The City Council Hearing

This morning at 9am, the Austin city council held a hearing on the future of the F1 track.  The hearing was open to the public, who were allowed to voice their opinions.  Unfortunately, I didn’t learn about this meeting until 1am last night and, thanks to insomnia, wasn’t able to go to sleep until 4am.  So a lack of sleep and preparation combined with a deep-seated fear of public speaking prevented me from saying anything of any value. I made an ass of myself, but at least I went out in support of the track.  

The detractors all argued that tax money shouldn’t be spent on a luxury like the track while we are in an economic slump.  The situation with the Texas Major Events Fund has kind of muddied the waters and confused even some of the city council members, so I’ll do my best to sum it up quickly.  The organizers are expected to put up $25 million a year to host the F1 race, which is supposed to come from the Texas Major Events Fund.  Austin will be expected to put up $4 million for the first year.  What these people didn’t realize is that the organizers are willing to put up the $4 million needed for the first year, so that Austin is not responsible for it.  Yes $25 million is a lot when we are facing major budget shortfalls, but most of the detractors I talked with seemed to believe that Austin wouldn’t get many people in for the race and there wouldn't be any other economic growth.

Bullshit.

I’ve talked about the people who will flock to the city before, so I’m not going to repeat myself on that subject today.  One person I talked with said that our hotels are already at capacity and that it would be dumb to have a race where we couldn't lodge everyone.  Are you kidding me?  That’s what economic growth is all about!  More hotels, more jobs.  Development in that area of Austin, which is pretty bare now, will boom.  New houses, new families will come to Austin and move into a developing area.  The  now empty toll road east of Austin will be used regularly and will justify its expense.  With a world class racing track in Austin racing teams, automotive research companies and other high tech industry will be pulled to the city.  Local schools will benefit from engineering programs already being discussed with these companies.  If there are regular races at the Circuit of the America Austin will reap the benefits