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Austin City Councilwoman Leslie Pool: “The lack of transparency of the HQ2 initiative is unfortunate”
“Those submitting Austin’s proposal threw a veil of secrecy over it; even the council doesn’t know what the proposal contains—and we have asked!”
Date: August 22, 2018
Contact: mediacenter@freeandfairmarketsinitiative.org
Righting the Wrongs of Amazon HQ2
Richard Florida and Nathan M Jensen
City Lab
August 16, 2018
Leslie Pool, council member, Austin, HQ2 Finalist
In the future, I would like to see an actual public process convened to take input from the residents of the city who would be expected to accommodate and pay for changes to their neighborhoods that such a proposal would bring. The initiating entity should not accept any proposal that has not been duly endorsed by the municipality and its governing body.
The lack of transparency of the HQ2 initiative is unfortunate. Those submitting Austin’s proposal threw a veil of secrecy over it; even the council doesn’t know what the proposal contains—and we have asked! Those respondents are not City of Austin employees, they do not speak for the council, and they are not authorized to make promises on behalf of the city.
Such unfortunate actions harm the effort, create significant obstacles to such an initiative, and do not serve the public good in any manner.
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ABOUT THE FREE & FAIR MARKETS INITIATIVE
The Free & Fair Markets Initiative (FFMI) is a non-profit coalition of businesses, consumer advocacy groups, workers and community activists committed to scrutinizing and highlighting emerging market trends that are stifling competition and innovation, influencing federal and local government spending, putting consumer data in harm’s way and limiting consumer choice. For a list of members, please visit https://freeandfairmarketsinitiative.org/about-us/members/. For more information on the Free & Fair Markets Initiative, please visit https://freeandfairmarketsinitiative.org.
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