A New Plan For Austin City Council?

The article, “Single-member districts won’t make Austin a better place” written by Terrell Blodgett, is a prime subject for critically analyzing, as the title itself screams that it’s loaded with one-sided opinions.  This article can be found at the Austin American Statesman’s website, but originally appeared in a newsletter posted by Group Solutions RJW.  Though the name may not be well-known, Blodgett gains credibility on the issue through his career, Mike Hogg Professor Emeritus in Urban Management at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. 

The intended audience of this article seems to generally be Austinites who are involved (or at least vote) in government.  To attract this sort of audience, the author has to, and does, show how it will personally affect their lives.  This affects the content of the commentary by making it one-sided.  Blodgett doesn’t seem to present all of the facts in the matter of single-member districts versus our current system.  He might have found evidence or statistics that only support his claim, and nothing else.

It is not overly apparent what Blodgett’s point of view is relating to politics, but he seems to be somewhat liberal-leaning.  With that, his basic argument is that Austin shouldn’t adopt single-member districts for Austin City Council.  According to Blodgett, single-member districts are where there would be 11 council members, one exclusively representing a particular district.  He believes that we should continue with our current 7-member council that represents Austin as a whole.  Blodgett is relying on the assumption that if Austin adopts this new plan, the quality of representation will decrease, which he bases on Austin’s satisfaction in representation surveys compared to other cities surveys that have single-member districts.  Blodgett implies that he believes they should work together on a common goal, not divide themselves between districts with different goals.

The article appears to be supported with statistics and facts, but these facts are all one-sided and could have been misconstrued.  Unfortunately the article cuts off rather abruptly, giving little obvious conclusion.  What I have gathered from this article though, is that Austin shouldn’t be divided in such a way.  Until now, I hadn’t really given the Austin City Council too much thought.

Summing up the articles meaning, Blodgett believes single-member districts will give less, if no, representation.  If you want results, the citizens of Austin should vote to stay with our current system.

Is Texas Drying Up?

The article “As Texas Town Runs Dry, Fate of Others in Question,” posted on Texas Tribune, is one of the many recent articles concerning the drought in Texas.  The full story was originally published at StateImpact Texas under the title of “Could Other Texas Towns Run Dry Like Spicewood Beach?”  The drought in Texas seems to be the topic of the year, as it should be.  One of my previous professors emphasized “water is Texas’ most valuable resource right now.”  He couldn’t have put it a better way.  Our lack of water is such an important issue right now, as it not only affects our living conditions but also the growth of the state.

            Spicewood Beach recently “ran dry” without warning and is now forced to ship in their water, even though it is located on the shore of Central Texas’ largest reservoir.  The distinction between well water and surface-level water, such as lakes, are poorly defined.  The wells seem to lose water as the lake levels recede in some cases.  If the connection between the two can be identified, other areas of Texas could potentially prevent situations similar to Spicewood Beach’s.  Other reservoirs are not expected to go dry in the near future, but it is still important to prepare such an event.