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The
Star-Crossed Life and Times of Michael “Max” Nofziger: Part 7
APRIL 23, 2003.
This is the last article in a seven-part biographical series
posted on these web pages leading up to the May 3rd
mayoral and city council elections. It’s time to get up off our
comfortable behinds and corral all our acquaintances to go vote for
Max for Mayor. Early voting is underway. Time’s a-wastin’!
J
Now here we are,
nearing the end of this mini-biography of mayoral candidate Max
Nofziger as well as entering the homestretch of his ninth City-wide
campaign and his fourth try for Mayor. A summation of Max’s
accomplishments and a look ahead are in order, so let’s focus on the
character of our protagonist, former Councilman Nofziger himself,
because it is character that drives every true or fictional story
worth its ink (or pixels, as the case may be), and it’s the quality
of a man that must be examined when considering his potential impact
as a leader.
What is it in Max’s constitution that made
him an excellent three-term City Councilmember and also makes him
the best candidate for the next Mayor of Austin, Texas? Why is he
worthy of our votes? If his history as a flower-vendor worries you,
or his handle-bar mustache strikes you as odd, don’t let those
superficialities detract from this fact: The value of Max Nofziger
and his work to Austin and its citizens cannot be overstated.
Max’s Character
Let’s look at the facts we’ve established
about Max’s character thus far. He came to Austin a few months shy
of thirty years ago as a young idealist with a farm boy’s
practicality, a Mennonite/Methodist educator’s background, a
teaching certificate, and a degree in Political Science. Even as he
made his living in the flower-child field of flower-peddling, he
educated himself on the people and the issues of Austin. Many were
pleasantly surprised when Max turned out to be not an airhead, but a
man with considerable talent and savvy, the possessor of a strong
Midwesterner work ethic.
Neither did Max turn out to be a hippie
wimp in the face of serious challenge. Though a physically short
man, he stood psychologically tall against the forces out to ravage
our natural resources. He was influential in establishing Austin as
a model for public recycling programs and incentive systems for
energy-efficiency. He has never ceased to believe that the average
Austinite would chose to protect the environment if given the
information, the choice, and the chance. He was right on that
count and much more.
Over the years, whether selling flowers,
digging on local music, protesting the nuke, running for office,
working for the City Resources Commission, sitting on the City
Council, representing civic organizations and agencies, or toiling
on his own as a concerned citizen, Max has performed a capable
balancing act that’s on the record for all to see. Though beyond
most politicians, Max has somehow managed to maintain equilibrium
between his personal beliefs and the needs of the City he serves.
His vision for Austin has sustained his actions and continues to do
so. It is the force that holds him steady and makes him a rock solid
leader we can bank on.
Max has effectively
counterpoised his idealism and his belief in the importance of
Austin’s magical qualities, along with his dream of keeping Austin a
clean and affordable city, against the workload required to protect
the City’s uniqueness and resources and the realistic compromises
needed to make his work stand up over time. He has articulated and
implemented the vision that he shared with, and represented for,
most of us. People who have underestimated Max in the past have
been proven wrong time and again.
Few expected that
Max would ever win a City Council seat much less perform stalwartly
once elected. Scarcely anyone predicted that he would rise as well
as he did to the task of being a three-term councilmember. Why?
Perhaps the stereotypical myth of hippies as lazy and unpatriotic
ne’er-do-wells had infected our thinking and we neglected to notice
the distinct difference between an idealist on an alternate path and
a slacker with long hair. Whatever our now invalidated reasons for
low expectations of Max Nofziger, let’s just be glad that we were
wrong, wrong, wrong.
Max’s Impact
And let’s be
grateful for what he’s done for us too. He has defended Barton
Springs relentlessly; he talked us into moving the airport and
building the Convention Center. He instituted incentives and
protections for the development of home-grown business and
enterprise. He established increased public support for the live
music industry; he pushed for hike-and-bike trails and for mass
transit that’s truly affordable and not a pork-barrel nightmare.
He’s demonstrated his innate wholesomeness by ridding South Congress
of porn theaters and prostitution. He has been a cool head in
countless heated debates, brokering compromises galore, researching,
writing, and implementing democratic policy, and making friends in
unlikely places.
Indeed, a prominent
local attorney, who proudly asserts that his politics lie slightly
to the right of Attila the Hun, admitted to me that he voted for Max
in the 1990s because Max had done an exemplary job on the Council.
Today that attorney, who has asked to remain nameless (maybe he
doesn’t want to mar his conservative image?), says he voted for Max
because, “Max is a liberal realist, as opposed to the liberal
idealists who are usually ineffective.”
Max Nofziger is a
practical and experienced visionary. He is not disconnected or
living in an ivory tower built on pipe dreams. He can get down to
Earth and grind out policy after policy. His qualifications are
hard won.
Yet recently there
seems to be an undertone afoot amongst Austin voters who appear to
have forgotten what Max has done for the City and who act as if they
doubt Max’s abilities simply because he was once a flower-vendor.
Never mind that Max quit the vocation twenty years ago, or that, as
we have established here, he sold flowers for altruistic reasons.
Some people seem to be unaware of Max’s far-reaching influence on
Austin, or how much better their own lives are as a result of his
nine years on the City Council.
But any reasonable
person with a memory longer than the lifespan of a gnat would honor
Max Nofziger’s record of achievement were it brought to their
attention, and they would shudder to think of what Austin might be
like without him. There’s a reason that 52,168 people voted for Max
to serve a third term on the council back in 1993; we had a basis
for making him the most popular elected white guy of the millennium.
Could it have had something to do with him being the
hardest-working, most effective guy in a city elected position in
years or even decades? And he wasn’t voted out of office either.
He took a break from his elected position, though not from public
service, so that he could stay fresh and could do his best for the
voters.
Max is Our Man
Those of us who
comprised that landslide victory for Max ten years ago need to get
off our fannies and let our friends, neighbors and relations know
who brung them to the dance. We need to remind them which current
contender for Mayor has the track-record, time served, and expertise
to take us beyond where we find ourselves today.
Some may think Max’s
easy-going nature indicates a lack of seriousness on his part, but
that assumption would also be wrong. Rather, his calm attitude
keeps his thinking unharried and innovative; it allows him time to
listen well to the opinions of others and to fully consider options
instead of flying off in pursuit of the popular theme of the moment.
What we have for a
field of 2003 mayoral candidates is: three wealthy white men, two
cross-dressers, a couple of candidates who went underground early on
and stayed there, and Michael Max Nofziger.
Max is the only
contender with know-how and experience in the means and methods of
City-wide economic recovery. His easy manner has also given him the
open mind needed to be a consensus-builder, a rare fellow who can
juggle development interests with the interests of longstanding city
businesses and neighborhoods, a man who can facilitate compromise
and negotiation. This skill is always valuable, but it’s
particularly important now when the economy needs repair, Barton
Springs is still in danger, the music business could use some
assistance, and Cap Metro’s response to our present day traffic
standstill is to propose an ineffectual behemoth transportation
system that would take a decade to build and that we cannot afford.
Max and
Destiny
Although Max is
definitely a realist when it comes to political negotiation and
policy construction, he steadfastly maintains that it is Austin’s
magic that makes him tick and that gives him the nerve and the verve
to keep pushing ahead. And he remains resolute in his conviction
that Destiny brought him to Austin and gave him the imagination to
see the City as it could be plus the tools and skills to lead us
onward toward our own greater good. Max Nofziger and Austin are a
symbiotic pair. Max’s belief in us at our collective best is
unshakeable. It could be called spiritual, though it’s not at all
dogmatic but instead truly tolerant and all-inclusive. Whether one
believes in Fate or not, anyone who is honest with him- or herself
has to admit that Max’s positive attitude and untiring efforts have
been, and continue to be, good for this City and can be the driving
force that can take us wherever we want to go.
We need Max Nofziger
to be our next mayor. The other candidates can’t touch him in terms
of personal integrity, consistency, and long-term investment in our
fair city. Again: We need Max Nofziger to be our next mayor!
So let’s go beat the bushes and scour the land for the voters who
favor Max but might not realize how much he needs their help. After
all he has done for us, we owe Max Nofziger this victory, which will
also be a triumph for us all.
Many
thanks from the author to Max Nofziger. It has been my great
pleasure getting to know him better during our interviews. He has
to be the most earnest man I have ever met. Thanks also to
Christine, Ester, Bob, and Dave for their considerable help with
getting these stories distributed, edited, and posted on the web
site and for their good work on behalf of the candidate. Go Max!
See you at the victory party!
Toward Peace, Brenda
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