Just finished calling all the Austin City Council members (none were available to talk to me, so I left messages with their staff), and sending emails through the forms on the city website.
My message was short and simple:
- The Martinez proposal is a bad idea that will do nothing to solve any real problem.
- It will expose the city to legal action under section 229 of the Texas local government code.
- If the council member votes for this proposal, I will not only vote against them in the next election, but I will also give money to, and actively work for, their opponent.
- It only takes 38,000 signatures to get a recall election going.
I can be a real mean SOB if I want to be. (“Take a jam to make you think. Take a challenge to make you great.”)
I plan to back this up with physical letters, which will probably go out tomorrow (assuming I can get my printer working).
Here’s something that folks might find useful: a MSWord merge file of all the council members, with addresses and office phone numbers. The email addresses come off the copies of the emails I sent through the contact forms; the “PO Box 1088” physical address is the one they all list on their contact pages. The phone numbers come from their contact pages as well.
(I could add fax numbers, I guess. If anyone uses fax machines these days.)
Edited to add: At Lawrence’s instigation, here’s a CSV version of the Austin City Council members. And here’s a CSV version of the Travis County Commissioners Court, both commissioners and their executive assistants, including phone numbers and email addresses.