Thanks for the response. I went to the City’s web page and checked out the biographical information published by the mayor & council. Seemed to be quite a few academics and professional city government types. The city government seems out of step with the rest of Texas. (However, I should talk as I live in California where the entire state is to the left of Austin.)
And how ever goofy the city council is, Austin functions extremely well.
The unemployed rate is one of the lowest for a big city in the country, the city has one of the highest percentages of college grads and property values in the city have been stable or increased over the last several years.
A month or so ago when we had our first big rain in a long time, a pot hole developed on my street. I called the city and the pothole was fixed that very day.
Good city services.