AUSTIN | Economic Development

[urbancore]

Originally Posted by freerover

Not a great sign the county didn't approve the Tesla deal on Tuesday.

Fuck me.

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by freerover

Not a great sign the county didn't approve the Tesla deal on Tuesday.

Was it posted on the agenda as being up for approval?

[freerover]

Originally Posted by Novacek

Was it posted on the agenda as being up for approval?

Yea it was an action item.

[H2O]

I don't know, they could have voted to disapprove, which would be worse.

This Tuesday, the Travis County Commissioners Court once again opened the floor to public testimony regarding the development incentive package for Tesla’s proposed “Gigafactory” in southeastern Travis County. The court took no action on the matter.

https://www.austinmonitor.com/storie...m71HjhWg05L6Z8

[freerover]

Originally Posted by H2O

Not according to this Monitor article:

This Tuesday, the Travis County Commissioners Court once again opened the floor to public testimony regarding the development incentive package for Tesla’s proposed “Gigafactory” in southeastern Travis County. The court took no action on the matter.

https://www.austinmonitor.com/storie...m71HjhWg05L6Z8

That's exactly what I said. They took no action. It was item 10 in their voting section and they discussed in executive session but took no vote but they could have. Just because you can vote doesn't mean you have to.

[urbancore]

if these boobs turn this down......why i ought uh...... But seriously, it will hurt the people most they most often try to help. People need jobs, especially now. The world is moving away from fossil fuels, and this tech/car/manufacturing industry is the perfect way to build a whole range of jobs for people to work away from poverty.

I truly hope they use this "executive" time to figure out a way to score a "win" against Tesla. I think if they can come back and say, "yeah, we didn't want to do it, but we were able to force the big bad corporation to their knees and give us all free rechargeable AA batteries for life, they caved".

Corporations, like people, are good and bad, and sometimes good corporations do bad things....looking at you VW. We gotta get over this, and do what's best for the most number of people. JOBS, JOBS, JOBS.

Can you imagine how stupid this will look in 2 years, when we fall into a recession and people are begging for jobs, if we look this gift horse in the mouth and turn it around and give it a good smack on the ass, sending it galloping to Tulsa?

[hookem]

It’s back on the agenda for next week:
http://traviscountytx.iqm2.com/Citiz...91&Inline=True

Keep in mind that the only way more than 2 commissioners can discuss the agreement is by placing an agenda item on a public meeting. They can make the discussion private via executive session, but this is the only legal way for them to discuss. So taking no action even though it is on the agenda is totally normal during the negotiation process, especially when you see the executive session disclaimer.

[the Genral]

Originally Posted by hookem

It’s back on the agenda for next week:
http://traviscountytx.iqm2.com/Citiz...91&Inline=True

Keep in mind that the only way more than 2 commissioners can discuss the agreement is by placing an agenda item on a public meeting. They can make the discussion private via executive session, but this is the only legal way for them to discuss. So taking no action even though it is on the agenda is totally normal during the negotiation process, especially when you see the executive session disclaimer.

OK, whew.... otherwise I'm with urbancore on this.

[TexasPlaya]

Houston makes more sense.

[We vs us]

I dunno, I'm not so worried about it. The delay doesn't seem dire, the reporting hasn't landed on any profound sticking points, and there's just not a lot of local chatter about trying to pull back corporate subsidies. To be honest, I'll bet all of this is benefiting from the coronavirus and BLM protests taking up so much of our collective angst bandwidth.

Unless something else bubbles up, I'm going to assume this just needs two sessions to get to the greenlight.

[hookem]

Originally Posted by We vs us

Unless something else bubbles up, I'm going to assume this just needs two sessions to get to the greenlight.

It may be more than 2 sessions, these are weekly meetings — it’s not like city council where if a vote isn’t taken, then it’s at least a month before things move.

I imagine if there were any friction in the negotiations then some side would be complaining to the press for leverage.

[Mikey711MN]

Originally Posted by hookem

I imagine if there were any friction in the negotiations then some side would be complaining to the press for leverage.

Not widely reported, but this appears to be an attempt to gain some leverage: https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-elon...factory-visit/

[freerover]

Originally Posted by hookem

It’s back on the agenda for next week:
http://traviscountytx.iqm2.com/Citiz...91&Inline=True

Keep in mind that the only way more than 2 commissioners can discuss the agreement is by placing an agenda item on a public meeting. They can make the discussion private via executive session, but this is the only legal way for them to discuss. So taking no action even though it is on the agenda is totally normal during the negotiation process, especially when you see the executive session disclaimer.

They can put it on the agenda to discuss it and not make it an action item. I'm telling you, Tesla and Travis County staff working on the deal were expecting it to pass last week. That's likely why Musk was in Oklahoma in the last few days meeting with their governor. Either to scare Travis County or to move ahead with the Tulsa factory.

[hookem]

Originally Posted by Mikey711MN

Not widely reported, but this appears to be an attempt to gain some leverage: https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-elon...factory-visit/

Yes, that would appear to be such. We’ll see what happens next week.

[StoOgE]

Oklahoma pitching a major employer under a EZ up tent in the middle of a field is about as on-message as one could get.

[BG918]

Originally Posted by StoOgE

Oklahoma pitching a major employer under a EZ up tent in the middle of a field is about as on-message as one could get.

What else would they do, it’s an open field and 90+ degrees.

Sounds like either way Tesla will likely have operations in both Austin and Tulsa.

Kouplen, for his part, noted that even if Tulsa loses to Austin this time around, it does not mean that Tesla will never establish a presence in the city. This is especially notable considering that Tesla would likely need additional sites for upcoming projects like the Semi’s production ramp and the expansion of its energy products. Thus, for Tulsa, there will be no regrets, regardless of which site Tesla selects for the Cybertruck factory.

“This won’t be the last factory they build or the last investment they make. We’re building a relationship with Tesla that will continue regardless of what happens this time,” Kouplen said.

[We vs us]

Originally Posted by StoOgE

Oklahoma pitching a major employer under a EZ up tent in the middle of a field is about as on-message as one could get.

As a former Tulsan, this is is right on the money. OKlahoma is Texas without the imagination or the funds, TBH.

I still think it's ours to lose, delay or not. And we'll know if the deal is in trouble because Tesla/Elon will make sure it leaks before the deal dies. They want Austin bad, IMO.

[Jdawgboy]

You know I keep thinking about how this thread got started and what Urbancore posted about a big announcement. Is Tesla what you were referring to? Just curious cause unless I missed it, you never mentioned what it was.

[undergroundman]

Originally Posted by StoOgE

Oklahoma pitching a major employer under a EZ up tent in the middle of a field is about as on-message as one could get.

They may not have popped up an extravagant de-luxe model tent for him but I guarantee you it's a 100% better message than the one sent in Travis county by both some of the southeast residents who derided Musk as a "billionaire playboy" and by the commissioners' delay.

I get that they have to go through the precedural motions of listening to the citizens, but I really hope these commissioners know what they're doing in delaying their decision. This game they're playing could have a disastrous outcome for the people of southeast Austin and turn into political suicide if Tesla decides Austin is more trouble than it's worth. If they end up overplaying their hand, we should all pay more attention to who gets elected into these offices. This should be lesson in the idea that just because their party affiliation aligns with yours, it should not be enough.

At some point the commissioners need to filter out all the paid lobbyists with their self serving agendas and the labor unions who would rather see the people of east Austin miss out on an opportunity to help clothe and feed their families, than for the labor union themselves to miss out on an opportunity to collect more union dues. This is a chance to add thousands of jobs at no cost to the tax payers.

I also find it very interesting that we haven't heard a peep from the Austin city council members to endorse something that would create jobs for an area that they themselves claim suffers from economic inequity. Not only was Oklahoma's governor present but Tusla's mayor also came out to meet with Musk. Not even a peep from Austin's mayor, Delia Garza, or the king of inequity Greg Casar. Sometimes I wonder if they prefer their constituents to remain poor so that they can evoke the emotional campaign rally cry of inequity. Despite her constant complaint of inequity, Garza has done nothing in her tenure to bring jobs to her district. This is her chance to stand up and do so.

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by undergroundman

I also find it very interesting that we haven't heard a peep from the Austin city council members to endorse something that would create jobs for an area that they themselves claim suffers from economic inequity. Not only was Oklahoma's governor present but Tusla's mayor also came out to meet with Musk. Not even a peep from Austin's mayor, Delia Garza, or the king of inequity Greg Casar. Sometimes I wonder if they prefer their constituents to remain poor so that they can evoke the emotional campaign rally cry of inequity. Despite her constant complaint of inequity, Garza has done nothing in her tenure to bring jobs to her district. This is her chance to stand up and do so.

We haven’t heard from the city of Austin because it’s not in the city of Austin.