Iconic

So now we understand.

All this crap about "iconic businesses" was exactly that - crap. This was simply the city buying off the Perez sisters on behalf of Marriott.

The link goes to Austin City Council member Brewster McCracken admitting to local talk show host Jeff Ward that the fund to move iconic business located on Congress Avenue was in fact a one-time slush fund to be used to pay off Las Manitas to get access to an alleyway that was holding up the Marriott project. He doesn't expect it to ever be used again. They knew it, and they refused to tell us. Instead, they came up with this lame cover story about preserving "iconic businesses" with forgivable loans - a cover story that isn't any better than the reality of the situation.

But then - it's always about the cover-up, isn't it?

I've got no problem with the Perez sisters using the leverage of their ownership of a key piece of property to get some money - but that money should come from the developers, from Marriott, and not from the city. (And this is not to say the Perez sisters aren't still racist whiners - that's still true.)

The City Council of Austin knew all of this and decided to lie to us. Recall them. All of them.