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The
Star-Crossed Life and Times of Michael “Max” Nofziger: Part 6
For
the 1993 Austin City Council campaign season, two-term incumbent Max
Nofziger decided to run for the Place One seat one more time. His
programs regarding the environment, the music industry, and the
economy had been largely successful, and he wanted to see them
through. The City economy was well into an upswing by then, and
Max, with his seemingly bottomless well of enthusiasm, had the
confidence to believe he could accomplish still more good deeds for
the city and citizens of Austin.
Although others
entered the ’93 Place One race, Max’s main competition came from
developer Bill Howell. Nofziger and Howell conducted “a friendly
campaign,” refraining from personal attacks and negative innuendo.
The differences between the two candidates were clear, and the men
chose the high ground of a gentleman’s campaign. It was
refreshingly civilized.
Max Wins a
Three-Peat
But good manners
aside, Howell proved to be no threat to Max’s re-election. In fact,
Max took 63% of the primary ballots cast, not only avoiding a
run-off but also receiving 52,168 votes — more votes than any white
man in the City’s history. Only previous council members John
Trevino and Sally Shipman have registered a higher vote count in a
City race. Today Max jokingly asserts, “I was Austin’s most popular
elected white guy of the millennium.” Pretty funny, but also true —
a testament to a man whose work had earned Austin’s respect. What’s
not so funny though is that Austin’s voter turn-out has steadily
declined since Max’s 1993 victory, making Max fear that, without an
unprecedented resurgence in voter registration and turn-out, his
high vote count might never be topped in spite of the City’s
continual growth. It’s a state of affairs that Max would like to
remedy.
The Save Our
Springs (SOS) ordinance to protect Barton Springs had been passed in
1992. Austin’s environmental movement was at its peak in 1993, and
voters elected three strong environmentalists to the Council: Max
Nofziger, Brigid Shea, and Jackie Goodman. Max’s incessant efforts
to protect the environment and to win elected City office, in
concert with the hard work of activists City-wide, were coming to
fruition and paying off at last. “It was an exciting time to serve
on the City Council,” says Nofziger. “We finally had enough power
to have a real impact.”
During his third
Council term, Max carried on his work to boost the local music
industry. He instituted efforts to build more bicycle traffic lanes
and hike-and-bike trails around town. He worked with his Council
mates on planning for the new airport, promoting the new Convention
Center, and continuing to shore up the economy. And, along with the
SOS Alliance, the Save Barton Creek Association, and his like-minded
Council cohorts, Max fought for the preservation of Austin’s most
hallowed natural resource against developers hell-bent on
profiteering no matter how devastating or irreversible the
environmental consequences. Although it seemed that no devious
political maneuver was beyond Jim Bob Moffatt and his cohorts, Max
and company matched them step for step, with fortitude and
righteousness, and to this day have never settled for defeat.
A case in point:
the 1993-96 City Council, with Max on board, defended the
controversial SOS ordinance all the way to the Texas Supreme Court.
In spite of the Statesman’s shrill warnings that the Council
was wasting City time and money, the Republican-controlled high
court ruled unanimously — that’s nine to nothing — in favor of
upholding the SOS law. “We did our homework, our research. We had
a well-crafted ordinance they had to let stand,” Max says with no
small amount of pride.
Max Tried to Tell
Us
Due to Max’s
longstanding opposition to the South Texas Nuclear Project (STNP),
he was seriously dismayed at the City’s inability to halt STNP’s
construction or even merely extract itself from partnership in the
nuke. If only he’d been elected sooner . . . By Max’s third term,
he says, “the darned nuke was running and producing electricity,”
thus sapping the juice from its opposition. We couldn’t win for
losing. At least STNP was generating power, but at what cost? The
fact that STNP’s nuclear waste byproducts will take centuries to
degrade to safe levels renders the costs of the nuclear project
incalculable. It’s a concern that continually troubles the mayoral
hopeful.
And now, as of April
21st, the press is reporting that the Nuke — our Nuke —
is down and leaking potentially hazardous coolant water. Meanwhile
the so-called experts are scratching their heads and claiming they
have never seen such a thing. Well, Duh! No-nukers have warned
about these very dangers for decades. “I could say, ‘I told you
so,’” Nofziger says, “but it’s not much comfort in the face of so
serious a problem.”
Falling Back
but Not Retreating
By the end of his
third City Council term in early 1996, Max was beginning to feel the
accumulated stress of his all-consuming job. When he had first
joined the Council in 1987, he’d noticed a certain glassy-eyed
demeanor in some of the more seasoned council members. Max had
sworn to himself then and there that he would never simply “occupy”
his office. He wasn’t interested in resting on his laurels or doing
any less than his best for his constituents.
After an eight-year
marathon of election bids followed by another nine years of City
Council service, Max opted not to seek a fourth consecutive term and
decided to take a break from the long hours to recharge his
batteries. He didn’t want to risk losing patience with the
democratic process that he respected dearly. He chose to back away
for a while to avoid the pitfall. He had much to be proud of and to
be grateful for, and he was heartened by the landslide victory he’d
won after six years on the council. Best to bow out on an upbeat
note, he reasoned.
Max did not,
however, retreat from public service. He continued to work to
improve life in his favorite city, only this time in an unelected
capacity. Following his 1996 departure from the City Council,
Nofziger coordinated with South Austin neighborhoods to close the
Cinema West XXX Theater on South Congress Avenue. He then was hired
by the Austin Police Department to work on reducing prostitution on
South Congress. “I went from porn to prostitution,” he says with
deadpan matter-of-factness. Through a federal grant program, Austin
cops hired Max to be a community organizer. In this role, he worked
with businesses, neighborhood groups, the police, social services,
and the prostitutes themselves to clean up the main avenue leading
to the State Capitol.
“The lives of those
young prostitutes are very sad and tragic,” Max says. “They’re
usually on drugs and they often get beat up. There’s nothing
glamorous or sexy about it.” Max’s efforts have helped the
situation considerably. “I haven’t seen a prostitute on the street
north of Oltorf in years,” he says.
The Maxster
Marches On
More recently, Max
has worked with a political action committee called ROAD: Reclaim
Our Allocated Dollars, a privately funded group interested in
cleaning up Austin’s air without the expensive and ill-conceived
light rail plan put before voters last year by Capitol Metro. Lest
anyone think Max is down on public transit or has betrayed his
environmentalist credentials, Max wants voters to know that it was
Cap Metro’s specific plan he opposed, because it was ridiculously
costly, risky, intrusive, and unwieldy and would have yielded
minimal public benefit in relation to the extravagant investment.
Max has a better public transit plan that he believes is more
effective and clean, costs only 10% of the amount proposed by Cap
Metro, and, best of all, could be implemented immediately. You can
read more about Max’s plan by going to this web site’s home page and
clicking “Articles,” then “Affordable Clean Air Transit” or ACAT as
Max calls it.
While Max has
enjoyed his recent opportunity to absorb himself in a single issue
and focus on a problem all the way to its solution, he’s once again
itching to get back to a broader City-wide position where his labors
can bring more far-reaching results. Did I say he was itching?
Fired up is more like it. The little man with a big mind and a
bigger heart is ablaze with plans and ideas, burning to hear what
Austinites need and want, and ready to lay rubber taking us there.
I’m not being facetious when I say, Lucky us!
Next
week log on for the final installment in this biographical series
and to read what Max has in mind for Austin if we, when we, elect
him as our next mayor. What possible excuse would we have not to?
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