Austin,Texas

Discussion in 'Austin FC' started by G Enriquez, Feb 27, 2014.

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  1. DonJuego

    DonJuego Member+

    Aug 19, 2005
    Austin, TX
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    #401 DonJuego, Aug 6, 2018
    Last edited: Aug 6, 2018
    Everyone around me knows I'm a big soccer fan and ask me about it, or say "it would be great if we get that." But then they all assume I'd love it and are not going to say something negative. Everyone knows about it. Its a big deal. Big discussion over the public policy. I don't sense the burning overwhelming desire for it where people would be upset at council if we don't do it, though many would just say "coa screwed up something else -- what's new?"

    btw -- i run in a pretty well informed crowd that reads newspapers and such. So we are reflective of the general public.
     
  2. POdinCowtown

    POdinCowtown Member+

    Jan 15, 2002
    Columbus
    If someone loses their seat because they supported the PSV deal, that's maybe reason for the pols to slow down or reconsider.

    Apparently they still don't have a traffic and parking analysis yet. The only reason that would still be true is because it wouldn't look good for PSV's proposal. I have a hard time believing council regards that as irrelevant but maybe they do.
     
  3. TheRealBilbo

    TheRealBilbo Member+

    Apr 5, 2016
    I would guess yard signs won't be in full bloom for another 6-8 weeks, just in time for the final showdown over the negotiated lease agreement.
     
  4. Lewis N. Clark

    Jul 1, 2014
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    This was a good letter.

    https://medium.com/supporters-union/open-letter-to-the-austin-city-council-a6d351507067

    The author is Hispanic from the east side (poor) of Austin. He shares how a soccer scholarship opened doors for him on the west side (rich).

    Here are 2 quotes:

    "However, for a city that continues to be very segregated, at a time in our country when the Hispanic and immigrant communities are continuously under attack, Austin has a great opportunity to bring a uniting community event that will draw people from all over Austin to a part of Austin has not traditionally been accessible to kids from east Austin...

    "There are many places where the city can build affordable housing. There are plenty of open spaces that can be converted to parks and recreational areas. There is only one location suitable to the MLS for an MLS franchise stadium. Please approve the MLS partnership deal.

    Sergio L. Tristan"
     
  5. jaykoz3

    jaykoz3 Member+

    Dec 25, 2010
    Conshohocken, PA
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    This is awesome. I agree with the author 100%. Unfortunately PSV hasn't exactly done anything to unify supporters and communities in Columbus. In fact he has done the exact opposite, and has alienated and shunned the Hispanic community & Crew Supporters in Columbus.
     
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  6. Lewis N. Clark

    Jul 1, 2014
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    Here is my prediction for what happens on Thursday- “Decision Day”. Most of the Austin city council members will go to the podium and say something like this:

    “The proposal by PSV is very appealing...however, we have a fiduciary responsibility to this city to do our due diligence to be sure that McKalla Place is getting highest and best use. This city has been rushed into bad deals in the past. We must take the time to study all the proposals more carefully. The timeline that PSV has imposed on this process makes it impossible for us to do so. Plus there are legal issues that must be resolved. If PSV needs a decision by today perhaps they should consider another city for their team- or just keep their team in Columbus. However as we have heard from the citizens, soccer is a wonderfully uniting sport for our community. And we are excited to welcome professional soccer to our community with the arrival of the Austin Bold of the USL, which begins play just 7 months from now in their new stadium at COTA.”

    Which is a safe political way of driving PSV away. They can plausibly say, “It’s not our fault. It’s his.” When he gave them a “drop dead deadline” he set himself up for it.

    Let’s not forget the 2000 pound Longhorn in the living room. The Univ of Texas butters Austin’s bread. I don’t think UT’s $200 million athletic department is excited about a major league team moving into their market and competing with them for corporate dollars, luxury seating, advertising, ticket sales, etc. I’m sure the signal has been sent and received, “Send that guy back to Columbus. Let him siphon money from Ohio State’s wallet. Hook ‘em Horns!”

    That’s what I think. Who knows. We’ll found out on Thursday...maybe…?
     
  7. jaykoz3

    jaykoz3 Member+

    Dec 25, 2010
    Conshohocken, PA
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    My outsiders prediction:

    The City Council will approve the term sheet, BUT they will bring up more items that will need to be added and/or resolved before an agreement can be drafted that would still ultimately need to be voted on by the general public later in the year.

    By approving this initial term sheet, the City Council will actually be giving the counter proposals more time to revise their plans for presentation and consideration. This is also allows the Council to kick this item down the road so that they can get back to some normal business for a month or two.

    Simultaneously this will allow the council to take a deeper dive into the remaining issues surrounding PSV's terms, and ultimately allow the Council to present PSV with a take it or leave it deal of their own. That deal will likely include PSV paying for the metro station and improvements, along with paying for the construction of additional parking, paying for police on game days, etc.

    My feeling is that the Council is going to get the deal that they want. PSV is likely to not get the deal he wants, but ultimately will have to swallow in order to move the Crew to Austin.
     
    TrueCrew repped this.
  8. jaykoz3

    jaykoz3 Member+

    Dec 25, 2010
    Conshohocken, PA
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  9. POdinCowtown

    POdinCowtown Member+

    Jan 15, 2002
    Columbus
  10. stanger

    stanger BigSoccer Supporter

    Nov 29, 2008
    Columbus
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Really? Easily afford?

    I doubt it, unless he has daddy's debit card.
     
  11. jaykoz3

    jaykoz3 Member+

    Dec 25, 2010
    Conshohocken, PA
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Well......PSV has said repeatedly that they won't pay for the metro station. They were already haggling over the rent, specifically because they didn't want to have to pay property taxes. They've also asked for the City to foot the bill for the police presence on game days.

    We also need to remember that MLS' BOG has to approve of the deal also.
     
  12. TheRealBilbo

    TheRealBilbo Member+

    Apr 5, 2016
    It's hard to imagine the BOG not approving a deal simply because they wouldn't want their deals second guessed.

    Precourt is going to have to up the offer from what's on the term sheet. I can't imagine anything that isn't equivalent to the terms Pool put forward passing the council at this point.
     
    POdinCowtown repped this.
  13. POdinCowtown

    POdinCowtown Member+

    Jan 15, 2002
    Columbus
    His $200 mil stadium is a $187 mil plus contingencies stadium. If he has to build a train station, he can add it in to the cost (and get a tax credit for 39%). If he has to have a girl's academy, he can pay for that down the road if he retains ownership.

    Point being PSV has room to improve their offer, they just don't yet think they need to.
     
  14. POdinCowtown

    POdinCowtown Member+

    Jan 15, 2002
    Columbus
    And right on cue, the day before the vote, PSV has made changes to their offer.
     
  15. Lewis N. Clark

    Jul 1, 2014
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
  16. Lewis N. Clark

    Jul 1, 2014
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    I noticed this tweet around 9:45pm by a reporter for the Austin paper:

    Kevin Lyttle‏ @klyttleAAS 13m13 minutes ago
    By the way, as #MLS2ATX debate goes on at #ATXCouncil, sources on each side told me earlier that they suspect the voting breakdown is roughly 5 yes and 4 no with 2 fence-sitters. but several of the "yes" are soft support. and not everyone agrees on which 5 are yes. 6 votes needed

    It' gonna be a close vote.
     
  17. Lewis N. Clark

    Jul 1, 2014
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    Not getting a decision tonight. Probably (possibly?) on Wednesday.

    Jeff Carlisle‏Verified account @JeffreyCarlisle
    Looks like the Austin City Council will take more time to consider amendments to the McKalla Place stadium proposal. All proposed amendments must be submitted tonight. Meeting on Wednesday to work through amendments and then vote on proposal.
     
  18. POdinCowtown

    POdinCowtown Member+

    Jan 15, 2002
    Columbus
    I think it would have failed if a vote had been forced last night. Suttle didn't help his cause any. I thought his reputation was as a top local lobbyist? He sure seems to have attitudinal and credibility problems now.

    Unless PSV ups their offer significantly, there seem like a lot of no votes, ie everyone who proposed an amendment.
     
  19. Lewis N. Clark

    Jul 1, 2014
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    I agree about Suttle. I couldn't believe how terrible he was. I had to appear at the local zoning board recently. I was courteous, respectful, prepared (and I got my request). Suttle wasn't any of that. Particularly he was poorly prepared to answer specifics. He tried to BS his way through by playing "the good ol' Texan boy" routine. I was stunned. If I was Anthony P. I would have fired Suttle on the spot and stepped forward and made my case personally- rather than letting him screw it up. (But maybe Suttle was hired to win over the mayor... which he certainly did. The mayor was PSV's best lobbyist last night.)

    Councilman Flanagan is all in with MLS2ATX. Pool and Alter are against. Houston surprised me when she said she wasn't prepared to vote last night (deadline day). Was that a move to scuttle the deal and then blame PSV for giving the council too little time? The others...I couldn't read them for sure. Were they against PSV or just trying to negotiate the best deal? For a minute I thought the vote would go: the 4 men all in favor; the 7 women all against.
     
  20. Lewis N. Clark

    Jul 1, 2014
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    I just saw this quote from Tuesday's Austin newspaper:

    "Two days before the council is to vote on a possible stadium deal — or to pick one of the developers’ plans — Pool, Alison Alter, Ora Houston and Ellen Troxclair sent a strong message that they don’t like the term sheet brokered between their own city staff and Precourt Sports Ventures to build a MLS stadium at McKalla."

    Here are 4 (probably) "No's". They need 2 others to join them to stop PSV.
     
  21. POdinCowtown

    POdinCowtown Member+

    Jan 15, 2002
    Columbus
    Houston said she hadn't had a chance to read the revised term sheet that PSV came up with the day before the meeting.

    I think to make sure the deal is done, Precourt will have to pay for the 130 low income housing units, go at least halfsies on a train station, and commit to equal support for girls as well as boys soccer in Austin.

    That seems unlikely.
     
  22. Lewis N. Clark

    Jul 1, 2014
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    Mayor Adler's (strategically brilliant) Plea:

    Austin is a city that loves idealistic political stances. Mayor Adler made a brilliant move when he lamented the high amount of social segregation in Austin (by some measures it is THE most economically segregated city- and ethnic segregation follows in lock step). Then Mayor Adler said that MLS in Austin will be a bridge that crosses that divide, where different types of people could finally come together (...if they can afford a ticket). Blacks from the east side, Hispanics from the south side, suburbanites to the north, the rich from the west, all coming together in friendship. MLS will help overcome segregation in Austin. It's not soccer anymore... it's UNITY. So now if you are anti-PSV, then you must be pro-segregation. That message will play in Austin. Those sitting on the fence just found their seats a lot more uncomfortable.

    "Down with rich corporations" is a powerful slogan in Austin. But it doesn't hold a candle to "Down with segregation." The anti-PSV forces just got "out sloganed". Mayor Adler has come up with a powerful narrative. The pause of 5 days may allow it to gain momentum and nudge a few undecideds to his side.
     
    DonJuego repped this.
  23. ElJefe

    ElJefe Moderator
    Staff Member

    Feb 16, 1999
    Colorful Colorado
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I dunno. It doesn't seem that great of a slogan, because in the end, it doesn't really hold up to the question "And giving millions to an out-of-town millionaire to build a stadium helps this HOW exactly?"
     
  24. Lewis N. Clark

    Jul 1, 2014
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    An effective slogan stirs up the emotions in order to shut down critical thought. The emotional response bypasses the intellect completely. For some an effective slogan is "Make American Great Again", for others "Hope and Change", for an earlier generation "Remember Pearl Harbor", for a later generation "Make Love Not War". The slogan doesn't seek to educate but to propell action.

    In the subconscious pre-reflective part of the mind something like this takes place: When Austin thinks about how segregated it is and how that goes against all its great ideals, it feels bad. When it pictures the whole community coming together to cheer our shared team, it feels good. MLS will help to heal our city's shameful wound. Therefore, we need MLS !

    Now if you stop to reflect on that, it bogs down in details. Is it true that all of Austin will come together at McKalla Stadium? Who is most likely to actually fill the stadium? Etc.

    Mayor Adler has imbued the cause with great moral righteousness. That might tip the balance on what is expected to be a close vote.
     
  25. jaykoz3

    jaykoz3 Member+

    Dec 25, 2010
    Conshohocken, PA
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    That's great for the General Public...............how that resonates with the council members............that remains to be seen. Elected officials aren't nearly as easily swayed by slogans. After all, they are ones who come up with the campaign slogans to begin with!
     

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