The Man in the Hat

Austin, Texas #District6 #ATXD6

[d6zimmerman]

Austin City Council to consider adding 32 bike sensors at stop lights around town

Don Zimmerman represents District 6 in Northwest Austin. Not only does he think the program is a bad idea but he says it was buried in a list that he's barely had time to get through. Councilman Zimmerman says “...we had 85 agenda items, so far 85 and more were added late and only 6 or 8 of those items came from City Council.”

Council member salary = $70,000

Council office budget = $346,000

Complaining that there isn't time to review the agenda = priceless.

I wonder how long I can get away with pleading ignorance...

[d6zimmerman]

In fact, he said, since more people rejected the bonds in 2012 than voted in favor of them in 2013, he considered them to have been rejected.

Democracy be damned... elections are not won or lost based on what's on the ballot but by my own determination of non-voter's beliefs

Zimmerman used the phrase “no means no” and blew a rape whistle in a TV interview to equate the return of the housing bonds in 2013 with the rape of taxpayers.

Last week's "Throwback Thursday" has suddenly become more relevant!  I'm a prophet, but not the crazy kind, I promise!

Zimmerman posted a proposed resolution on the Council bulletin board seeking support of his fellow Council members for the legislation. However, his policy aide, Greg Watson, indicated Tuesday that no other member had signed up as a co-sponsor.

At least I'm keeping the campaign promise to be the one "no vote" on all items.  No other council member supporting me is what I promised the voters of District 6!  Four more years!

Gallo said, “When we talk about traffic gridlock and we talk about affordability, I think it’s really important for us to remember that these affordable housing projects allow people to live and work in close proximity.  “A large portion of our population does not have the resources to be able to afford rental units in the areas that they work,” Gallo continued. “So as we talk about this process, we have to remember that it is our duty to support that policy idea of encouraging citizens to live and work close to keep additional cars off of our roadways.”

I'm especially disappointed in CM Gallo.  As Republicans, we should be united against the onslaught of socialism and communism that comes when a private non-profit uses voter-approved bonds to provide affordable housing and services to low-wage workers.

[d6zimmerman]

Surely after all that experience with campaign laws, Mr. Zimmerman knows that he could no more pay his wife with campaign funds than he could pocket the money himself. And as a new public servant, it's important that Mr. Zimmerman learn the distinction between what funds he can use for his own personal benefit and what funds he cannot.

Bill Aleshire, former Travis County Judge (h/t Jeff Stensland, TWC News)

Oh, when [a Council Member] does it, that means that it is not illegal.

Right?

[d6zimmerman]

Full Agenda at D6 Swear-In

Presiding over Council Member Don Zim­merman's swearing-in ceremony Saturday, Jan. 31, Texas Supreme Court Justice John Devine couldn't resist a reference to a lawsuit he faced as a district judge over displaying the Ten Commandments in his Hous­ton courtroom a decade ago.

Is there really anything more appropriate than to hold my D6 event in Cedar Park at Hill Country Bible Church and presided over by a judge not from Austin who had himself previously been sued?  

After the swearing-in, Zimmerman transitioned to the next order of business: a scheduled town hall regarding concerns about the proposed Cardinal Point housing development, which is one of several affordable-housing projects run by local nonprofit Foundation Communities.

In a room packed full of my supporters, at first I couldn't get a single question about the project!  Good thing I had one supporter speak up about how these projects apparently cause all the crime in East Austin.

Zimmerman told the Chronicle Tuesday evening that frustration building over subsidized housing projects stems from the additional traffic a high-density development would create in an already gridlocked District 6

Given that no other consituents expressed concerns about affordable housing beyond traffic, it's a good thing I'm focusing my efforts on stopping this project instead of addressing the real problems of traffic congestion!

[d6zimmerman]

That time in 2013 when I called affordable housing "rape"

The group is using the slogan “No means no!” in their campaign against the bond provision, and to make sure the connection between affordable housing bonds and rape is clear, Don Zimmerman, representing the group, says, “The City of Austin is trying to rape voters by having it vote on the affordable housing bonds again after it said 'no.'” He then really drives his point home by repeatedly blowing a rape whistle in an interview with KEYE TV.   http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/14194/group-equates-austin-affordable-housing-bond-ballot-measure-with-rape

[d6zimmerman]

Not only is Ingrid Edwards a CPA and constituent of mine in District 6, she is also a legal immigrant from the Czech Republic; Ingrid would like to inform the council of the unsustainability of government subsidized housing projects and redistribution of wealth in general. In my opinion, this is an incredibly important “perspective” that many people in Austin don’t have – they don’t have the experience of relatives and immediate ancestors living under the corruption and tyranny that develops when government assumes increasing power to redistribute wealth and control more and more aspects of life.

Foundation Communities is socialism... or communism... whichever one is the thing where the voters decided to support a private non-profit org building affordable housing and providing services to low-income residents.

[d6zimmerman]

CM Zimmerman paid wife for campaign work

Zimmerman said he doesn’t think he violated the law because “personal services” doesn’t equate to campaign work. “Everybody we paid was working on a campaign — no personal services,” he said. The Austin Bulldog’s report pointed to a case considered last year by the Texas Ethics Commission in which a Montgomery County commissioner was deemed to have violated that portion of the law because he paid his wife for campaign work. Zimmerman said he didn’t consult with an attorney before paying his wife.

I believe in the following the law when it applies to others.  Paying my wife for campaign work couldn't possibly be a violation, even if she did end up using those campaign funds to pay my mortgage.

[d6zimmerman]

Council Member Zimmerman (District 6) Committee Preference Council Committees 1. Mobility 2. Audit & Finance 3. Public Utilities 4. Open Space, Environment, and Sustainability Committee 5. Housing & Community Development Intergovernmental and Other Bodies 1. Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization Transportation Policy Board 2. Balcones Canyonlands Conservation Planning Organization Coordinating Committee 3. Texas Colorado River Floodplain Coalition 4. Capital Area Council of Governments Executive Committee 5. Clean Air Force of Central Texas Board of Directors DO NOT WISH to be added: Council Committees • Health & Human Services • Planning & Neighborhoods • Economic Opportunity, Technology, Innovation, and Creative Industries Committee

My destruction agenda will be well served by these appointments!  Can't wait to be in charge of things I want to eliminate, like Austin Energy and the Balcones Canyonlands.  But screw you neighborhoods... I have no interest in advocating for your needs.

[d6zimmerman]

Better to do nothing than anything

Zimmerman establishes pole position

As one of their first acts as a body, City Council members examined, then approved, a routine contract for up to $10 million of steel poles for Austin Energy. Council Member Don Zimmerman pulled the proposed contract with TransAmerican Power Products, Inc. for extra scrutiny and abstained from an otherwise unanimous vote. Zimmerman lamented the fact that he was being asked to vote on the contract without knowing the particulars of the project, and said that those particulars couldn’t be discerned from reading through the 60 to 70 pages of backup he was given. “I can’t be certain what it is I am voting for,” said Zimmerman.

... Zimmerman said [he] didn’t want to be caught in the same position that Enron executives were in the early 2000s. - See more at: http://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2015/01/zimmerman-sets-tone-challenge-city-spending/

If I can't be an expert on everything, the city will do nothing!  Those poor Enron executives were just blindsided by the free markets... good thing I've been advocating for privitizing Austin Energy, or something.

[d6zimmerman]

Council Member Don Zimmerman wants to remove city staff from...

My first order of business... stop sitting next to the black guy.