First-time Candidate Sued City of Austin Over Tax Abatements for Historical Preservation
by Rebecca LaFlure
Dominic Chavez
When arriving at Austin City Council candidate Dominic Chavez’s campaign kickoff at the Rattle Inn Tuesday evening, one could not help but notice the road construction occurring just outside the 610 Nueces Street bar.
“It’s fitting seeing these guys working,” Chavez said to The Austin Bulldog, amid the sounds of heavy machinery. “In Austin I think we’ve forgotten about the people who built this city, who work here everyday. Austin is much more difficult for these folks to live in now than ever before.”
Chavez, an Iraq War veteran and senior director for external relations at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, officially launched his campaign for Austin City Council in front of about 50 supporters, saying he hopes to make Austin a more affordable place to live.
Chavez is one of seven people seeking the Place 5 spot, including incumbent Bill Spelman, a public affairs professor at the University of Texas at Austin who has been elected to two nonconsecutive terms on the council. Entrepreneur Tina Cannon, another Place 5 challenger, held her campaign kickoff on February 17.
Chavez, a proponent of creating City Council districts, said he hopes to bring a new voice to the council, particularly for residents who live outside Austin’s central city core.
“I live in far South Austin…and that whole area down there is one of the fastest growing and people feel like they aren’t being represented because you have a council that represents literally a mile-and-a-half radius of this community,” he said. “That was one of the reasons I decided to run.”
No one on the current City Council resides south of the river, an area that is home to about 40 percent of Austin’s population.
Chavez said he wants to ensure that Austin has an educated, competitive workforce so local businesses don’t have to look outside the city limits to find qualified employees. He proposes that the city collaborate with Austin ISD, local colleges and universities, business leaders, and parents to create a long-term strategic workforce development plan.
“Tied to (improving affordability) is not just how do we control costs for people—like how do we keep our electric rates reasonable and fair—but it’s also saying how do we create a workforce that’s capable of getting better-paying, higher-wage jobs?” Chavez said. “We have to do much more to ensure we have a workforce that is competitive and aligned with the economy we’re trying to create in Austin.”
He said that he differs from Spelman in his views on moving City Council elections from May to November. Spelman voted against the move because he felt that Austin voters should authorize any changes to election dates that are specified in the Austin City Charter. However, Chavez argued that holding November elections would save the city money and increase voter turnout.
He also disagrees with some of Spelman’s stances on public safety.
While drafting the fiscal year 2012 city budget, Spelman questioned whether hiring 49 more police officers to keep up with the city’s standard of two officers per 1,000 residents would be the most effective use of resources, according to a September 13, 2011, article in the Austin American-Statesman. He instead proposed hiring 33 officers and 14 civilian Police Department employees, including 9-1-1 call-takers.
“I think he’s dead wrong on that proposal,” said Chavez, noting that experts have said the I-35 corridor is a major focal point for drug distribution. “I think I speak for a great deal of this community, particularly the outlying areas. They want to make sure that their neighborhoods, schools, and businesses are safe.”
Supporters want shift in council focus
Emily Wyatt, a Southwest Austin resident who came out to support Chavez Tuesday evening, said she is excited that someone with a new perspective is running for City Council.
“The financial issues are really important to everyone in Austin, but they don’t get the publicity of the things like plastic bags,” said Wyatt, referring to the council’s recent decision to ban disposable paper and plastic bags in retail stores. “There are many more fundamentally important issues to deal with: budget, utilities, public service workers, and things like that. They don’t seem to be where the council’s attention is focused.”
Chavez echoed a similar sentiment during his campaign speech, saying, “I’ve talked to the reddest conservatives to the bluest Democrats. They’re concerned about the same issues: rising property taxes, higher utility rates, traffic. They’re not concerned about, in most cases, what’s our policy on plastic bags.”
Chavez has garnered some well-known supporters, including his campaign treasurer, Ed Wendler Jr., an Austin developer. Wendler is Council Member Mike Martinez’s brother-in-law.
“I always thought if the council had one really smart person who was brave enough to ask good questions and independent enough from the really small clique who runs City Hall, that one person…could have a huge impact on city policy,” Wendler said. “I’m absolutely positive (Chavez) could be that person.”
Chavez, Texas Monthly founder Mike Levy, and political consultant Alfred Stanley filed a lawsuit against the city and every City Council member on April 11, 2011, over historic tax exemptions. According to district court records, they argued that the city gave tax breaks to historic properties without finding if tax relief was necessary to preserve the site.
“In clear conflict with state law, the defendants have diverted $4.2 million of local revenue to reduce property taxes for a small, privileged class of residents that own ‘historic’ properties, many of whom do not require such relief,” the lawsuit stated.
According to a February 14, 2012, Statesmanarticle, “in exchange for dropping the suit, the city agreed to require the owners of historical homes to justify each year why they need a tax break to preserve their properties’ historic character.”
Spelman’s campaign raised $31,600 through December 31, according to campaign finance reports released January 17. Chavez and Cannon have yet to file any campaign finance reports since they both announced their candidacy after January 17.
Spelman’s other challengers are: David Yepez Conley, John Duffy, Robert “Bo” Prudente, and John Rubine.
None of the challengers has ever run for a seat on the Austin City Council before, according to the city’s Election History website.
This report was made possible by contributions to The Austin Bulldog, which operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit to provide investigative reporting in the public interest. You can help sustain this kind of reporting by making a tax-deductible contribution.
Free Beer, Free Eats, and Free Music Makes a Speech Go Down Real Easy
by Rebecca LaFlure
Lee Leffingwell addresses the crowd
At a campaign event Saturday, Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell touted what he considers several of his greatest accomplishments over the past two and a half years: helping create jobs amid a shaky economy, building collaborative agreements with Austin ISD, and garnering support for a $90 million transportation bond voters approved in November 2010.
But there’s still work to be done, Leffingwell said, and he hopes Austin residents will elect him to a second mayoral term May 12.
“I think we’ve made a lot of progress over the last two and a half years on a lot of different things, but the job is not finished,” Leffingwell said. “My goal has always been and remains today to leave Austin a better place than we found it.”
Hundreds of Austin residents gathered at Leffingwell’s new campaign headquarters, located in East Austin at 2406 Manor Road, to drink beer, eat barbecue, listen to live music, and support Leffingwell’s re-election campaign. The event concluded with an outdoor screening of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Leffingwell’s favorite movie, about a high school student determined to have a day off from school.
Brigid Shea
So far Leffingwell faces only one major competitor in his race for a second term: environmentalist Brigid Shea, founding director of the Save Our Springs Coalition formed in 1991. The coalition gained passage of the Save Our Springs Ordinance, which limits development over the Barton Springs portion of the Edwards Aquifer, and later became the Save Our Springs Alliance. Shea served on the Austin City Council from 1993 to 1996.
Leffingwell’s event attendees included Austin City Council member Chris Riley, council candidate Tina Cannon, who is running against incumbent Bill Spelman, and former council member Randi Shade.
“It must be the free beer, barbecue and movie. We rarely get this kind of turnout for political speeches,” Leffingwell joked during a brief speech.
He alluded to his recent campaign video based on the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. The video received more than 10,000 hits on YouTube and included a scene with Leffingwell singing in the shower.
“I’ve recently launched my career as an actor,” Leffingwell said, eliciting chuckles from the crowd. “Relax, I’m not going to take my shirt off here.”
Leffingwell was first elected to the City Council in 2005 and re-elected in 2008, winning both elections without a runoff. He got 47.23 percent of the vote in his first mayoral contest in 2009 but avoided a runoff when opponent Brewster McCracken withdrew.
Leffingwell took on the mayoral role a year after the nation’s economic downturn, and his immediate goal was to create jobs and improve Austin’s economy, he said.
“We brought thousands of jobs to the City of Austin,” Leffingwell said, “and we’ll bring thousands more in a new term.”
Leffingwell said he has helped build collaborative agreements with AISD—such as joint policing or sharing facilities—and emphasized his support for clean energy and keeping energy affordable to all customers.
Austin Energy has proposed raising electricity rates 12.5 percent—8.7 percent this year and 3.8 percent in 2014—but the Austin City Council has not made a final decision on the increase, according to a February 22 article in the Austin American-Statesman.
He said the city has made strides to maintain an open government, noting the city now posts its checkbook online, has held meetings outside City Hall, and publishes council meeting draft agendas on the city’s website a week earlier than before. He did not mention the fact that the city council is still under investigation by Travis County Attorney David Escamilla over possible violations of the Texas Open Meetings Act.
Leffingwell voiced his support for creating City Council districts and moving council elections from May to November, when there is more voter participation.
Leffingwell said the greatest challenge the city faces is transportation, and he hopes to improve all forms of transportation, including roads, pedestrian and bicycle facilities, and a “better mass transit.”
Supporters content with Austin’s direction
Peoples’ reasons for attending the event varied. John Welsch, a landscaper at the University of Texas at Austin, said he came for the barbecue and to “hear what Lee has to say.”
Austin Community College paralegal students Margaret Thym and Rachael Golden, who have worked for Democratic campaigns in the past, came to support a fellow Democrat.
In contrast to many of Shea’s supporters who expressed dislike for the status quo, Huston-Tillotson University student Joan Grant said she came out to support Leffingwell because she likes the direction Austin is going.
Jack Kirfman, political action director for the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees Local 1624, said he has supported Leffingwell since his first run for Council in 2005. He especially liked that Leffingwell pushed for “meet and confer” legislation that, if passed, would have given non-civil service city employees bargaining rights. Police officers, firefighters and emergency medical services employees already have the right to negotiate pay and other employment issues with the city.
“He’s a great mayor (and) leader,” Kirfman said. “He’s good at articulating issues to the community.”
Savy Buoy, owner and broker of Savy Realty and Acquisition, said Leffingwell has always been supportive of the Asian American community—particularly the Network of Asian American Organizations—and she wanted to show her support for him.
“He stays connected with people. He doesn’t just brush them away,” Buoy said. “Everything with economic development, I’ve been very impressed with.”
Leffingwell leads in campaign contributions
Although well-known in Austin political circles, Shea faces the challenge of catching up with Leffingwell’s significant campaign contributions.
Shea gathered $4,200 in contributions through December 31, according to her report filed January 17, and had $2,340 in pledges for additional contributions. Her only reported political expenditure was $1,000 for a poll conducted by Opinion Analysts Inc.
Shea did not announce she was definitely running against Leffingwell until her February 1 kickoff event. She appointed a campaign treasurer December 5 to launch her exploratory campaign to gauge support.
Leffingwell reported having raised $87,624 though December 31. He still has a debt of $60,911 from his 2009 mayoral campaign.
Shea, who contributed money to Leffingwell’s campaign in 2009, said she is running for mayor in an effort to bring new leadership to City Hall. One of her top goals is to keep Austin affordable.
“We need a city government that works for all of us—not just the insiders and the influentials,” she said at her campaign kickoff February 1. “I’ve known Lee Leffingwell a long time. We’ve worked on projects together. But City Hall needs a new direction.”
Three other candidates who have never before run for a city office have filed campaign treasurer appointments indicating they, too, will run for mayor: Clay Dafoe, Daniel Krawisz, and Nicholas Lucier.
Lucier is a University of Texas government student who, according to a January 25 article in The Horn, decided to run for mayor while attending a Travis County probation hearing.
Council Candidate Drew Five Arrest Warrants in Five Years
by Rebecca LaFlure
Tina Cannon
Less than a week after entrepreneur Tina Cannon officially launched her campaign for City Council, The Austin Bulldog found that Cannon was issued five arrest warrants over the past five years for unpaid traffic tickets and failure to show proof of vehicle insurance.
Also, a company she co-founded was sued for trademark infringement last year. The lawsuit has since been dropped, and Cannon has paid all fines related to the traffic tickets.
“I am not a perfect human being and not a perfect driver, but I try hard at both,” Cannon said. I have “no excuses on missing the initial payment and proof-of-coverage deadlines, all of which I have taken care of a good while ago.”
Warrants for unpaid traffic tickets
A search of Austin’s municipal court database reveals that Cannon had three warrants issued for unpaid traffic tickets, one of which took her more than four years to pay.
The municipal court also charged her three times with “failure to maintain financial responsibility,” or not showing proof of vehicle liability insurance, and issued warrants for two of these charges. All charges were dismissed by September 27, 2011, after she submitted proof of insurance.
According to the database, Austin police issued Cannon a ticket on August 3, 2006, for running a stop sign. She did not show up for her initial appearance date, failed to meet her payment extension, and was issued a warrant. More than two four (corrected 10:05am Friday, February 24, 2012) years later, Cannon paid a $317 fine on October 18, 2010.
Cannon was also issued a ticket for speeding in a school zone on October 20, 2006. She submitted proof of insurance and driver’s license, and paid a fee to take a driver safety course on October 31, 2006. However, she didn’t turn in her driver safety course paperwork by the due date. She was issued another fine, sent a warrant notice, and the municipal court reported a hold on her driver’s license. Cannon paid a $239 fine on October 25, 2007, more than a year after the ticket was issued.
Austin police gave Cannon a ticket for speeding on a posted city street on September 25, 2009. She did not attend her initial hearing, was issued a warrant, and warned that her vehicle registration would be put on hold. Cannon paid a $317 fine on October 18, 2010, more than a year after the ticket was issued.
The Austin Bulldog also searched for Cannon on the Texas Department of Public Safety’s criminal database, but found no criminal history. (The database only contains information on people arrested or prosecuted for Class B misdemeanor violations or greater. The information is made public only if a conviction or deferred adjudication has been reported to the DPS.)
Trademark infringement lawsuit
As reported by The Austin Bulldog February 20, Cannon has co-founded multiple businesses over the years, including PetsMD.com, an online pet health resource acquired by Pet360.com last year.
According to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania, Pet360 Inc. sued PetsMD Inc. for trademark infringement in February 2011.
Pet360, a Pennsylvania-based company, argued that it owned the trademark and copyright to the name PETMD—which it had used since 1998, before PetsMD was founded, according to court records.
Pet360 said the names PetsMD and PETMD were “deceptively and confusingly similar” and “likely to cause confusion, mistake, or deception in the mind of the public.” Pet360 alleged it suffered damage to its “business, reputation and goodwill” and asked that PetsMD stop using its name and pay for punitive damages and attorney fees.
According to court documents, the lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed with prejudice on May 11, 2011, after Pet360 agreed to acquire all of PetsMD’s assets.
Cannon said when the suit was filed, she and the PetsMD team worked to resolve the issues amicably, which led to Pet360 acquiring virtually all of PetsMD’s assets.
“We could have fought out the lawsuit, but I am a firm believer that reasonable parties can generally resolve issues if they come to the table in good faith and with an open mind. That’s the kind of common sense management experience I want to bring to City Hall,” Cannon said. “I want to solve problems, not create new lawsuits for the city.”
A March 17, 2011 article in the Austin Business Journal stated that Pet360 bought PetsMD for an undisclosed amount. Raul Calvoz, Cannon’s campaign treasurer, was named CEO of PetsMD a month before the lawsuit, replacing Cannon, who became the company’s chief operating officer. Calvoz and Cannon went on to launch Book-A-Vet, an online veterinary booking business, and LOCALoyalty, a magazine that highlights locally-owned businesses.
Here’s What the Public Records Say About the Council Member Running for Re-election
by Rebecca LaFlure
Updated May 30, 2012 12:59pm
Mike Martinez
When Mike Martinez announced he would seek a third term on the Austin City Council, The Austin Bulldog went to work researching Martinez’s personal and political background.
As with prior investigations of Mayor Lee Leffingwell and Mayor Pro Tem Sheryl Cole, we used an organized plan to find, copy, and publish every public record we could find in an effort to educate citizens about their elected officials in the months leading to the May 2012 election.
We also read and compiled past news articles from The Austin Bulldog and other publications, and fact-checked statements elected officials made about their backgrounds.
Our research into Martinez painted a picture of an outspoken politician financially backed by well-connected donors who has gained a loyal following over the past six years and a vocal group of critics.
We invite readers to study the documents and let us know if there are any important details we overlooked, or areas that warrant further investigation.
East Austin connections
At his January 25 re-election campaign kickoff at Nuevo Leon Restaurant on East Sixth Street, Martinez continued to stress his commitment to East Austin residents, noting twice that he has lived and worked in East Austin for more than 20 years.
“Twenty years ago I joined the Austin Fire Department and became an Austin firefighter and worked right here in East Austin my entire career,” Martinez said. “I’ve lived and worked right in this neighborhood for over 20 years. … East Austin is special to me. It’s my home.”
Research into his real estate records and Austin Fire Department employee file provide more details about Martinez’s connections to the East Austin area. Public records show that Martinez joined the Austin Fire Department in October 1992 and worked at an East Austin fire station until resigning June 20, 2006, to serve on the Austin City Council.
He received overall high marks throughout his more than 13 years at AFD, according to his employee evaluations, and earned the department’s Phoenix award, given to department members involved in the “successful resuscitation of a patient from a life-threatening state.”
Since 1992, Martinez, who grew up in Rockdale, a small town 65 miles northeast of Austin, said he has lived on Camino La Costa (northeast Austin near U.S. Highway 290), Douglas Street (southeast Austin near Oltorf), Haskell Street (near Festival Beach in central East Austin), and at his current residence on Tower Trail (in far East Austin off 51st Street near U.S. Highway 183).
However, he has not spent the entire past 20 years living on the east side.
In 1996 Martinez and his first wife, Lisa Kirkpatrick, purchased a house located west of I-35 near South Congress, according to Travis County real estate records. The couple sold that home in 1998 and purchased another house the same year in San Leanna, a village 11 miles south of downtown Austin.
Martinez moved to an apartment on Douglas Street in October 2002 after separating from Kirkpatrick, according to divorce records. He purchased his first East Austin home in September 2007 in the Senate Hills subdivision, and lives there with his current wife, Lara Wendler, legislative director for State Senator John Whitmire (D-Houston). They were married in November 2008.
Martinez and Wendler are now in the process of building a new house at 2314 E. 11th Street, at the corner of Swenson Avenue. Construction of the house has not gone unnoticed by many of his critics. They complain the three-story house towers over more-modest homes in that area and represents the gentrification Martinez has said he wants to curb. (Gentrification occurs when new development and a surge of wealthier new residents cause property values to increase and force many long-time, working class residents to leave, a trend East Austin is experiencing.)
Mike Martinez’ new house at 2314 E. 11th St.
“He’s accommodating (gentrification), and his home is a prime example of that,” said Gavino Fernandez Jr., a longtime East Austin resident and coordinator for El Concilio, a coalition of Mexican American neighborhood associations.
Fernandez, who ran unsuccessfully for city council in 2003, said, “Can you imagine the single-family homes around his property, and how those taxes are going to increase? The people who own them are on fixed incomes.”
When asked to respond to these criticisms, Martinez said by e-mail that the home itself will only be slightly more than 3,000 square-feet and is located on two lots that were owned by a church and sat vacant for nearly five years. Martinez said he has supported affordable housing projects located within the same area of his future home.
The building permit indicates the three-story house totals 5,289 square feet, including 4.5 bathrooms, two garages; a 629-square-foot covered patio, 175-square-feet of covered porches, and a 163-square-foot balcony. The lot is 11,649 square feet, according to Travis Central Appraisal District. The new house has a total living area of 3,732 square feet, according to appraisal district records. (Updated May 30, 2012 12:59pm.)
According to the building permit, the home uses 4,656 square feet of the allowable 5,238 square feet of impervious cover (any surface in the landscape that cannot effectively absorb or infiltrate rainfall, including driveways, roads, parking lots, rooftops, and sidewalks) and 100 percent of the floor-to-area ratio allowed.
Although some more modest redevelopment is taking place in the area near Martinez’ new home, the house next door at 2410 E. 11th St. was built in 1933 and has a total living area of 768 square feet. The next house at 2308 E. 11th St. was built in 1929 and has a total living area of 962 square feet.
Martinez said, “Our community has long supported and fostered the value that urban core development reduces sprawl and is exactly what creates a more sustainable community. We have also adopted ordinances that preclude development over certain sizes based on the amount of property available. My family is fully supporting both community values and policies by moving our family further into the center of Austin and fully complying with all development regulations that apply.”
Educational background
Education records indicate that Martinez is currently enrolled for the spring semester at the University of Texas at Austin’s School of Social Work, but has never received a college degree.
He attended Temple College from fall 1987 to spring 1988, a fact confirmed by Stephanie Parum, the college’s admissions and records specialist.
Martinez went on to attend Austin Community College on and off from fall 1988 to spring 1992 to receive Emergency Medical Technician certification, but no degree or certification is reflected in his records, ACC spokesperson Alexis Patterson Hanes said.
This contradicts an April 13, 2006 Statesman article that states Martinez received EMT certification from ACC.
Martinez insists that he did receive EMT certification, saying by e-mail, “I assure you these statements are accurate. I would not have been able to practice medicine in Travis County without this certification as well as being a licensed firefighter with the State of Texas.”
ACC is still researching The Austin Bulldog’s request to double-check his records.
Martinez previously attended the University of Texas at Austin in the spring 1996 semester, according to UT’s degree and attendance database.
He received nine UT credit hours in 2003 for his participation in what Martinez called the “LBJ School of Public Affairs West Point Military Leadership Program.”
Howard Prince, a clinical professor for the LBJ School of Public Affairs at UT, and a West Point graduate, remembers teaching Martinez as a part of a five-month intensive course called “Leadership in Police Organizations.” Prince said the course has “never been a part of the LBJ school,” but instead was part of an Austin Police Department course that taught city police officers and firefighters how to lead people within complex organizations.
Prince and Michael Lauderdale, a professor in UT’s School of Social Work, and current chair of the city’s Public Safety Commission, led the course, which was modeled after a program the Los Angeles Police Department had implemented, using training materials from West Point.
Lauderdale, the program’s “professor of record,” said the program, which ran from 1999–2009, was mainly taught on the UT campus and was often referred to as the “West Point Leadership Program.”
Martinez has faced several public allegations of election or ethics code violations during his two terms as a city council member, but only one resulted in an official finding of guilt.
Campaign finance reports—The Texas Ethics Commission determined April 21, 2011, that Martinez violated the state Election Code by not disclosing the full names of five donors totaling $1,550 in his campaign finance reports and by failing to initially report his 2009 campaign treasurer’s address.
Six Houston-area Tea Party members filed the complaint against Martinez—as well as separate complaints against Mayor Lee Leffingwell and the other council members—after the Austin City Council decided to end city business with Arizona in protest of the state’s controversial immigration law, according to a July 4, 2011, article in the Austin American-Statesman.
The complaints resulted in $2,250 worth of small fines against the mayor and Austin city council members. The commission ordered Martinez to pay $100—less than any of the other council members.
Martinez said the complaint was “in direct retaliation for our stance against the actions taken in Arizona.” He has since paid the $100 fine.
City ethics complaint—On February 28, 2011, the Austin chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) filed an ethics complaint against Martinez and Mayor Lee Leffingwell, YNN-TV reported.
The complaint, filed with the city auditor’s Integrity Unit by Austin NAACP President Nelson Linder, stemmed from hundreds of city e-mails obtained by local media outlets, including The Austin Bulldog.
The complaint mainly focused on an e-mail exchange between Martinez and Leffingwell in which Leffingwell called Rhonda Kerr, the city’s first woman fire chief, a “company” man and said her City Council presentation was a “snow job.” Leffingwell also wrote that he thought Austin African American Firefighters Association President Bobby Johns had been “bought off.”
Martinez then called City Manager Marc Ott and Assistant City Manager Michael McDonald “jokes” and said, “nothing will change with (Kerr) in charge.” Ott and McDonald are African Americans.
Once exposed, Leffingwell and Martinez publicly apologized for the remarks.
The complaint states that “the comments convey racist and sexist overtones,” interfere with personnel matters, and undermine Ott’s authority.
Kyle Carvell, spokesman for the City of Austin, said the city auditor sent the complaint to the city’s Ethics Review Commission, which dismissed it April 12, 2011.
According to April 12 meeting minutes, three commission members voted in favor of dismissing the complaint, while attorney Susan Morrison voted for the complaint to proceed to a hearing, and attorney Velva Price abstained from voting.
State election code—Less than a month later, on May 3, 2011, Martinez allegedly violated state election code by taking a photo of his completed ballot and posting it to his Facebook page, the Statesman reported.
The ballot indicated he voted for City Council incumbent Randi Shade, who was in a heated race against challenger Kathie Tovo. Tovo won the election.
The Texas Election Code, Section 61.014, states, “a person may not use a wireless communication device within 100 feet of a voting station. A person may not use any mechanical or electronic means of recording images or sound within 100 feet of a voting station.”
Martinez later removed the photo when people pointed out the violation. He told the Statesman at the time that, “Obviously I had no idea that it violated a code and was clearly an oversight.”
Personal financial statements—On August 17, 2011, The Austin Bulldog reported that Martinez listed in his 2011 mid-year financial statement the names of 49 entities that he and his wife held, owned, acquired, or sold stock, or any other equity ownership valued at $5,000 or more.
Martinez did not report these investments, worth at least $245,000, in his previous annual report.
Seeking clarification, The Austin Bulldog e-mailed Martinez August 8, 2011, to ask if he owned these stocks during 2010—and failed to report them in his last annual report—or acquired them since January 1.
Martinez replied, “After consulting with counsel, my wife and I have expanded the mid-year PFS (personal financial statement) to provide more information. The mid-year PFS accurately reflects our current situation.”
Martinez initially did not respond to a follow-up query at the time asking, once again, if he had owned those investments the previous year and failed to report them. Incorrectly filing these statements with the city is punishable by a fine of up to $500.
When asked about it again for this background investigation, Martinez said the assets listed on his last financial filing were maintained solely by his wife, noting that, “State law does not require the reporting of spouse’s assets if you have no direct control over them.”
City Code, however, does, in fact, require reporting of a spouses income and assets. City Code does not provide the exception granted in state law for assets over which you have no control.
“After consulting with my attorney, we reported my wife’s assets to ensure we are complying with city ordinances,” Martinez said. “We believe, based on our attorney’s guidance, we are over-reporting out of an abundance of caution and transparency.”
Supported by well-connected backers
Martinez has demonstrated an ability to raise significant campaign funds from influential people.
Campaign finance reports for his 2006 campaign are no longer available.
He raised $144,201 for his re-election campaign in 2009, and spent $122,947 in that race, according to campaign finance reports from that year. He used $26,100 of that money to repay loans he had made to his campaigns. Martinez garnered nearly 85 percent of the votes running against one opponent, Jose Quintero, who raised no money.
According to his January 17, 2012, campaign finance report, Martinez has raised $70,460 in donations and spent $10,059 in his 2012 re-election campaign—more than his fellow council members Sheryl Cole and Bill Spelman, who are also running for re-election.
Laura Pressley, co-founder of bottled water company Pure Rain and an anti-fluoride advocate, is Martinez’s only challenger so far. She held her campaign kickoff December 9 and on January 17 announced she would seek the Place 2 seat, despite Martinez being the only Hispanic council member.
Pressley raised $3,100 through December 31, according to her contribution report filed January 17. While she has reported raising significantly less money than Martinez so far, Pressley said many citizens pledged they would help fund her campaign against Martinez.
“We will easily have $40,000 to $50,000 by March,” Pressley said. “I (had) a lot of donors waiting for us to declare against Martinez.”
Martinez continues to get financial support from well-connected people, some of whom bundle contributions for him. (Bundlers are individuals who solicit and obtain contributions of $200 or more from five or more people. This does not apply to an individual who raises $5,000 or less for a candidate through a fundraising event held at the individual’s residence.)
According to his January 17 campaign finance report, four bundlers for Martinez’s 2012 campaign raised a combined $22,650 for that reporting period, about 32 percent of the reported total. The bundlers are:
David Armbrust, an attorney with Armbrust & Brown and registered city lobbyist involved in business, real estate and environmental issues in Central Texas. Armbrust, who also solicited contributions for Martinez’s 2009 campaign, bundled 29 contributions totaling $10,150 for Martinez’s 2012 campaign.
Paul Bury, CEO and founder of Bury+Partners Inc., an engineering and consulting firm for public and private projects, and former chairman of the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce. Bury bundled four contributions totaling $1,400.
Andy Pastor, co-founder and managing principal of Endeavor Real Estate Group, a commercial and real estate company that developed The Domain mixed-use project, which received millions of dollars in economic incentives from the City of Austin. Pastor bundled a dozen contributions totaling $4,200.
Michael Whellan, an attorney at Graves Dougherty Hearon & Moody who represents clients before city and county governments in land-use and business issues. He is a registered city lobbyist whose clients include SXSW Incorporated, St. David’s Healthcare Center and Austin Cab. He bundled 20 contributions totaling $6,900 for Martinez.
Other notable donors to Martinez’s 2012 re-election campaign are former Council Member Randi Shade; Matt Curtis, former communications director for Mayor Lee Leffingwell; Mark Nathan, a political consultant and Leffingwell’s former chief of staff; and SXSW officials Hugh Forrest, Brent Grulke, Denise Hutto, Darin Klein, Elizabeth Koepke, Mike Shea, Brad Spies, Ron Suman Jr., Roland Swenson, and Scott Wilcox.
Political background
Union support reversed—Martinez was a familiar face at Austin City Hall long before taking office in June 2006. An Austin firefighter, Martinez was elected president of the Austin Firefighters Association in 2003, and successfully fought to secure collective bargaining rights for firefighters, and a pay raise that made Austin firefighters among the highest paid in Texas.He represented the interests of public safety professionals as chair of the Austin Firefighters Association Political Action Committee from 2001-2004.In his April 2004 AFD employee evaluation, Martinez wrote that he wanted to “become the best damn union president ever.”
Since taking office and joining Capital Metro’s board of directors in June 2007—and particularly since becoming board chairman in February 2010—Martinez’ once-emphatic pro-union stance has taken a complete turnabout as he led an effort to bust Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1091, according to union local President Joneth “Jay” Wyatt.
Wyatt claims that Martinez supported legislation passed by the Texas Legislature in 2011 that gave Capital Metro an ultimatum: Either cancel contracts with StarTran and Veolia Transportation (which together operate about 30 percent of Capital Metro’s bus service) and Herzog Transportation Services (which operates MetroRail) and bring all employees in-house, or contract out the lion’s share of bus service currently operated with Capital Metro’s in-house employees.
The in-house operation would require the union to voluntarily give up collective bargaining and the right to strike. The union has not agreed to do that.
An Austin American-Statesman article published April 29, 2011, before the legislation passed, quoted Martinez as saying, “We feel pretty confident the bill is going to pass,” and stated, “Martinez said he hopes to rejuvenate the in-house option.”
“Mike Martinez says he cares about employees but he’s doing all he can to take away our rights,” Wyatt told The Austin Bulldog February 8.
Martinez did not respond to an e-mail invitation to comment about Wyatt’s accusations.
Wyatt said he will seek political payback when local unions meet March 10 to interview candidates and decide which candidates the Central Labor Council will endorse. These endorsements bring campaign contributions and volunteers that are valuable to candidates running against strong opponents. Wyatt said he will do everything he can to prevent Martinez from gaining the two-thirds majority vote necessary to win an endorsement.
Other Capital Metro issues—Martinez became the board’s chair shortly before the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission released a poor review of the agency, noting that it failed to responsibly manage its finances and effectively engage the public in decisions. The review also stated that costs for in-house transit services are “excessive and not sustainable,” and Capital Metro must enhance commuter rail safety before expanding its rail system.
Martinez said at his campaign launch that he helped transform the agency over the past two years, noting the launch of the Red Line, a Metrorail service that connects downtown Austin with the suburban areas including Wells Branch, Lakeline, and Leander. The $105 million project opened in March 2010—two years later and costing $15 million more than what was initially projected, the Statesman reported.
According to a January 16, 2011, Statesman article, the Capital Metro board voted to start charging people with disabilities and seniors for bus rides, despite protests by disability advocates. Capital Metro officials insisted that the fares are in line with other cities. Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio agencies all charge for bus rides.
Combative nature—The Austin American-Statesman described Martinez in a November 17, 2011, article as a “stocky, gregarious former head of the city firefighters union” who “wears the notion that he has disagreed with nearly everyone at City Hall at one time or another as a badge of honor.”
Martinez, a loyal Democrat, alluded to his reputation as the council’s most outspoken member at his January 27 re-election kickoff saying, “I don’t shy away from the challenges we face as a City Council. For better or for worse, I pretty much take them head on. That’s just my style.”
Mayoral ambition stalled—Martinez has expressed interest in seeking the mayor’s job, according to the Statesman, but opted not to run against Mayor Lee Leffingwell, one of his closest allies.
Martinez served as mayor pro tem until Council Member Sheryl Cole unseated him last June after publicly backing challenger Kathie Tovo, who beat incumbent Randi Shade in a runoff. That election marked Cole’s very public split with Leffingwell, Martinez, and Shade, and swung the 4-3 majority to favor Cole and Council Members Laura Morrison, Bill Spelman and Tovo.
Martinez held many of the same views as the mayor on hot-button issues: Both voted to continue construction on the $500 million Water Treatment Plant Number 4. Both advocated creating City Council districts. Both supported bringing the Formula One race track to Austin. Both voted against the $750,000 settlement in the police shooting death of teenager Nathaniel Sanders II. Martinez and Leffingwell also unsuccessfully pushed to move City Council elections from May to November. Now both face re-election May 12 with some erosion in their former bases of support.
Hispanic support and criticism
While Martinez has referred to himself as a champion for the East Austin and Latino community, he’s received mixed reviews from residents during his six-year tenure as a City Council member.
Hundreds of Austinites—many from Austin’s Latino and East Austin communities—gathered at Nuevo Leon Restaurant January 27 to show their support for Martinez’s re-election.
“East Austin still has a lot to be done,” Gloria Aleman, a retired Travis County employee who was raised on the eastside, said at Martinez’s kickoff. “His heart is in the right place, and I think he’s the only candidate who can make that happen. He cares about people.”
In his first term, Martinez sponsored a resolution preventing the development of an East Austin lot with natural springs and old oak trees.
He was the sole city council member to vote in October 2007 against relocating a city animal shelter to East Austin, siding with many neighborhood activists, and voted against a proposed landfill in the Webberville area in far eastern Travis County.
Martinez and Council Member Bill Spelman also successfully fought to pass an ordinance requiring employers to give construction workers rest breaks.
He sponsored a resolution, which the Council passed unanimously in May 2008, to launch a study addressing quality-of-life issues in Austin’s Hispanic community.
Martinez backed down from his proposal to build an RV park for homeless people in East Austin after several neighborhood groups protested.
However, several Hispanic activists and East Austin residents have voiced their support for his opponent, Laura Pressley, and their resentment over, what they see as, Martinez’s lack of attention to problems.
“We decided a while back to get rid of ‘Evil Knievel,’” Marcelo Tafoya, a former district director for District 12 of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), said of Martinez. The minority members of the council “never represented us, and never even considered us. They make token gestures and the council votes against us. We’re sick and tired of it.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Jose Quintero, an East Austin activist who ran against Martinez in 2009, said of the idea a white woman might beat Martinez. “He’s not helping us.”
Mary Rosalez, an Austin resident who grew up on the eastside and supports Pressley, said many critics feel he has not made enough of an effort to meet with citizens and attend various community meetings.
“I would rather have a representative who makes time to meet with people who are trying to fix a problem than someone who is too busy. And he seems to be too busy a lot,” she said.
Gavino Fernandez Jr., a long-time East Austin resident, said his biggest disappointment with Martinez relates to how he allocated Holly Good Neighbor Program funds.
Austin Energy created the program in 1990 to minimize the effects the Holly Power Plant had on the surrounding neighborhood by repairing homes and investing in neighborhood and recreation facilities. The Statesman reported August 29, 2011, that although the power plant shut down in 2007, city officials agreed to allocate $1 million a year until 2012.
As the City Council’s only Hispanic member, Martinez is responsible for compiling suggestions on how to spend the money and makes recommendations to the City Council for approval. However, other council members rarely question the suggestions, the Statesman reported.
Over the years, Fernandez and other residents argued that the program has strayed from its original intentions by, among other things, giving money to buildings not in the program area and funding community events that don’t directly benefit Holly neighborhood residents.
“(Martinez) was catering to his political friends, his political allies,” Fernandez, told The Austin Bulldog. “Had I known that (donating to his campaign) was a criteria for Mike to give out funds, I would have.”
“Fernandez, however, is a recipient of Holly program funds. The organization he leads, El Concilio, has received about $7,000 from the program to hold a few Halloween block parties, and he was granted a 30-year, $84,000, no-interest loan from the program in 2007 to reconstruct his family’s home, the Statesman reported.
A review of campaign finance reports from 2009 and 2012 and the program’s funding recipients show that some of Martinez’s campaign donors did benefit from Holly Good Neighborhood funds.
For example, the Pachanga Latino Music Festival, a for-profit event at Festival Gardens in East Austin, has received $150,000 in Holly funds since 2008. Rich Garza, founder of Pachanga Fest, and his wife, Elaine Garza, donated a total of $700 to Martinez’s 2012 campaign. Rich Garza also donated $350 to Martinez’s 2009 campaign. (An individual is not allowed to donate more than $350 to a City Council candidate per election cycle unless the candidate gets into a runoff, per city rules).
Rodolfo “Rudy” Mendez, director of Ballet East Dance Theatre, donated $100 to Martinez’s 2009 campaign. The dance studio has received $93,500 in Holly funds since 2005.
Most recently, Bellas Artes Alliance received $15,000 from the program to put on the Pan Americana Festival, a free event scheduled for March 18-19 at the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center. Andy Ramirez, CEO of Rz Communications, and Linda Ramirez, director of accounting for Rz Communications, are board members of Bellas Artes Alliance, the nonprofit that organized the event. The couple has donated a total of $1,400 to Martinez’s campaigns since 2009, and Andy Ramirez bundled contributions for Martinez during his 2009 campaign.
The Statesman also noted that the program set aside $72,000 for the Austin Latino Music Association in 2007 to build a small museum honoring Tejano music legend Manuel “Cowboy” Donley. But critics pointed out that the Austin Latino Music Association was run by Raul Alvarez, who served on the Austin City Council until June 2006.
However, Martinez said that the program and subsequent changes were instituted long before his arrival to City Hall, and many of the changes were made at the request of the same people who now criticize them.
“The policy decision to include such events in the Holly Good Neighbor Program was initiated by previous councils and supported by the entire council each and every year,” Martinez said. “We continue to support programs that provide cultural and heritage components for this community.”
Open meetings investigation
The Austin Bulldog broke the story on January 25, 2011, about the private meetings being held in which every council member met with every other council member to discuss city business right before each council meeting—a possible violation of the Texas Open Meetings Act. If proven, a violation of the act—created to prevent elected officials from deliberating in secret—would be punishable by a fine of $100 to $500 fine, confinement in the county jail for one to six months, or both the fine and confinement.
As The Austin Bulldog reported January 25, 2012, a year has elapsed and that investigation has not been completed. “The investigation is still ongoing and we hope to complete it in the near future,” Escamilla said.
That’s cold comfort for the seven members who were on the City Council when the story broke. With a statute of limitations of two years on the misdemeanor offenses they may have committed, they remain in legal limbo until Escamilla wraps up his investigation and determines how he will proceed.
In The Austin Bulldog’s exclusive interview published February 2, 2011—which included an edited transcript and an unedited audio recording—Martinez admitted to participating in these meetings since he was first elected to the council in 2006.
“I think the meetings are important, and we do talk about where our differences lie. If there are some strong feelings and strong differences, the time to air those out and figure those out are in our one-on-ones and not necessarily on the dais,” Martinez said in the interview. “We try to achieve that level of understanding so that on Thursday we can minimize the line of questioning, and the debate, and move forward through the agenda.”
Martinez said he never questioned the meeting process and did not view it as an “intentional violation of the spirit of the open meeting act.”
E-mail problems and evasions
In February 2011, thousands of e-mail exchanges between Mayor Lee Leffingwell, Martinez and other council members were released in response to open records requests filed by The Austin Bulldog and Austin American-Statesman. Many of these e-mails were sent while on the dais in council meetings and contained unflattering remarks about city staff members and citizens, including Martinez calling City Manager Marc Ott and Assistant City Manager Michael McDonald “jokes.”
On March 1, 2011, The Austin Bulldog sued Leffingwell, each council member, and the City of Austin for not releasing all e-mail exchanges requested under the Texas Public Information Act.
The lawsuit stemmed from The Austin Bulldog’s open records requests of January 19 and 27, 2011, for e-mails, letters, memoranda, notes, or other forms of written communication from the mayor and each council member to any council member or the mayor from January 1, 2010, through the date of the requests.
The city said it would not turn over e-mails about city business these elected officials sent or received on personal e-mail accounts. As a result of the lawsuit, however, the mayor and council members eventually released varying amounts of these e-mails.
Some of the 2,400 pages of 2009 e-mails provided to The Austin Bulldog as a result of a later open records request showed that council members communicated among themselves about city business in numbers equaling or exceeding a quorum, a possible open meetings violation.
The Austin Bulldog’s two lawsuits are both still pending.
The Data
Michael William Martinez
Birth date: August 1, 1969
Age: 42
Current office: Place 2 council member since June 2006, mayor pro-tem from June 2009 to June 2011
Office sought: Place 2 council member
Office salary: $64,043 a year plus a $5,400 annual car allowance
Board of directors, current: Chairman of the Capital Metro Board of Directors and member of the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (ABIA) Development Corporation, Austin Housing Finance Corporation Board of Directors, Mueller Local Government Corporation, Austin Firefighters Relief and Outreach Fund, Police Activities League of Austin (not updated to reflect that he is no longer the mayor pro tem)
Mark Littlefield of Littlefield Consulting, campaign consultant
City staff: Robert A. “Bobby” Garza, chief of staff; Andrew Moore, council aide; Laura Williamson, executive assistant
Council committees: Audit and Finance Committee, Judicial Committee, Minority-Owned Business Enterprise and Women-Owned Business Enterprise Subcommittee, Public Health and Human Services Subcommittee
Education: Records indicate that Martinez is currently enrolled in the University of Texas at Austin, but has never received a college degree. He attended Temple College from fall 1987 to spring 1988, and went on to attend Austin Community College until 1992. ACC is still in the process of confirming whether Martinez received EMT certification at the school. He received nine UT credit hours in 2003 for his participation in a leadership program led by two UT professors through the Austin Police Department. To read records pertaining to his education click here.
Martinez married Lisa Lynne Kirkpatrick in 1995. She is now associate vice president for of Student Affairs and dean of students at St. Edward’s University. Kirkpatrick filed for divorce in July 2003 after more than eight years of marriage, citing a “discord or conflict of personalities.” The two share custody of their 13-year-old son, Alejandro Liam Martinez. To see the divorce decree, click here.
Links to stories (most recent first). Note: The Austin American-Statesman articles linked here that are identified as being archived may be accessed through the Austin Public Library’s online databases. Access is free but requires a library card number to view. You must log in on the library site for these links to work (click on the article link, enter your library card number, and that will take you to the article). Or, alternatively, Statesman articles can be accessed by searching the newspaper’s online archives and creating a user account.
This report was made possible by contributions to The Austin Bulldog, which operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit to provide investigative reporting in the public interest. You can help sustain this kind of reporting by making a tax-deductible contribution.
Austin Entrepreneur Seeks to Bring a Small Business Owner’s Voice to City Hall
by Rebecca LaFlure
Tina Cannon kicks off her city council campaign
Tina Cannon emphasized her slogan, “fostering entrepreneurship in Austin,” last Friday, when she officially launched her campaign against incumbent Bill Spelman for the Place 5 Austin City Council seat.
Despite chilly winds and rainfall, about 30 supporters huddled under a covered patio outside Pour House Pub in North Austin as Cannon discussed her desire to bring a small business owner’s perspective to City Hall.
“I want us to put Austin back on the map as a leader in innovation and economic development and growth, and bring back transparency in city government that has been so absent at our City Hall,” said Cannon, noting that her friends and family have encouraged her to run for office over the years. “I’m really trying to lean on my background in business and entrepreneurship … and be a completely new voice.”
An Austinite for almost 20 years, Cannon has worked as an emergency medical technician, financial auditor, and business consultant, according to her campaign website.
Cannon, who on Twitter describes herself as a “start-up addict,” co-founded and sold Lavaca Street Deli, and was the CEO and co-founder of PetsMD.com, an online pet health resource acquired by Pet360.com in 2011. She was also co-founder of Booqoos.com, LOCALoyalty.com, and Book-a-Vet.com.
Cannon is a Democrat and northeast Austin resident who serves as entrepreneur-in-residence at Texas State University and chief operating officer of LOCALoyalty.com, according to her website.
She faces two opponents so far: Spelman, a public affairs professor at the University of Texas at Austin who has been elected to two nonconsecutive terms on the council, and Dominic Chavez, an Army veteran and senior director for external relations at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
Chavez announced his intent to run for the Place 5 seat in a February 14 news release, saying his campaign would focus on public safety, workforce education and restoring “financial stewardship to Austin Energy.”
Cannon said she is a proponent of creating City Council districts and supports moving city elections from May to November, arguing it would save money and increase voter turnout.
Bringing high-paying jobs to Austin would be a top priority if elected, Cannon said, and she would look to expand the city’s office of economic development and ensure small business owners have a voice on City Council.
“Currently the focus is on big business, and (city officials) kind of take their eye off the ball on the small independent operator that’s helped make Austin weird and wonderful,” Cannon said. “I’m looking to put something in place that is a resource for the small business operator to turn to, to cut through those layers of bureaucracy.”
She addressed Austin Energy’s proposal to increase electricity rates by 12.5 percent, and said the need for such a large increase is “because of a lack of planning on prior councils to take any initiative to have forethought that energy costs are rising to make any changes.”
“We’re now absorbing all of that at one time. I would be in favor of capping energy costs,” she said.
Cannon did not shy away from attacking Spelman, saying, “My opponent has been on record saying he’s going to cut the public safety budget. I mean, are you kidding me? … I don’t know about you, but when I call 9-1-1, I kind of want someone to answer.”
While drafting the fiscal year 2012 city budget, Spelman questioned whether hiring 49 more police officers to keep up with the city’s standard of two officers per 1,000 residents would be the most effective use of resources, according to a September 13, 2011 article in the Austin American-Statesman.
He instead proposed hiring 33 officers and 14 civilian Police Department employees, including 9-1-1 call-takers. The City Council did not pass his proposal.
Cannon differentiated herself from Spelman by emphasizing her experience launching businesses, noting that Spelman has spent much of his life in academia.
“It’s one thing to write policies sitting in your office. It’s another thing to actually have boots on the ground and live it everyday,” Cannon said. “As a small business owner and entrepreneur, I know the impact of those policies made in an office, and I know how it plays out with citizens and with businesses here in town.”
Spelman did not respond to an e-mail invitation for comment by Monday afternoon.
Several supporters who attended Cannon’s launch party said that although they did not regularly keep up with Austin city politics, they saw the need for a small business advocate on the council. Fellow entrepreneurs who attended Friday’s event included Kevin Koym, co-founder of technology startup accelerator Tech Ranch Austin, and Susan Strausberg, co-founder of EDGAR Online and 9W Search.
“I have absolute confidence in Tina’s judgment and her ability to get lemons and turn them into lemonade, which is part of what good politicians do,” Strausberg said. “I can tell you she’s one rare bird: an even-tempered, even-handed, tough-as-nails manager who over and over delivers on her vision.”
According to campaign finance reports released January 17, Spelman’s campaign raised $31,600 through December 31. Cannon and Chavez have yet to file any campaign finance reports since they both announced their candidacy after January 17.
Despite the challenges ahead, Cannon’s supporters have no doubt that she’ll put up a good fight.
“She’s very persistent,” said Lotta Smagula, a master sergeant in the Army National Guard who served in Iraq and a long-time friend of Cannon’s. “When she decides she’s going after something, she keeps going until she gets it.”
Raul Calvoz, an attorney and former CEO of PetsMD, was appointed as Cannon’s campaign treasurer on January 25. Although he lives in Austin, according to the treasurer’s appointment form, he is currently of counsel with the business law firm Tuggey Fernandez LLP and CEO of PiCoSa Investments, both of which are headquartered in San Antonio.
