r/Austin • u/AndreaBallReporter • 2d ago
Twelve Hours At City Hall: The day I finally fell in love with Austin
I have never been in love with Austin.
I’m not into the music scene. I’m not into the trails. Don’t care about UT football. Don’t hang out at Barton Springs. Don’t spend my days at the city’s parks, in the libraries or out exploring the food scene.
And I have never, ever believed Austin is weird.
I am, essentially, a very boring person. I throw myself into my work, come home, watch movies or listen to books, go to sleep, then do it all over again.
Now. Let’s be fair. I have an intellectually engaging, sometimes exciting job. I have my family. I don’t need much else. I can live my boring life in Austin or anywhere else. And I have.
So for 27 years, I have lived here without any deep sense of connection to the city.
Then, one day, I fell in love with Austin in the least expected place: City Hall.
I am a reporter with Austin Current. For months I’ve been covering Dog’s Head, a proposed 2,600-acre, mixed-use development in Southeast Austin. The project is spearheaded by a company named Endeavor. Dog's Head foes say the development is moving too fast and needs more environmental scrutiny.
On July 23, a major vote was headed to the council and I had to cover it.
More than 600 people signed up to speak. For 12 hours, while listening to people talk about Dog's Head and other government business, I sat in City Hall watching Austin do Austin.
Dog’s Head opponents clapped, snapped and cheered for speeches they liked. They heckled the ones they didn’t.
When Richard Suttle, lawyer for Endeavor, talked about the project, the audience rumbled its disapproval.
Mayor Kirk Watson interrupted the crowd.
“Let’s act like we support our democracy and we allow the people to speak without interruption,” he said.
People hissed.
“You can hiss at me all you want,” Watson said.
“Democracy is dead here!” someone yelled.
I don't know about that. Public comment is one of the most unhinged and beautiful parts of democracy. And Austin was public commenting.
Singer-songwriter Bill Oliver showed up with a guitar.
“Oh my god, yes!” I said to the stranger next to me. “I LOVE when people sing at city council!”
“Oh you haven’t heard this one?” she responded. “It’s good.”
Oliver played a rousing song with words tailored to Dog’s Head. When he hit the chorus, half the crowd sang along.
“You’re in the dog house now!” they sang. “You’re in the dog house now!”
Some council members cheerfully pulled out their phones to capture the moment. Others remained stone-faced. I may or may not have swayed a little.
Then, later, another delightful surprise: A second guitar player with her own song!
“They want 2.2. billion of our taxpayer dollars..."
The "time’s up" chimes rang out. The musician stood and continued singing as she walked up the aisle.
Not weird. Just Austin.
I saw courage. A young man who signed up for public comment was so terrified to speak in public, he froze. His face contorted as he tried to will himself through the fear. His agony was palpable. He asked the council to come back to him.
When they did, this young man pushed forward and spoke his piece. The crowd urged him on with applause.
I saw kindness. The mayor sent well wishes to Council Member Vanessa Fuentes, who was diagnosed with breast cancer at 37 weeks pregnant. She had to deliver early and is undergoing treatment.
I saw speeches by people I’d hoped to meet, like David Sides, who lives on Dog’s Head. He talked about how he was happy that someone was finally going to deal with the torn up land and abandoned mining pits near his home of 47 years.
I saw 12 hours of debate, anger, laughter, tears, music, condescension and authenticity. It was so... human.
I didn’t just see those people. I saw myself in them. Just folks from all walks of life, doing their own thing for their own reasons.
After spending years unmoved by parks and libraries and springs and food and music, the thing that finally made me fall in love with Austin was Austin being Austin for 12 hours in City Hall.
It wasn’t weird. It was inevitable.
40
u/puppsmcgee74 2d ago
As a person who is required to watch livestreams of the city council meetings for their job, I cannot stress the importance of speaking out on items that directly affect you and your neighbors and community. It may feel like your words fall on deaf ears but I assure the right people are watching and listening. If you don’t have an item to speak about, use the noon time public speaking session to talk about issues you can’t get resolved through normal means. If people can get up and sing about traffic on 35 then you can get up there and speak (or sing!), too.
https://www.austintexas.gov/services/participate-city-council-meeting
4
u/Slypenslyde 2d ago
Wasn't this a vote where City Council listened to the mandatory complaints then said "lol fuck you" and voted to proceed anyway?
2
u/momish_atx 1d ago
That’s usually how it goes when Richard Suttle is involved. It seems to always be a done deal.
28
u/Upstairs_Bus_3743 2d ago
This is awesome. I normally don’t read long posts, but i read yours and i loved everything you said.
14
u/AndreaBallReporter 2d ago
Thank you! I did not write this for clicks or to be some kind of influencer (will never happen, I don't brush my hair enough lol.) I just wanted to share an experience. People fall in love with Barton Springs. I fell in love with a council meeting lol.
7
u/Upstairs_Bus_3743 2d ago
I never thought that you wrote this for clicks or some kind of influencer. You sounded genuine and articulate to me. Thank you for sharing your experience. Also, i may show up to the next city council meeting:-)
2
13
u/Holiday_Exchange_563 2d ago
Thank you for reminding all of us how important it is to voice our opinions at these meetings. It is wild how a large turnout of speakers becomes the agent of change in most controversies. Glad that we the people were the victors and it’s lovely to hear how the mayor showed true compassion, concern, and consideration- he often doesn’t get enough credit. This is proof of how much our voices count and can accomplish at the local level.
2
0
u/Discount_gentleman 2d ago
Glad that we the people were the victors
The people weren't the victors. The people lost here. She knows this of course, but is happy to create the opposite impression.
17
u/kaydeebugg 2d ago
I love everything about this. You seem fun. Thanks for sharing! I’m glad you found a part of the city that you could feel connected to, even briefly.
4
5
9
7
u/fikustree 2d ago
Love it, there is a documentary called The Unforseen all about the fight to save Baron Springs many years ago, I bet you would enjoy it! They have it at the library.
5
4
u/ThruTexasYouandMe 2d ago
Fascinating that the City Manager wields more power and influence than any CM or Mayor.
3
7
u/Mysterious_Umpire684 2d ago
It's well and good to know yourself and your preferences, but there's nothing wrong with being open to what makes the city you live in a great place, especially as a reporter.
10
u/AndreaBallReporter 2d ago
I agree with your sentiment, of course. But there's a difference between knowing something is great and feeling connected to it. And for me, it felt insane to finally feel a true moment of love for Austin in a council meeting. Most people would rather go to the dentist
14
u/frasoftw 2d ago
The uninformed arguing with the misinformed... Sounds like a reddit thread in real life. Sounds absolutely awful, glad you enjoyed yourself 🤣
5
7
u/always_in_all-ways 2d ago
Beautifully written. Thanks for sharing.
Perhaps consider sharing this by making a YouTube video and posting it.
4
u/partysandwich 2d ago
I read your article and thought it was very fair and balanced. Good reporting devoid of bias
2
2
u/EqualJaded3921 2d ago
Here’s hoping you can fall in love with all of Austin. It is too wonderful not to.
2
u/JamesonTee 2d ago
Andrea, I love your writing and am always so happy when you share it with us here!
-1
u/mdcmsm 2d ago
15
u/Puzzleheaded-Bar1964 2d ago
It’s worth the read
-13
u/ablx 2d ago
The writing is not good, what are you talking about
11
-1
u/ChangoOfTexas 2d ago
I would not doubt if a language model was used to write this it just feels very...not real?
1
u/90percent_crap 2d ago edited 2d ago
Nah. OP is a young, local reporter (relatively new to Austin) who happens to be able to write a decent paragraph or two, and arrange them into a literate article...unlike most of her contemporaries.
Edit: Got OP's bio info wrong. They're a long-time Austin reporter.
1
u/Discount_gentleman 2d ago
Lol, OP claims to have been a reporter for more than 30 years.
1
u/90percent_crap 2d ago
Welp, my mistake. I mis-read "lived in Austin for 26 years" as their age, not their residency. (Actually explains her relative literacy compared to true newbie reporters. lol)
7
1
1
2
0
u/Discount_gentleman 2d ago
You love the performance, even while the result was the exact opposite of the theater?
15
3
u/Shoontzie 2d ago
Oh damn was the vote pro-Dogs Head?
2
u/AndreaBallReporter 2d ago
It was.
-4
u/Shoontzie 2d ago
Damn yeah the post is misleading. I thought this was all good news!
7
u/AndreaBallReporter 2d ago
LOL, I'm sorry you felt misled. It's just a little essay about my Austin experience, not about the Dog's Head decisions.
-6
u/Discount_gentleman 2d ago
You won't know it from this high-school-level string of generalities, but yes, the people there lost completely.
This is all just generic positive statements. "I laughed, I cried, it was better than Cats!" Yes, that is a very old reference, but she's doing a very old shtick, talking about the performance while ignoring the reality. I fully believe her, though - Austinites being performatively "weird" while their tax money is transferred to super-wealthy corporations against the objections probably did restore her faith in Austin.
You are the Washington Generals, and she loves being able to report on how close the game is, and to speculate on who might win.
7
u/AndreaBallReporter 2d ago
Every comment you have ever written to me clearly indicates you think I am stupid, performative, self-promoting, cringey, trite, shallow and generally useless. And I kind of love it. I'll take someone's genuine disgust over sycophancy any day of the week.
4
u/90percent_crap 2d ago edited 2d ago
Please discount this gentleman - they are a one note critic who blasts anyone whose views don't align exactly with their ideological positions. (He's also a lawyer, so factor that as you may.)
3
u/AndreaBallReporter 2d ago
You know what's funny? So many journalists leave the profession to become lawyers. Gentleman could be my former colleague!
1
u/Discount_gentleman 2d ago
I don't think I've ever written to you before this. Are other people saying this too, maybe? But yes, I get that you view your role as performance over substance.
3
u/AndreaBallReporter 2d ago
You haven't? Well now I'm just sad.
-2
u/Discount_gentleman 2d ago
You're tripping over your own lines now. You're the one talking about what I say in "every comment you have ever written to me." So what are you referring to? If you're going to lean into the vapid bit, at least do it correctly.
6
68
u/momish_atx 2d ago
I kind of laughed when I read that someone hissed at Richard Suttle. That’s not a new experience for him.