Doug Greco calls on Mayor and City Council to reject $1.75 Million taxpayer giveaway to business group led by Watson donors
For Immediate Release
The Doug Greco for Austin Mayor Campaign calls on Mayor Watson and Council to reject a proposed $1.75 Million City of Austin contract with “Opportunity Austin,” the business group started by the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce to advocate for corporate tax breaks and incentives from the city. Greco calls on the council to remove this item from Thursday’s agenda and redirect the money to the City’s Economic Development Department initiatives like workforce development and the Small and Minority Business Resources Department.
“It’s election time, and the hogs are at Kirk Watson’s trough again,” said Doug Greco, candidate for Mayor. “The Mayor wants us to toss some of his biggest donors $1.75 Million in taxpayer dollars so they can convince major corporations to apply for much larger tax abatements from Austinites. This is ‘pay for play’ on steroids.”
Opportunity Austin’s Board Chair Gary Farmer, its CEO Ed Latson, and thirteen more of the organizations’ board members are top donors to Kirk Watson’s reelection campaign, each having contributed the maximum of $450. Additionally, Mr. Farmer contributed over $50,000 to Kirk Watson’s “Stand Together Austin” PAC in 2022 to defeat Celia Israel. One of Opportunity Austin’s key strategies is to “tell a better story on economic incentives.”
“Since the mayor is such a prolific campaign fundraiser, I’m sure he can help Opportunity Austin and the Chamber raise plenty of private funding for this group,” said Greco. “But hands off our taxpayer dollars. We’ve had enough of Watson’s socialism for the rich and free enterprise for the poor.”
Kirk Watson voted against a budget amendment this summer utilizing $4.3 from the city savings account to pay for, among other social services, programs to address homelessness. He recently championed a $107.6 Million purchase of property from Brandywine Realty, one of the corporate donors to his Austin Leadership PAC, for a combined public safety facility. Watson’s Austin Leadership PAC is funded mostly by real estate development interests, private equity, and mega-Trump donor and oil and gas billionaire Bryan Sheffield.
Doug Greco played a central role in the Texas IAF’s effort to kill, and later reform, the state’s largest corporate tax giveaway program, Chapter 313. His former organization Central Texas Interfaith led the effort in 2013 to require any company receiving City of Austin tax abatements to pay living wages, benefits, and hire locally. Greco supports the proposed contracts to the Greater Austin Black Chamber, Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber, Greater Austin Asian Chamber, and the Austin LGBT Chamber, which are also on Thursday’s agenda.
