The latest from Austin via Autoweek:
By ALAN PEASE on 6/23/2011
The status of the 2012 Formula One U.S. Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, remains up in the air after the Austin City Council on Thursday decided to postpone its vote on whether to endorse the event.
The Austin race needs the city's backing to be eligible to receive $25 million from the Texas Major Events Trust Fund. The money would be used to pay the fee that Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone plans to charge the race's promoters to host the U.S. Grand Prix. The vote is now scheduled to take place on June 29 in a special session.
Earlier on Thursday, proponents and opponents of public funding for the Formula One race gathered their supporting forces into what quickly became a packed City Council chamber.
Media desks in the front of the room, normally empty, were completely full. Television cameras moved around the perimeter of the room in an attempt to capture the crowd.
All visitor seats inside the council chambers were also full as the standing-room-only crowd quickly filled the room to capacity, triggering an order by the fire marshal to allow no one else into the room. Mayor Lee Leffingwell invited those who couldn't get into the room to watch the proceedings on TV monitors in an adjacent hallway.
Early Thursday morning, F1 supporters began passing out white hats bearing the “Formula 1 United States, Austin, TX” logo, while opponents of public funding handed out reprints of AutoWeek editorial director Dutch Mandel's June 22 online column, "An Open Letter to the Austin, Texas, City Council and the citizens of that fair city."
Several speakers addressed the council to say that they had started small businesses based on Formula One coming to Austin and were hiring employees. Another individual showed a brief film clip shot recently at the 2011 Montreal Grand Prix that showed Canadian supporters in a bar cheering the idea of the 2012 Austin Grand Prix. Richard Suttle, attorney for the F1 project, said that since the announcement of F1 coming to Austin, more than 7 million articles have been written about Austin.
Susan Moffat, an Austin resident, former Austin Chronicle journalist and a vocal opponent of Formula One to date, asked the council to postpone any decision until a better review can be conducted. She asked for outside counsel knowledgeable in racing contracts to be hired. Moffat cited Mandel's piece, especially the “run away” quote. She questioned the city's long-term responsibilities under the contract should the contract not be fulfilled for the entire 10 years.
At issue: Under the Texas Major Events Trust Fund legislation, without the endorsement of either the City of Austin or Travis County, the race promoters cannot access the $25 million in state funding.
Moffat, who spoke at length in opposition to state funds being used, said in her closing statement that, “Formula One would be welcome in Austin, provided they had an adequate business plan that did not require public funding.”
Once again, by the end of the hearing, council members still appeared confused as they tried to sort out the legal issues in front of a packed hearing room. At times, it appeared that the council and the city legal department were debating each other regarding the contract. The City Council appeared uncomfortable with the terms as written and was still attempting desperately to rewrite them as the hearing went along.
Read more:
http://www.autoweek.com/article/20110623/F1/110629927#ixzz1QE522Gk5
