February 11, 2012

News and Views

The Battle For Austins Soul

Remarks Delivered by Les Aisenman, Texas GP Director of Advocacy*

February 9, 2012, Austin City Council Public Hearing: Austin Energy Rate Increase Proposal

My name is Les Aisenman, Director of Advocacy and Board Member of the Texas Gray Panthers, Council Member of Moveon.org, and proud participant in Occupy Austin; an Occupy still alive and well despite the Gestapo tactics employed by the militarized APD, operating under your oversight and the orders it must have received in your behalf. You all will have to answer for this atrocious choice sometime in the near future. Were you party to that decision? Did you speak out loudly and publicly against it? The truth will write your political elegy or eulogy soon enough! Mayor and Council Members, once again I stand before you to speak out in behalf of the Citizens of Austin and Travis County, in condemnation of the destructive and amoral behavior of your employees, the decision making upper management of Austin Energy. Yes, they are your employees, though you often seem to act as if you had forgotten that and allowed the tail to wag the dog. A Battle for Austins Soul is Now Premiering at Austin Energy Executive Suites. After being confronted by a united populace, after being taken to task for a proposal that shifts costs from industrial to residential customers, a rate design that penalizes, rather than rewards, energy conservation and low usage, finally providing AEs Navigant Report, but heavily redacted (are there other problems you prefer we remain in the dark about?), projections that greatly overstate AEs revenue needs and demeans reasonable uses of debt in favor of cash accumulation for Capital expenditures, fails to provide adequately or at all for solar or energy efficiency, attacks Austins Houses of Worship already struggling to maintain their dedication to the less fortunate, and. Why go on. In terms of serving the public good, Austin Energys proposal is a stark failure and another example of Corporatist over reach in the tradition of Wisconsin s Governor and his Colleagues in Ohio and Michigan , just on another front. The objectives are the same, take from the poor and middle class to enable giveaways to the richest amongst us. There was a time when dreamers populated this city. They looked to create a freer, more egalitarian and caring space where people could live together, work together, dream and create together, assist those who needed help, and build a prosperous city without the bonds of earlier times. As part of that dream Austin became known as the Live Music Center of the Nation. Think about that. People to People Music not disembodied disk to ear. Only in a city that prized and supported people to people contact, prized collective and individual freedom, supported the widest variety of life-styles in all of Texas, and when necessary, the help and assistance required by those falling on bad times, could that dream have grown and created what Austin became, and how Austin was known and perceived. That dream is being assaulted from all sides and lives are being destroyed. State Government slashes funds to support public education, health and human services of every type, but the prisons must be maintained. The City and Schools do the same, and the vulnerable get left out, left behind, chopped up, , diced, and left out, and Austin Energy would heap on their backs the burdens of maintaining low energy rates for our biggest Hotels while the poorest are asked to give up more and more from their meager resources. By comparison, more than 100 employees at Austin Energy are being paid in excess of $100,000 per annum. If they were all paid that minimum, and they are not (Larry Weis, Austin Energys General Manager alone is paid more that 2 1/2 times $100,000), that would amount to $10,000,000 a year, increased by most salaries being well over that figure. What do they do for the stockholders, the residents and ratepayers of Austin , thats worth more than $10,000,000? For how long will we continue to
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Texas Gray Panthers of Austin, Gary Dugger, Convener graypanthers@grandecom.net; www.graypanthersaustin.org National Gray Panthers, Washington, DC 202-737-6637; www.graypanthers.org Sharron Aisenman, Gray Panthers On The Prowl Editor, Board of Directors 512-704-6675; sharronaisenman@yahoo.com

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be the victims of Corporatist thinking that inverts our priorities, subverts our values and substitutes the amoral if not immoral perversions of a profit first mentality? By comparison, more than 100 employees at Austin Energy are being paid in excess of $100,000 per annum. If they were all paid that minimum, and they are not (Larry Weis, Austin Energys General Manager alone is paid more that 2 1/2 times $100,000), that would amount to $10,000,000 a year, increased by most salaries being well over that figure. What do they do for the stockholders, the residents and ratepayers of Austin , thats worth more than $10,000,000? For how long will we continue to be the victims of Corporatist thinking that inverts our priorities, subverts our values and substitutes the amoral if not immoral perversions of a profit first mentality? According to a report in the Austin American Statesman, our Mayor Leffingwell floated the idea of two rate structures: one for customers inside the city and a lower one for customers outside it. It should be noted that at the Public Hearing, January 12, we heard from the developers darling, Texas State Rep. Paul Workman, who advanced the ludicrous idea that his suburban constituents, served by Austin Energy, were being taxed by the City of Austin without Representation. Never thought wed see the day that Austin s Mayor would be carrying water for a Republican cry baby. In case anyone thinks there is the slightest merit to this illogical and irrational proposition, consider the following: 1) It was the citizens of Austin who, through their good sense and foresight, invested the money and created Austin Energy. They deserve whatever profits their collective investments, vision and good judgment may bring them. 2) The people who live outside our city choose to do so for reasons of their own. If they wish to have for themselves whatever benefits accrue to our citys residents, they can choose to find a place to live within its boundaries, or request annexation. 3) That they should pay a rate lower than city residents turns reason on its head. In effect, they would garner dividends for not investing! 4) If Austin Energy were a privately owned utility, operating for the profit of private stockholders, Paul Workman wouldnt be saying anything. He would not interfere with a private profit making entity, and his constituents would simply take their case to the state on the basis of excessive profits beyond a reasonable return on investment. Taxation without representation indeed! 5) Under the principles and values of free enterprise, ratepayers who are not Stockholders, should probably be paying more, not less. Under the single rate structure they already benefit from the probability that Austin Energys rates will, more often than not, be lower than those of analogous privately held utilities. And surprise of surprises, this hare-brained proposition was embraced by the executives of the publicly owned Austin Energy, a slap in the face of every ratepayer in the city of Austin . AE would make it even more attractive than ever to live outside the Austin City Limits, promoting ever greater urban sprawl. Austin Energys top management brains now endorse a discount of 6.1% for all residents who choose not to live in and be a part of the Austin Communities. That is their privilege, but the Stockholders in Austin Energy, dont owe them a discount. Why our Mayor wishes to provide this reactionary Republican office-holder with a re-election gift to take back to his constituents in his primary battle with a Tea Party uber-militant on his right and later with the Democratic nominee on his left, is almost beyond explanation or logic. Why such strange political bedfellows here? Austin Electric wants more money but insists on maintaining a lack of transparency that prevents us from knowing how our money is spent. They operate as if they were a private-for-profit- utility making public as little as they can get away with. Question after question presents itself. Im not talking about parsing the words and numbers of this rate proposal and its supporting documents. Im talking about the overarching issues of vision, morality, transparency and the use of taxpayers and ratepayers-stockholders moneys. Why are Austin Energys residential customers left to wonder who Austin Energy really serves, when all of us are supposedly its owners, and its Executives our trustees employed for the common good? How much compensation in salary and perks for City Council and staff has been covered by Austin Energy funds? Have any funds from Austin Energy been used by the City Council to pay for expensive outside Law Firms to defend Council Members or Staff or Cap Metro from its Citizens for alleged violations of the Texas Public Information Act? Continued Page 3
Texas Gray Panthers of Austin, Gary Dugger, Convener graypanthers@grandecom.net; www.graypanthersaustin.org National Gray Panthers, Washington, DC 202-737-6637; www.graypanthers.org Sharron Aisenman, Gray Panthers On The Prowl Editor, Board of Directors 512-704-6675; sharronaisenman@yahoo.com

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Why is the City Manager Ott paying the $82,000 salary of his friend, Chiquita Watt Eugene, in a newly created position, with money from the budgets of Austin Energy and the City Water Department? That was reported in the Austin American Statesman. The questions proliferate while transparency becomes more and more opaque. Please recall the lesson of Watergate I spoke of during last months public hearing. Please remember again the key admonitionfollow the money. Follow the moneywho gave, who took, who offered, who got, and who the bagman is! Follow the money Of course we want to follow the money. But how can we follow the money when we--the owners of Austin Energy -the ones who pay the bills, must instead continue to pay the piper - when we are deprived of the information we paid to collect, and see. Thats what an audit is for. It spells out answers to the admonition, follow the money..

Richard Franklin III, President of Youth Unlimited and Candidate for Travis County Commissioner, Precinct I, asked that I include a brief statement from him in the record. February 8, 2012. "The Public now increasingly insists that we pull back the covers and expose the dark underbelly of connections between big business interest$ and government (in the form and persons of elected and appointed officials). Someone must stand up for the 'little person', the underserved & underresourced. This can only happen if elected (and appointed) officials are totally transparent, responsive to the Public in faithfully observing and upholding their sworn Oath of Office and not continuing merely to look for answers they think will placate the public - but meanwhile serving 'Other Master$'. We will not go away, we deserve better. Open the books: show us where our tax dollars have gone!"
Bagmen work in various ways. Its not always cash. Its jobs, perks, its pressureadverse pressure in a bad system. Citizens must stand up for good people that get caught in a system that twists principles into pretzels. We know you want to do the right thing, and we depend on you to help us help you serve the public interest. I wish to close with a statement I was unable to speak at the end of last months presentation. It is as true now as it was then. At a minimum, this council must reject the notion that any new rate structure or fees can be considered until and unless the audit is made public and then that the public has the time to consider the extent and the propriety of the requests being made by AEs Executive Suites and the hired gun Consultants they selected. Whats wrong with the public being given full access in the full light of day? Anything less would be at best an abdication of your responsibility, or at worst the blatant sell-out of the people you were elected to lead. As our elected leaders, Mr. Mayor and Council Members, you are not here to serve Austin Energys executives, even though you choose to pay them many times what you receive from the public. As you surely know, you are here to serve the interests of the public and to do so in a manner that realizes the wishes of its citizens. You can achieve such a high calling only in humility, being as conscious of every one of us as you are of the high and mighty. Anything less should be beneath you. And I ask us all, each in his own way, to pray that you fulfill your charge, knowing that we shall stand ready to protect you. Stand up and stand firm and well have your back! Leslie Aisenman, Director of Advocacy, graypantheradvocacy@gmail.com *This is the complete prepared statement by Les Aisenman,-which he was able to deliver only in part @ 9 Feb city council hearing on Austin Energy's rate increase proposal. (Council delayed from 6 pm to 10 pm this Scheduled Agenda Item - and many who planned to speak or donate time had found it necessary to leave.)
Clinton Smith, South Central Regional Representative, National Gray Panthers Board of Directors

Texas Gray Panthers of Austin, Gary Dugger, Convener graypanthers@grandecom.net; www.graypanthersaustin.org National Gray Panthers, Washington, DC 202-737-6637; www.graypanthers.org Sharron Aisenman, Gray Panthers On The Prowl Editor, Board of Directors 512-704-6675; sharronaisenman@yahoo.com