoned -- the city has zoned the property so that they can build this facility -- the facilities they wish to build. Again, i've just received this information, so I -- so I know, I知 not a lawyer, so --
>> well, we all enjoy trying to be one, though, don't we, mr. Davis?
>> all of us.
>> I知 not trying to be one, either, that's for sure [laughter]
>> it's a lot of fun. [laughter]
>> good afternoon, if you all would give us your full names, we would be happy to get your comments.
>> my name is [indiscernible]
>> ms. Daniel. Do you know chris?
>> I do. [laughter]
>> yes, ma'am.
>> my name is alison brown.
>> my name is christopher pena.
>> okay. Do you want to go first? Pull that mic closer to you there. So we can make sure that we hear you.
>> the first thing that I would like to say -- I have already spoke my opinion about -- we live in that neighborhood, we do not need a business in that neighborhood. We have got a lot -- got too much going on in that neighborhood. We crowded. We got a church coming up, another church that's already been built. Another one coming up. And then we got this coming up in our neighborhood. There's no way to get in and out and then you have got poor sewage. You know, every once in a while, most all of the time, you smell sewage everywhere. So putting a business in there is going to really mess us up. And really and truly we just do not need a business in our neighborhood. And what happened -- what -- I walked around and talked to the people there. They talked to the neighborhood. What they are telling them is it's going to be a recreation center. They are not telling them all of the things that they are going to put in there. They are telling them that it's going to be a recreation center. Somebody is not telling the truth.
>> have you had an opportunity to tour the other location located not too far from this proposed site.
>> what location?
>> southwest key has another facility --
>> no I haven't. Because at first they said, we went to some of their meetings, they said it didn't exist. Somebody brought it up in the meeting about a southwest key.
>> where is it?
>> I think you can answer that best.
>> approximately two miles from that location.
>> how long has it been there?
>> been there since '97.
>> I never heard of it. Never heard of it. But we too not want it in our neighborhood.
>> we are back two miles from the eastview campus, why do we need another one?
>> they would relocate it.
>> well, how far do you live from this -- from the site of the proposed facility?
>> I guess about -- about a mile and a half or two miles? Not very --
>> from where they are going to put this one.
>> yes. I have to go through there to get in and out. The church, we accepted that. And that's crowding us out, too, they don't have that many parking spaces. Now we have another church coming up. But we don't know has that's going to be. It will impact us from coming in and out of the neighborhood. Then the sewage, the environment, all of that stuff, stuff like that, so -- so I don't know what's going on. I don't know why some of them would put a business in a neighborhood. Think about it. You know, in your neighborhood, what if someone put a business like this in the neighborhood. It's going to be -- from what we heard, we went into the meeting. It's going to be 24 hours. They are going to have, you know, things going on all day and all night. That's what we heard. We have heard a lot of things. Everything they change it from one thing to the other. What's going to be a -- it was going to be a garden. I don't know what happened to all of that. Now it's going into something -- what -- we don't need that. We have enough crime. I know what's going on in that neighborhood. We have enough crime. We cannot raise anybody else's kids bringing them over in our neighborhood and keeping them away from crime. When they bring them over there for treatment, whatever they are going to do with them, they will be all over our neighborhood. We have enough of that going on now. We call in day and night trying to get things you know check things out, what's going on in the neighborhood. We can't afford it. I will move outlet them have the whole area. That's the way I feel about it. It won't be a neighborhood no more, it will be a busy.
>> ms. Daniel, help me out, you are on what street?
>> [indiscernible] circle.
>> how far away.
>> I said about a mile and a half to two miles.
>> that's not --
>> that's not that far.
>> chris, what's more accurate.
>> probably about seven to 10 city blocks.
>> less than a mile.
>> my kids finish school at johnston high school. I have been there over 30 some years probably, approximately 30 some years. Everybody just wants to come over there and just dump something in our neighborhood. Every in one meeting, they don't have no respect for us. They say it's an eyesore, that hurts my heart, you know. We have -- we have -- we have places that need to be cleaned all over the area, even across airport. That place needs to be cleaned, too, you see what I知 saying. There's nothing wrong with our neighborhood, it's not an eyesore. I didn't write that. I didn't say anything to try to get what I could get in the neighborhood. I wouldn't just say it's an eyesore. He brought the church in, we didn't have anything else in the neighborhood. He brought the church in. He brought the church in, we accepted it. It was a nice thing to do. But see now we get one something in like that, here come someone else. And when you let this group in, it's going to open it up for the whole -- anybody wanting to bring something in that neighborhood because they have land that -- by the tank farm, all of that stuff, that's not developed. So I知 sure they'll have -- when they get this in, they will have zoning, we won't have a neighborhood anymore. We'll have a business.
>> [indiscernible] call chris, chris. This -- do you have -- do you realize that -- what they are asking us is for -- is for money that they say that they are -- that they are going to do this deal, whether they get $100,000 from us or not. Now, I don't know what these deed restrictions do. I mean, I知 sure that we can have attorneys in courts for things like this. But were you aware of that, that they are really not asking us --
>> I知 aware of that. Supposedly it's a done deal. But we are not for it.
>> so you will be asking us not to --
>> not to fund it.
>> [multiple voices]
>> knowing that we are not being asked can it go there or not.
>> I知 just saying, that's my opinion. I don't want it funded because we do not want it in the neighborhood.
>> okay.
>> yes, ma'am.
>> my sentiments about the same -- my thing is that it's a building thing, how many computer training labs do we have in Austin? This is not what our neighborhood needs. We need jobs. We need police to come in. We don't need anybody -- -- they said they were going to keep old people. We don't have any old people down there. We have a transient population, illegals in and out. We don't need it. They are not going to take. So my thinking is that people are going to be coming from the other neighborhoods. Because we just don't have people that's going to take advantage of that. I feel like computer labs, just a duplication, if anybody wants to learn about computers, there are many other places, they can do it except in our neighborhood. Questions?
>> well, I investigation my only thing is, I wondered what the real objection is, is it the -- is it the children who are -- who are being expelled and sus speblded from the regular -- suspended from the regular schools? That's going to be the -- the center service that will be delivered. The j.j.a.e.p. Is the juvenile alternative school for children who are expelled and suspended from aisd and the other i.s.d.es. And -- and last time that -- I guess in 1996 when we first had to find a place for this school, it was in -- on slaughter lane in southwest -- and southwest. The families all thought that they would bring crime to the area and drugs and other things. What really happened is that those are children, our children who are in the school system and they go there in a controlled environment to continue their education. Before that, I think students thought if I get expelled or suspended, I don't have to go to school. But with that j.j.a.e.p. Being in place, they still have to go to school. And they -- they don't get behind and they don't drop out. They go back to their schools. So they are not allowed to be -- to be running around the neighborhoods. And -- and then the -- then what we found out, or what citizens I think everywhere found out around slaughter lane was that no incident was reported from these kids bringing crime or drugs or anything else to the neighborhood. And that's -- that's the same exact facility that -- that they -- they bought the property, and they went through the zoning changes and that's the proper -- that's the proper procedure. That everybody goes through. And so -- so these are -- these are our children from i.s.d.'s that are in school. And so that -- that is -- we have the records where -- where no incident was ever reported. Either in slaughter lane or the new place. I know there's always a fear this is going to create crime or bring drugs in, but that's not the case in this particular case. So the j.j.a.e.p. Was passed by the legislature and we had to implement that. And -- but no incidents have occurred because it is a controlled environment. So I just wanted to make sure that we were all up to date on that particular issue. The other thing that they can get into is, yes, there will be a community garden, is my understanding. And because i've seen the plans. But the other thing is after school activities, which we have talked about in this neighborhood a long time. Certainly judge Biscoe brought the issue to us as very important. It's very important that -- that children in schools, school aged children have access to -- to a -- to tutoring, to computer labs or whatever is available in order to make sure that they learn that they keep learning and that they don't get behind in schools so that they don't drop out eventually. So -- so it's all there. Close to johnston. And so -- so -- the deed restriction, my understanding, because everybody has to go through the process in Austin, Texas and I知 glad we do, to go through the zoning process, and to get approved and I guess the only reason we are asking for -- for some assistance from -- money from us here today is so that we can continue to be partners. We are already partners with them on the j.j.a.e.p. And any other activities that would be related to helping children, our children and our families. Wherever they are in Travis County or the city of Austin. So I mean that's my understanding. Unless something has changed. That is still my understanding of what is going on here.
>> the points is we don't -- we don't want them bussing or bringing families or children over there, 500.
>> it's not 500.
>> they said 400.
>> the most the school could have right now is 50. And the most that they will ever have is 100.
>> that's too many, ma'am. In your where you live, you wouldn't want that in your neighborhood. You wouldn't want those feeding from a school that's close to you. You wouldn't want people with a business right behind your house. When you look outside at night, your back door and your back yard, you are seeing people moving all the time. Think about it. It's not there now. Who wants it. I mean, it's not there, okay. Who wants it? I don't want to look -- I知 glad it's not right behind my back door. Where is your privacy. You work all day long, go home, you go outside, you look at people. You look at children. Oh love children. I have got two myself. But I wouldn't dare put that on nobody, nobody.
>> our community has supported too many of this city's problems. We have got a prison, we have got a sewage, now we have got this. I mean, it's just too much. We fought against having the prison put in our neighborhood.
>> which one is that?
>> I don't -- I don't know the name -- 969. Out on 969.
>> nowhere near here.
>> we fought about those houses.
>> six miles from our house.
>> we fought those three houses on thurgood, on thurgood avenue. We went to the city council, we never win. We always lose. It's a done deal, we might as well go home today and forget about it. Those three houses right there on the caution, we fought about it. We went to city council with it. They went on and let them put it in there. Three houses there, different from our houses. And it's some other project, too. And then we had told them, okay, we had to call in, people had to call in, the bus had to call in to get in and out the way people were parked. We knew this would happen. Just like y'all are going to let them -- who else is going to let them put their project where they are doing now. It's going to be the same thing. It's not going to work out like we think it's going to work out. You all are going to be at home resting, doing real well. Enjoying the evening. We will be uncomfortable. Uncomfortable, the rest of our lives. Because this place, too, might go from one department to another win. It might change it up. We have seen that happen a lot. They come in with one thing, don't work. Put something else in it. What are you going to do about that?
>> I think there's a record here -- [multiple voices]
>> johnston high school. What happens if johnston high school closes? That's what might happen. What will happen? That's what you are saying feeding them from johnston high school. Suppose that closes, what does that -- what is that business going to be then?
>> they take children from all over.
>> we don't want that. We don't want that in our neighborhood. We don't want that.
>> I知 looking at the map, it looks like johnston high school is closer to you than this center will be. And --
>> well, the center is right across the street from johnston.
>> what I am saying is, if anybody is having a business in your back yard, it's aisd. That's a business. You've got hundreds of employees, you've got folks with individual cars, buses arriving for many, many hours that I think would probably disturb you a whole lot more than 50 kids, at any given time in very limited staff. Do you have a business in your back yard and it's called a school. These folks are also a school. And -- and we haven't heard here -- from the other neighborhood that is about two miles away, that's been hosting this location, since 1997, and if there had been a problem, I can guarantee you, because of other things that have come through this corporation, when somebody has a bad track record they let us know. We have not had folks come over from that neighborhood. Which has also been inundated with housing projects. Fortunately some good positive things like a.c.c. Eastview, but -- but this is -- I don't see this as being a business, I see this as being a school, I think schools are positive things where we can have positive influences on -- on the young children and some of the kids that will be going to this school, other days of the year, will go to johnston high school. Which is down the street from you. So I don't understand why it's okay for them, 11 and a half months outs of the year, to go to johnston high school, but you would deny them the two weeks, three weeks, four weeks where they are trying to get their lives back on track and continue their education. So that they can go back to johnston. I知 -- I respect the fact that you are absolutely entitled to see it a different way. I respect that.
>> yes, because --
>> but I see a bigger picture here and these folks have a great track record.
>> you said no one ever came to you all and said something about that neighborhood. Most of these people you see that's pushing this, they do not live in that neighborhood. That's why they didn't come to you. They haven't come to you. They don't live in that neighborhood. They don't even know what that neighborhood is all about. You have got some people that's in that neighborhood. Snead, he doesn't live -- [indiscernible] don't live in that neighborhood.
>> dr. Cavasos was the principal at johnston high school for a large number of years --
>> one year.
>> yeah, most of them one year principals at johnston.
>> he left after one year.
>> well, i'll let them speak for themselves.
>> so basically you all view this as a negative project that would adversely impact the neighborhood.
>> very, very, very negative. The project itself now, started out with a lot of things being said about what it was going to do, what it wasn't going to do. We attended some of the meetings. We didn't attend all of them. But a lot of times, between meetings, things have changed their focus and one time it was going to be -- where are we going to put this restaurant type of deal in there to kind of track people to come in and -- and have bridge, things like this, build a garden, all of that. That sounded interesting. But the -- the emphasis apparently during that entire time was never mentioned about the possibility of -- of children who had committed felonies on -- on school properties. I知 not -- they all need a break. My kids, you know, they are not angels. I don't know any kids that are angels. But to bring into a neighborhood an institution that is in -- continuing from its onset to try to correct the behavior of juveniles is -- is not in my expectations a good thing to do. We have tried to look at it from all sides. You know. Like I say, we have children, I like children, I don't dislike children. Commissioner Sonleitner made a statement a moment ago ideal we want to have a business like aisd that operates 11 months of the year as opposed to a business that operates two or three months. The problem is when we moved into the area aisd and johnston high school were present. We did not see this as a bad thing. However, we did not expect that in the middle of a residential neighborhood, that their would sit an institution that makes money to try to correct some things that some children's parents can't correct. We have -- you know, then all of a sudden we had people who were saying that, yeah, we are for this project, we are for that project. That we think that it's a great project. The list of names and -- that you all received last week, I counted 200 of these people who don't even live in the area. They are so gung-ho happy to see something go in. That's almost half. Then we -- then we combine johnston terrace and govalle. Johnston terrace and govalle are two separate places. They are operated by airport boulevard. The boundaries for johnston terrace neighborhood association are airport boulevard to -- to the west, and -- u.s. 183 south to the east. Boggy creek to the north. And to the south bohm road. So these are -- this is the actual physical layout of johnston terrace neighborhood. As my wife mentioned earlier, she said that -- that johnny limon made a statement that said that this neighborhood is -- in fact I was almost afraid to go home, I thought it was in such bad shape. I thought that I would find people climbing out of other people's homes because it was such a -- sad area, full of drugs. Every area within the city of Austin and in Travis County is full of drugs and have problems. We have drug problems and we have people who -- would do things that they shouldn't do. But it's no worse, nor any better, than any other place. Within Travis County or Austin. The neighborhood association also asked questions of these fine folk, southwest key, I don't fault them, I don't have a problem with their program. I do have a problem with the location of their program in in a residential neighborhood. The key word is the location in a residential neighborhood. I asked questions of these folk and for the life of me, I cannot figure out the answer to the questions that they responded to. They responded to questions that -- that -- will the neighborhood be forced to deal with influences imported from other neighborhoods. Well, they wrote a paragraph to a one-line sentence. In fact, it's like two paragraphs to a one-line sentence. To me that is nothing but -- but putting in a lot of verbiage. When you get to the bottom of it, it's -- absolutely nothing has transpired. You have said a lot, done nothing. That's the way it went on for all of these. I heard them say they had responded to the questions that this neighborhood association has. However, their response was like no response. Recently, he found out that -- I found out that there are possible deed restrictions. They say there aren't. I say there are. The johnston terrace neighborhood association would like to request that the Commissioners court delay the request for funding until the county attorney's office investigates any deed restrictions for the area. Because as I recollect, my deed restrictions reflect exactly the deed restrictions that are on the piece of paper that you -- that you hold. So I would certainly like to see that -- to see that looked into.
>> the legal counsel for the corporations? The county attorney's office is separate legal counsel.
>> chris, help me out here, I am focusing, I will respect your thing that anything on the other side of airport, let's put that to the side. I知 seeing a lot of signatures here that specifically are from harry road, gardner road, arthur styles, thurgood, jane lane, which is actually the same street that this will be on and perry. How many signatures have you gathered just in those same kinds of streets saying that we oppose? Because i've got people that are on the exact streets that you are saying are in the neighborhood not to be listened to saying they want this to come there. How many signatures do you have on people in that same area that say they do not want this to occur?
>> we have none.
>> none?
>> huh-uh.
>> okay.
>> now, may I tip to answer the question -- continue to answer the question?
>> sure.
>> first off, those people -- this is what they have told to the neighborhood association, a lot of those people who signed that document were told that this would be a recreation center. And most people don't have too much fault in a recreation center. They weren't told about who would be housed there during the days. But they were told about a recreation center. This is why you have so many signatures from people. We went back and walked the neighborhood, which we do. We walk the neighborhood. We don't have to get a piece of paper from people. We walk the neighborhood. And we went back and talked to these people, they said that they misunderstood. They didn't know that they were going to be bringing in children who had felony offenses committed on school properties into our neighborhood. They didn't know this. This is why they signed.
>> we don't know if they are felony offenses because these are kids who --
>> I知 quoting from them. This is what they say. They say they have felony offenses committed on -- on Austin independent school district property.
>> but the offense that gets them put into this program, if they were convicted of a felony offense, they would be in gardner-betts. Not this particular situation. Jjaep are for folks who are expelled and it didn't work out at the alternative education program for the school district and they are, rather than being expelled to the street, they go to this program and they continue their education. If they were indeed having pending felony charges, they would be in the custody of our detention center. And I知 looking at what people were asked to sign and it clearly states an alternative education program. It states it. It's in -- it's on the piece of paper that folks signed. It clearly states that there was an alternative education program on the petition. I think we will just have to agree to disagree on this one, chris.
>> so is johnston terrace a formally organized neighborhood association?
>> yes, it is.
>> officer there's?
>> uh-huh.
>> I知 not.
>> I知 the president.
>> okay.
>> how many people are in the neighborhood association, how many members do you all have?
>> approximately 20.
>> 20.
>> we -- we haven't just started that neighborhood association, it's been there for years. We therapy the first.
>> did you -- we [inaudible] the first --
>> did you pass a resolution at your neighborhood association meeting, do you have some kind of formalized anything from your minutes or whatever at your neighborhood -- do you guys meet on a regular basis?
>> yeah, we do. Did you pass a resolution saying we as a neighborhood association oppose this project?
>> we are here.
>> oh, yeah, we are here. We went to the city council meeting with the same thing. Look like it's a done deal. I guess we loose over there at johnston. I guess everybody look at johnston terrace neighborhood association and act -- not just the association, but the area and act like it's nothing. Just think about it. Would you want this in your neighborhood? I know that it's not in your neighborhood, but would you want that? Would you want this type of setting in your neighborhood?
>> if this were a group coming --
>> how do we know those kids aren't going to be all over the neighborhood. You see them all over the neighborhood now.
>> you raise an excellent point, that's why we have a history, that is exactly what we heard when Commissioner Gomez talked about this program being located in other places. And that's never occurred. If those folks were coming in from houston or dallas or amarillo --
>> they might be.
>> no, ma'am, they are not. [multiple voices]
>> they are not coming in from another town saying promising good things. They have been an accepted and excellent partner in Austin. I don't know how far back you go, veronica. They have a good record. Believe me if they had a lousy record this place would be filled with people saying do not do this, do not take their word, we have a bad record. But we have an excellent record, not only at gardner-betts right next door to the neighborhood. When it got relocated over by slaughter lane, i'll say it, those are high maintenance neighborhoods, that if there had been a peep of trouble, we all would have heard about it across from bowie high school. Now located near a.c.c. Campus, we haven't heard anything about it. I want to -- we want to give them an opportunity to have more space. They are cramped over there --
>> ma'am, I beg you not to do this. I beg you not to do this. Look what you doing to us.
>> I think that I know that I知 doing.
>> I think it's positive. You are not going to -- you are for the going to [indiscernible], we have got to live there. We got to live there. We already have enough. You don't understand that neighborhood. You don't understand what's going on over there. Not only the kid, the parents -- some of these parents right here got kids on drugs right now, they can't handle them. How is that, how is that center going to handle these kids on drugs when the parents can't handle them. Ain't nobody going to be able to handle that.
>> did the city of Austin look at the deed restriction? Did they look at the deed restriction at the city council.
>> no, we didn't.
>> okay. So is there any -- any -- so the neighborhood association is just against the project, period.
>> period.
>> period.
>> and nothing that can be done to -- to persuade you that -- that it would be positive.
>> no.
>> let's hear from some others who wish to give comments today. Please come forward. Give us your name, we will be happy to get your comments.
>> I know that [indiscernible], mr. Davis? [indiscernible] maybe it would be helpful for us to be reminded of exactly what programs and services will be at this facility.
>> okay. My name is veronica del gado savage, with southwest key, thank you for inviting us up. Some of the programs that will be available, I will go through the list is the jjaep, an outreach and tracking program, an amphitheater for cultural events, it will be kind of a venue for cultural events for the students as well as for the community. There will be community gardens. There will be a little cafe. There will be a business I think bexar county to help start -- incubator to help people train them to start small businesses. There will be a computer, state-of-the-art computer lab for the students as well as in the evening for the public. There will be tutoring service, mentoring programs in the afternoon when -- when the jjaep is out. There will be -- there will be a training room that will be available, also to -- for another non-profits if they are needing to have a place to meet and bring some services into the community. Those are the primary as well as our offices and we will be located there. So that's the basic scheme of the site of what we have coming to the project. We are bringing community gardens, a little cafe. That hasn't changed from the original conversations. Actually, we do have some people here that were involved from the very, very beginning, we were having those meetings.
>> so what are the hours of jjaep?
>> the hours are from 9:30 to 4:30.
>> and how do the students get to and from school?
>> each school district buses their own students. Like del valle will take a little bus, drop them off and then pick them up, so the kids are never necessarily out catching a local bus.
>> where is that site in relation to johnston high school.
>> it is two miles away from johnston high school. Just west of johnston high school by the a.c.c. Campus off of webberville, rosewood and neil street.
>> you are talking about the current.
>> the current one.
>> the proposed one is where?
>> the proposed one is about half a block from johnston west of johnston.
>> okay.
>> okay, I want to -- I would like to respond just to the deed. Now, we are not attorneys. And I don't propose to be one. We do have a zoning verification letter from the city of Austin. Do you mind if I come -- come and rent this to you. Present to to you.
>> actually, mr. Davis, we can get a copy of this for the court.
>> about two and a half years ago, we did go through a long and arduous process of going through the zonings and planning, mr. And ms. Daniel were there, they were involved. We just -- a couple of days ago I was looking through the neighborhood plan and it had people that were listed, we are part of that. This project is part of that now proposed neighborhood plan which is the govalle johnston terrace, all one. So we imagine that, if we -- if we are going through this verification letter of zoning that they would have looked at all of the deed restrictions and of course we can respond back with -- with an official legal response to that. I think what I would like to do, I would also like to let the community, these are people that actually live in that yaird. Yaird -- in that area. I want to let people know that we did pass fliers around with the petition. Also circulated english and spanish versions of a flier that has every service that's going to be provided. With statistics, with all of the information about the project. We put our numbers up there. My form was on every number that went up there for additional information. Please call me. We wanted to be able to address any concerns that were had that people had. We made ourselves available, had housing meetings, we have been -- we have not been trying to keep anything from the community. We have tried recruit more people to the advisory council to be involved in this process. So I would just finish off by saying that I don't think we have had anything to hide if anything we have been telling people about, giving tours, you know, we have offered tours to each and every one of you. Many of you know this, the jjaep intimately. So we have by no means tried to hide the programs that we have, if anything we would love to highlight those programs. And know how successful those programs are. So on this I would like to go ahead and ask some of our community members to identify themselves, where they live, if you have any additional comments.
>> good afternoon, my name is willie may thompson, live in the neighborhood of johnston, I have three children that finished johnston high school, also grandchildren to go there. And I find the neighborhood a real good neighborhood. Even though there have been problems in the neighborhood, but it seemed that everything is smoothing out. I think this southwest key is bringing in something good there to educate. Even, I still have grandchildren in school. It can be a help to them, it can be a help to me. I think it's a real good project that's coming into the neighborhood. So i've been there almost 30 years, I don't have any complaints about it now. There was a time that was a few things going on there. Not saying that it's perfect. No place is perfect. But it's lots better. And it's going to get better. It's going to take all of us to make it better. We have like I say we have a church in the neighborhood there. I've been there for 18 years. And we are progressing each day. We are not going to give up. We are going to fight until the end. We appreciate all of the help that we can get from you all.
>> thank you.
>> thank you, ma'am.
>> and good afternoon. My name is al cavasos. I come before you again, I want to reiterate a couple of points that were made. We will continue working with the johnston neighborhood association. We have a proven track record as some of the Commissioners alluded to. We have a track record of working with and turning young people's lives around and getting them on the right path to being productive citizens in the city of Austin and in Travis County. We will continue to do that. We will continue to -- working with the johnston neighborhood association and our actions will show that we will continue to be successful with the young people that we work with in our community.
>> what steps if any can you take to make sure that residents of the immediate neighborhood have access to a -- to a facility and programs?
>> the whole idea of placing this community or rather this project in the community is to work with the community members and kids and adults from the community. The incubator service that will be provided that was provided by eda with $1.5 million to create is to help people from the community. We have looked at the demographics from that community, johnston terrace neighborhood and govalle area and that is -- that is the neighborhood and neighborhoods and demographics that we want to have a positive impact on. And so our whole purpose is not to -- not to -- to create something where welcome be bringing people from all over, necessarily, of Travis County. Although we never -- we don't have a record of turning anybody away. But our focus will be on that neighborhood. It is a neighborhood that is in need, it is a neighborhood that we want to lock arms with and help -- help citizens and young people in that neighborhood to-- to help them better their quality of life. That's what we are -- what -- our focus is that neighborhood, judge.
>> questions, comments?
>> yes, sir?
>> my name -- reverend snead, right?
>> yes, pastor snead. Of course I sympathize with the opposers because I am a pastor in the neighborhood. So I am for all of the people but I don't see what they see. The first thing that I did when I organized the church was to find out if we had a neighborhood association. I went to the [indiscernible] house, I sat down and talked to them and introduced myself to them. But after that I began asking questions among our congregation, those who were residential members. Did they know anything about the association and they told me that they didn't. So I told them that -- who the president was, some of them knew the other president before the present president. Somehow or another none of the things that she said seemed to be for the neighborhood, so as you see here, people didn't know anything about it. When I introduced southwest key program to them, I would have, I really would have gone to the president, but I never did see an action coming from the neighborhood association. Therefore let me say this, there are two areas there that people come into the neighborhood. Where the church is located, we don't have any problems.
>> near bohm road.
>> yes, sir, bohm road, no problems on that end. Now there could be problems on the ore end that I don't know anything about. I can say when we first went down there, there were problems everywhere. But I see johnston neighborhood a changed neighborhood. I think this project is going to bring noriety [sic] to this neighborhood. As I said before, this neighborhood has been sort of hard to accept, but we need activities. I don't see what other people see, we need more activities. Positive. Positive activities for that neighborhood. So I brought with me some residential members, these persons that you see here are residential members. So therefore -- they are for the project.
>> okay.
>> I just wanted to say that I知 [indiscernible] I have worked in the elementary schools with sixth and fifth graders, this program would be a great opportunity for them to come into the neighborhood because I have seen a lot of the kids drop out, I have seen a lot of them cannot get any education, can't work, do nothing because they don't have it. To me I have seen them -- turning their lives around, some people don't have the transportation to take the kids because they don't drive, they don't have a vehicle. It's kind of hard for them to go and look for a place to see if they have a computer lab or tutoring place where the kids can go to, have all of this that they need. I think would be a great program for them because they are suffering because they don't have an education. I think that this program would be the best thing for them to -- to happen to them for them to get an education because they could learn skills about jobs, how to get a job. How to go into business or you know how to go about getting their g.e.d. Or their diploma. Because I have one that dropped out, too, from school. Because of -- because of the fights that she would get into, everything. Now she turned herself around, going back and getting a diploma. So I think that can be the best thing that could happen. To the kids like that.
[one moment please for change in captioners]
>> thank you, ma'am.
>> I live in the johnston area and i've been there for 30 years. And the school (indiscernible). And I don't see no problem with it. And (indiscernible). And I thank y'all for all that you're doing. Thank you.
>> I知 roberta woods. I came to the neighborhood in 1966. I live on gardener road right behind johnston high school. Some of the things that have been said, i've seen them walking in the neighborhood, alice brown walking in the neighborhood. I've seen a lot of things that has happened in that johnston neighborhood by me living there. My children have gone to school there. My children have not. Those of them that have graduated don't go to the school. I've been in the church ever since its inception down there, except I came a little later after it had started. I want the project to help and I was and we were informed as to this complex that was coming in the neighborhood and what it was going to be about. I went to the association meetings back in '68, '69 when they were over the neighborhood association. After that I knew nothing else about it. I知 not going to say I was a member because I never paid any dues or anything. And if anything happened in the neighborhood or we need to talk about anything in the neighborhood, I知 not notified. There's no letter come to my house. Nobody comes by my house. Nobody even came by my house to ask about -- even to be in opposition to southwest keys. But like I said, southwest keys did inform us as to all the things that they were going to do, the complex, the gardens and all the things that they were going to have in the neighborhood. And it is a good neighborhood. We have had things happen in the neighborhood because of the kids, but all in all I would say that we've had some pretty good kids. And a lot of times the parent cannot be right with our kids all the time because a lot of times we have to work. Both parents have to work. So we can't be right there with our children, but at the time my children were not at home. I was a neighborhood mother, i'll put it that way. I was a neighborhood mother, so I kind of spanked all the kids in the neighborhood to mind. Thank you.
>> thank you.
>> no, I don't live in the neighborhood, but I consider it my neighborhood because we do have members who live in and I also have family who live there. I just want to clarify that when the city of Austin broke up the city into 52 neighborhood planning districts, what it did was combine the govalle, johnston neighborhood areas. So when the city broke it up, it legally made the boundaries from weberville to 183, from cesar chavez to oak springs, the boundaries, the legal boundaries. And looking at the rezoning of that particular area. And that plan actually took about three years. We just approved it March 2003 before the city of Austin. And the govalle-johnston terrace neighborhood plan was the most anticipated plan that the city of Austin has had so far. And you will note that we had over 27 meetings in that plan, and we had the highest attendance of any other neighborhood plan. If you look at the history in that, you will see there was involvement. There was involvement in this particular tract because it's not too far from the tank farm. If you go down around the boggy creek, there are the houses -- which we have members right to it which is where this property is there for. So we worked with them on the zoning. We also -- we actually went out and did a survey and what were the community needs in the area. And that area has been in isolation. Two years ago before that they had -- it was open to the community in the summer so the youth could actually have activities at johnston high school gym. Two years ago that program was closed down because it was being co-sponsored by the city of Austin, aisd, and of course when the budget got cut, the youth activities are unfortunately the ones that get cut. And we went and fought at the budget hearings last year. You always hear about the youth and everything and yet you keep cutting youth services. The other thing about the computer lab. This summer our young scholars for justice tried to have access to the pan american lab. Well, it's packed. You can't even use it. The one at the coman chao center, same thing, you can't have access. The library only has about four of them, and they're like rotating. There's not enough computer access. We have a digital divide in east Austin. I don't know if people know that, but there is a digital divide and there's not enough access. Johnston just got two years ago in the library the computers. It's a very new thing that's happening in the area. And when we look at that particular neighborhood plan, you have the largest percentage of youth population 18 and under, and then you have the largest population is the elderly population, and then you have the population in between. I didn't bring the numbers with me, but we have a large amount. There's nothing there in our particular area. There is no rec center. There is the govalle -- the little baseball field that sits there. The city of Austin that opened up the travis school for the deaf that acquired that property is looking at probably building a walking path there for the elderly. They're looking at possibly creating the gym that they had there so that there can be something. They recognize that there is not enough services for the young population in that particular area. And you know we just got the airport road redone. We struggled with that for about five or 10 years, and finally that whole suicide circle was redone so you can cross that street to try to come and go to the rec center, which is far. The center is on seventh, which is pretty far. When you look at that and you look at that community there, even though they the boundaries are different is because the city redid the boundaries when they broke the city into 52 districts, it combined govalle, johnston. And the govalle-johnston area had been working on the tank farm, I知 sure Ron remembers. Everybody from that -- from the neighborhood association -- (indiscernible). Across the street from the church there, the neighborhood association, there's several neighborhood associations in that particular area along with the johnston- terrace neighborhood association. So it's seven different neighborhood associations that crisscross that particular area. We do now have a vote because the city set the boundaries and now when it came to zoning people in boundaries had the legal right to then look at what they wanted and what they did not want in the area. And I have to tell you that that particular plan has made history and it's been published throughout the whole united states, the case study, because over of hundred properties were rezoned in that area, properties that were zoned industrial, commercial services that were single-family use. And they down-zoned a lot of the industrial to commercial services. And places that did not need the high intensity zoning were down-zoned. So that particular area has had a large amount of focus. The tank farm is closed, bfi is closed. Those are two in the city that was detrimental to the health in that particular area. This particular program, i've got to visit that site there at anderson high school, and I cannot tell you, our scholars for justice are right now on a petition drive working against zero tolerance looking at how we -- the largest amount of youth are youth of color that are now going into the criminal justice system. And we have to come up with alternatives to throwing our youth into the criminal system. And here's a program where we see and we know that the majority -- most of the youth that are there -- the young scholars for justice just had a press conference last week disclosing all this information and been doing research on it. We think it's a real positive program and something that the community has gotten involved where there was opportunity and it went before the planning commission, the city council, and like I said, with the 2003, the zoning, and we've been there since the beginning of this property, involved in it and in the project, and the difference is that they've opened the doors. Some projects don't let you in. They say do you want a, b or c. But they've created an advisory committee where people from the community get to be involved in the project. They've also created an economic committee so that when the construction and all these jobs to make sure that the people from the community are also hired so it's not just from outside. So they've gone beyond a lot of things that i've seen have not been done in the past for east Austin. They're taking the steps to make sure it's happening. And -- if we see something is going astray and they're not doing what they should be doing, I can tell you we'll have a picket line there in a minute and all of you will be hearing about it. And that's what I need investigated and we've looked at it. And the zoning we didn't agree and we came down to a better zoning that we thought would work that would be compatible. So you know, we've been involved, the community has been involved in this project, and I just wanted to say that I support the project and that if there's any concerns that we will be working with the community to make sure that all the questions are answered.
>> i've got a question for you. I consider you to be one of those folks because of just the amazing amount of time you spent at city council to know a little bit about zoning. If something is supposed to be single-family, the zoning should have something that starts with an sf in front of it, either single-family 2, which is what my neighborhood is, 3, 4, 6, but it's always an sf. But this is lr, which is light retail.
>> yes.
>> or what we now call neighborhood commercial, m you, that means mixed use. That doesn't say single-family homes. Because if that were the case, it would absolutely have been zoned sf. So when the concern is raised of, well, we don't want a business coming into this neighborhood, that is precisely what the zoning is that it allows. And it doesn't allow, as you said, like a bfi or something like that to come in because that would be an industrial use. Lr is, all call it neighborhood friendly business, and they've got a zoning that seems to reflect that as opposed to if this said sf, that would send all sorts of shock waves that oh my goodness, it is single-family stuff, be it single-family or duplexes or apartments. But it doesn't say any of that.
>> the mixed use allows you -- like if they wanted to do housing, it does allow you -- that's the new neighborhood plan, the np, neighborhood plan, that allows that mixed use to happen because that's one of the new urban designs that they're doing is trying to do where you can walk to work or you can live closely. That's a new kind of urban design. So there is that possibility of having some type of housing be developed. There's a lot of property, like she said, that's available. I mean, if they're really concerned -- they just did a subdivision with a plan to build 100 homes on perilane that we didn't foresee at all, but since it's a subdivision, it's sort of like a sacred cow within the laws. There's not much you can do. If the preliminary plat meets and conforms, you're kind of tied to unless you find some extraordinary circumstances, that's going to happen. And there were several people there on those particular issues, too. But there is ingress and egress through this property. There is a jane lane, there's periroad where you can come and (indiscernible). So when you look at that particular issue, you will have the emergency vehicles to come in and out of that particular area. And it's not a big site, so the tank farm is 52 acres. This particular site is a little bit of seven acres. So it's not a huge tremendous site as to what the potential that could come in to the tank farm and I would ask that chris and his wife get involved in that tank farm because you're talking about 52 acres and that's where you could really have a lot of different development come into the area.
>> thank you.
>> does the neighborhood plan envision projects such as this?
>> the neighborhood plan actually took it into the plan if you see it because since it was part of the neighborhood planning process, then you'll see in the neighborhood plans that they're looking for things that service the community and service the youth in the area.
>> how do we avoid the negative effects that some residents fear? Like those articulated today?
>> there are a couple of points articulated. It's a different kind of world, as he said. We're kind of in to help and assist and work with families, and so the best thing that can be said to that question, judge, is that we're going to continue working with the residents. The advisory council will continue to grow and continue to be a sounding board for southwest key and our project in east Austin and we'll continue to develop and grow together to serve the needs of youth and families in that community.
>> and to prevent the spillover of the jjaep students into the area?
>> as he mentioned earlier, it would provide that, but it's provided as far as the -- (indiscernible). In it is a controlled environment. The students are bussed there. We have a staff to student ratio, the students are supervised all the time. And as some of the Commissioners have alluded to, this is a successful program that has an excellent track record and kids are not allowed to simply roam in the community. They're in school and they are supervised always.
>> now, what part of this -- which part will be 24 hours a day.
>> actually, no programs are 24 hours a day. Our folks -- this is not a residential type facility. This is a community development project that will work with youth and families during the day, in the early afternoon. And if there's any evening class, it will be classes that are educationally focused that will help the community and help adults with g.e.d., Esl or those kind of classes. It is not a 24 hour facility by any means.
>> the education classes typically end at what time? 9:00?
>> we would expect that they would end about 9:00, 9:30.
>> anything else?
>> juan co-terra is actually our architect and he might want to address a few things.
>> I wanted to address you because the deed restriction -- it does not address the seven acres. This deed restriction was set by cal marshal on his property on two blocks. It's very clear on here that it's those two blocks. The property -- the property was purchased by southwest key from roger joseph some four or five, six years ago. The jones family had owned that property since I think the beginning of the 20th century. And it had been farmland until now, except for a temporary use to house trucks, actually as a parking lot for some trucks. That didn't last very long. It was cleaned up. It's known as the onion field. It's not -- it's not something -- it's seven acres, metes and bounds, owned by the jones family. There are no restrictions on it. The purchase was negotiated by southwest keys' attorney, who at the time was kevin chielz. If there is a title policy on it, there were no restrictions shown. On the title policy. I can get you all that information.
>> any structures on the property now?
>> any restrictions?
>> any structures on the property?
>> there's beautiful trees along the creek. And that's it. It's grassland.
>> thank you, mr. Could cotera.
>> if I could say a couple of things. The master plan on the property was worked out on the process of the neighborhood plan development with the community and with city of Austin. We worked on that quite a bit. And the plan includes things like housing in the second phase and in the third phase. It includes (indiscernible), elderly housing, a day care center. It has a buffer where one property actually has residential on the other side. It includes community gardens, which will be gardens for the community for people to be issued a little plot of land to grow vegetables and that. It includes some retail along jane lane because that was one of the things that the neighborhood said they wanted. There was a process of sitting down with the neighborhood and finding out what they needed, what they wanted. And all of those things are on the master plan. Thank you.
>> council, my name is martha cotera. And (indiscernible). Members of associations like the mexican american business and professional women, hispanic women's network of Texas and Austin, the hispanic chamber of commerce and many, many others -- I think we have something like 20 or more cultural arts organizations that are supportive of this project and that are committed to partnership opportunities as they arise to work with this very excellent project. And I have to say that contrary to the people that are opposing this project, I think one of the exciting things about this project is precisely that, that it does work with very vulnerable youth. And youth that have a great deal of potential for upward mobility given the right opportunities and circumstances. And I was very happy to be involved or lucky to be involved in several of the tours given this year and have become most impressed with some of the people, some of the youth that are leading the program. For example, one of the young men that I met with many times, I had been in the program -- he had been in the program all year, graduated, walked with his class and went on to utsa. And he is a graduate from this program. And then another seventh grader I just have to say that I was so impressed, who commented that when he got into the program his grade average was like 42. When he left, when he exited the program, went back to school, his grade point average was a 92. And he was very distressed and just had to bring it up, and brought it up, I think, in fact, to 95 or 97. And he's one of the ones that was rewarded to go to the retreat in california. So the success stories in this program are just amazing. And I want to commend the county for being the parent actually to what I call the stellar part of this particular program. And in this regard my husband and myself, with the contributions of community members as you remember in '97, are turning our funds, our scholarship funds over to the program, to southwest key and the priority recipients of the scholarship money will be participants in the alternative school program. We would hope to raise so much money in the future that we will have other opportunities for other people in the neighborhood. But I just want to tell you that supporting the alternative school the way you do financially and then supporting the model program that is being established here that is more of a prevention program to keep these kids from going in that direction is something that the county should be very proud of. And I知 just very proud to participate as an outsider the little bit that i've been able to participate. I have to tell you it's been the highlight of my life since 1997. That's all I have to say.
>> thank you. Where do you live in precinct 3?
>> I live in the barton hills area. Precinct 342. Very high voting. [ laughter ]
>> (indiscernible). Again, we find ourselves in the middle of a crossfire where we were actually funding. Now all of a sudden we are in a war over neighborhoods. And do you know what? You couldn't pass this thing in barton hills. There's no way you could, no matter how long you lived there. And that's unfortunate because, I mean, as I have sided with Commissioner Davis on everything from landfill to things in western Travis County, you're right, we don't have it in western Travis County. We do have some, but we don't have many of them. So again, I find myself distressed because, you know, $100,000 is an easy vote for me, but i've got people down here that this thing thinks it's going to change their lives, and this is not a program that most people are going to say bring that into your neighborhood. No matter how much you decorate it. It's needed, we all know that, but we're being asked to do something that I thought -- I thought we were being asked are we going to okay funding out of our housing authority. Now all of a sudden we are being put in a much different situation. I mean, it's easy for me to say, hey, let me vote on a, and I can vote on a, but let me say on b that I can -- if the majority of the neighborhood is against it, then that says something to me. And I don't know whether there's a loosely formed neighborhood association over there. I do know that people can ask you questions and get you to sign things and you may not read that much. I remember I signed the s.o.s. Ordinance because I was running around the lake and somebody asked me if I wanted clean water. I said yes, let me sign it. I didn't know what I was signing up for. And so I知 a little distressed if there was something that was presented to neighbors that might have been something other than what the thing was. And I don't know that. That's the reason -- I hope they haven't left because I would like to know is that one of the deals where you go back to the neighbors and say would you have signed it and know that this is not a recreational center. That's distressing to me if this thing was presented to people as a -- show the picture. Because the picture was pretty size. It has a running track and it has -- if you look at it, you think you're signing up for a country club. And people can be misled with that. You have some pretty heart felt feelings from some people who came to the mic's before you all, and I don't think -- I don't think anyone is against taking on kiddos on that just haven't made it. We all know that we have to do that. But I知 not at all comfortable where we are with this thing. You've got a great program, you have a great track record. You go to other places and they're roaming the streets. But that being said, there are people who go, do you know what, this is a business and we don't want it in our neighborhoods. So that's not something that makes me feel as comfortable. So I just wish that we wouldn't have gotten into a deal of do you know what I learned about a year and a half ago when I got elected? That times you sit up here and you make decisions you wish you didn't have to make and I知 sure that's why a lot of people don't run for office, because you have to make calls. And hopefully the neighborhood can tell me because that's what I知 going to ask. I知 going to ask ms. Daniel, she's the president of the board, to go back -- it can't be a large neighborhood. How many people would you say are in the neighborhood? Are there hundreds? Are there -- how long would it take to walk the neighborhood and say here's the petition again and here are two of us. There's chris over here and there's sal over here and let us bring what we want to bring. This is not a country club, but kids aren't going to be running the streets wild either. So what do you think about that? Are you willing to sign it, are you willing not to? Maybe I need to let y'all finish and ask chris to come up.
>> well, I think in that respect we have worked with hundreds of residents from that community and we were very forthright in the petition that we had before them and had been signed. We answered questions. We left our phone numbers. They called us. We had other conversations. We had house meetings. We had a lot of conversations and a lot of time that were dwoalted to answering questions and then people signed -- not every community would welcome this project. This community in many respects is welcoming this project because it needs the project. We have a lot of youth and families that need in this community. And we are coming and we're working with youth and families in this community and they are here before you as well. -- many people say they need this project for their young children and for themselves. Many of us that we've shared and had a dialogue of over 52% of the adults over 25 years old in this community do not have a high school diploma or g.e.d. They are welcoming this project because they need the project. If they -- if they do it as such in the neighborhood that you alluded to, I would presume that they would be welcoming a project that would also help them get back on their feet and back on track to become successful and to have a better quality of life.
>> with all due respect, we are not in the middle of a war. Do we have 100% of the people on board? Spliewtly not. But what we have seen are two households, the nathaniel household and ms. Brown who are opposed. And I respect that. They also have the opportunity to take their opposition to the city council as this thing moved through a very extensive neighborhood planning process, which you and I agree on, boy, there's a stickler for neighborhoods and zoning and all that stuff, the city council is your place to be. And this thing went through a very exhaustive, i'll use that word, neighborhood planning process. It passed. It's part of the neighborhood plan. They have also passed the bar over there related to meeting the standards of the Austin city council related to getting funding from the city. What was the vote from the Austin city council on getting those -- was it cdbg money?
>> cdbg money. They approved 367,000.
>> okay. Was it a 7-0 vote?
>> I believe so, yes.
>> they've already done a lot not in our little jurisdiction here in terms of us. And so far what we've got are two households and nathaniel said they had 20 folks in their neighborhood association, they have taken -- they have no petitions to bring to us. They did not even take an official vote of their neighborhood association. So I have to weigh this like I do on some of the things that came before us on public hearings. Sometimes there are one or two or even a dozen people that don't like something.
>> just ask me for the money. If that's the question -- [overlapping speakers]. If it's just a matter of the money, then just ask us and let's move on. I said what I didn't want to get in the middle of was a neighborhood situation. I didn't want to get in the middle of barton hills over this thing any more than I would over Barton Creek neighborhood where I live. That's not what I知 going to do.
>> the problem is that this literally minutes before we walked in, something related to an unrelated -- what appeared to be a legal obstacle related to whether they had the proper zoning or not, whether the deed restriction or not, and clearly that was something that applied to mr. Marshal's property and not to this property, which clearly is lr, so for me, my questions have been answered and I知 looked forward to a motion on exactly what you've got out there.
>> that's all --
>> before we do that, i'd like to maybe make some comments. I haven't had an opportunity. I've been doing a lot of listening and not much talking.
>> let me say this: we've heard citizens come here and on different occasions referring about deed restrictions. And of course, we have always tried to honor them or to see if a deed restriction was applicable or not applicable. We had a case this morning that example had deed restrictions. Deed restrictions is something that should be honored. If someone is supporting -- (indiscernible) I知 an old neighborhood delegate, and thank goodness that I am because some of the same people that are sitting in here testifying before you, we have worked hand and foot for years bringing a positive light to this community. So I can toot my own horn because i've been there, done that. The location that -- that was a good tour of this program. I didn't get a chance to talk with the students on my tour. Children do need assistance and help. Over the years i've been -- i've learned a very, very good, tough lesson. And that is from opposition to neighborhoods, and there are legitimate things that can come up, that neighborhoods bring up. And it doesn't go by numbers. Let me say that again. It recognized neighborhood president is the voice of that neighborhood association. And i've conducted many grassroots meeting and solves many grassroots problem. It's an adjacent community, working with some of these same neighborhood groups and neighborhood associations, I wouldn't even mention. I think susana mentioned it, we worked hard on those kind of things. The site which jjaep has themselves right now, we're in precinct 1. Right down the hill you do have an a.c.c. Campus. And the a.c.c. Campus is there because of the hard work that collectively put together by an association that I chaired to ensure that we kept education in the general area. It was achieved because of the fact that during that same period of time the washington terrace transitional housing was not occupied, it was just the dilapidated, run down facility of housing. A body was found there. And of course the old original a.c.c. Campus at that time was located at the campus where we're talking about right now as far as the program is concerned. So the community got together to do something about all these things, and as a result it will always be -- we have a better quality of life. We have an a.c.c. Campus over there, but we also have the housing -- the housing that's there right now. Right down the street from this facility our neighborhood association was -- (indiscernible). The neighborhood banned together. Folks came together, a handful of folks. It's always just a handful that were effective. And they shut down the -- (indiscernible). All these kinds of things have been a tribute to the hard working efforts of a combined community. If there's opposition to that, you want to hear what the opposition had to say. You always end up at those kind of crossroads. You deal with the situation whereby you still want to respect those that are in opposition just as you respect those that are in support. The county has to look for if we allow for homeless women and their children to occupy a facility that had been housing safe place for years. There were a lot of neighbors in opposition. (indiscernible). I think we heard both sides today. Again, it's not by numbers, it's not the legitimacy -- we're not going to let that go all the time. But what you do is people come and testify and we see what they have to say, then you hopefully make the best decision. I think that the request from the neighborhood association to look at the validity -- (indiscernible). ... Especially when you've got opposition from the neighborhood that's come together. We have the opportunity to see if that is deed restrictions or if it is, then we'll look at that. But right now it's just groundless -- because we have numbers here today is maybe not the best thing to do as far as not giving the neighborhood an opportunity to see if the deed restrictions are in place and are valid. And again, I知 in full support of this kind of program. I think it's something that we need. But you have opposition within the neighborhood, and the neighborhood president was here today, and everybody else come down here and say you've got a resolution and -- that's not always good work. It doesn't always work that way. We need the fine tuning whereby there has to be a, b, c, d, right down the line. But when you get the persons there that say they're neighborhood presidents and neighborhood representatives, we honor those things. And -- (indiscernible). ... Of not allowing any neighborhood association to not have their say before this Commissioners court. And I think they should have a say. This neighborhood deserves the attention that any other neighborhood association coming to us from the west side, the east side, the north side or the south side, we treat everybody the same. I want to make sure everybody understand that. So that's where I知 coming from. And if there's anything possible, I would like to see the investigation of the deed restriction that the neighborhood association requested be looked at by our attorneys. I知 not an attorney. I want that to be looked at and then we'll see if there are any deed restriction violations on this particular project.
>> how many days do you think that's going to take? A week?
>> probably.
>> move to delay action one week to allow an opportunity to look at the deed restrictions.
>> thank you.
>> may I ask a question? So if there are no problems with the deed restrictions?
>> hold on. That was a motion.
>> second.
>> sorry.
>> Commissioner Davis, I guess I -- this is directed to you. If there are no issues with the deed restrictions, then would you support this project if that's really the only concern that was brought?
>> that's what the neighborhood association alluded to me, that -- I guess I need to hear that from the neighborhood association. Chris?
>> in that case -- [inaudible - no mic].
>> okay. I'll have to hear from them. I can't answer that right now because I知 not talking to -- he's not the president.
>> before we vote, I want to say one thing. And this would be helpful between now and next week as well. My executive assistant is the president of her neighborhood association. And if her neighborhood association, which is allendale, which is one of the biggest in this city, if she's not empowered to speak on behalf of the neighborhood association unless there is a meeting and there is a vote and that is the position that she is allowed to then communicate to the Austin city council or whomever. 99 times out of 100, it's the Austin city council or planning and zoning, etcetera. Otherwise she is grech en, who happens to be the president, but does not speak on behalf of the neighborhood association. So we need to have some real clarity. And chris could be very helpful if it's -- if your wife could actually have a meeting of the neighborhood association and if she's empowered to speak on behalf of the neighborhood association because they have taken aaffirmative vote, we need to know that. Otherwise she is an individual and a resident of this area, but is not speaking on behalf of the neighborhood association. I know that sounds like I知 cutting hairs here, but it is a very important point. If you are speaking on behalf of --
>> [inaudible - no mic]. I don't know how you do things in your neighborhood and --
>> I don't know of any neighborhood that has autonomous authority to speak on behalf of a neighborhood.
>> any more discussion of the motion? Motion to delay action until next Tuesday. This will be posted at 1:30 on next Tuesday's agenda. All in favor of the motion? That passes by unanimous vote. Thank y'all very much this afternoon.
>> now, we did complete some of our --
>> judge.
>> all those in favor, signify by saying aye? That passes by unanimous vote. Now let's call back to order the voting session of the Travis County Commissioners court. We did complete some of our executive session this morning our executive session items. Therefore number 27 involving the extension of leave for a juvenile probation department employee department 45, slot 470, move that we grant an additional five days to get this employee through July 23rd, 2004. Discussion? All in favor? That passes by unanimous vote.
>> 32, last week, we did have a berererecececececom vovoay l 's's's's's's's agenda. All in favor of the motion? That passes by unanimous vote. Thank y'all very much this afternoon.
>> now, we did complete some of our --
>> judge.
>> all those in favor, signify by saying aye? That passes by unanimous vote.
The Closed Caption log for this Commissioners Court agenda item is provided by Travis County Internet Services. Since this file is derived from the Closed Captions created during live cablecasts, there are occasional spelling and grammatical errors. This Closed Caption log is not an official record the Commissioners Court Meeting and cannot be relied on for official purposes. For official records please contact the County Clerk at (512) 854-4722.
Last Modified:
Friday, October 28, 2005 9:17 AM