The Hammett's Crossing fight goes on
Pam Reese met with Gerald Dougherty and engineer Steve Manilla about Hammett's Crossing. Remember, we had had a meeting a few weeks ago about building a new bridge across the river. And most neighbors want no changes -- but most are OK with minor safety improvements (even though nobody can remember any actual accidents occurring).
Pam says the options are:
Number 3 above has been ruled out since the County and TxDOT do not have the funds to build such a bridge. However, number 2 above does appear the most likely approach after Steve's meeting with the TxDOT engineers. Commissioner Daugherty and Steve Manilla would like to form a committee of residents to help decide some of the parameters and design elements of this bridge. Starting in February or March, this group would meet perhaps once a month for several months to a year or more to give input on the bridge design. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SERVE ON THIS COMMITTEE, PLEASE LET ME KNOW SO THAT I CAN PASS THIS INFORMATION ON TO THEM.
- rehabilitating the existing bridge by widening it to two lanes, adding guard rails, etc.;
- replacing the bridge with a 2- lane bridge that will not overtop (flood) more frequently than a 3-year event (approximately 30 feet higher than the existing bridge)
- building a 100-year event bridge that will accomodate CAMPO's plan for Hamilton Pool Rd. being a MAD4 (4-lane divided highway) from Hwy. 71 to the Blanco County Line by the year 2030. This type of road is also described as an arterial class roadway.
Heloooo? They want a citizens group to rubber stamp for their decision for #2, get it?
Look: nobody at the meeting wanted a bridge three stories over the river. Guard rails: sure. Flyover: NO.
Pam tells us the Commissioner's real agenda:
Another outcome of the Friday meeting with Commissioner Daugherty and Steve Manilla is that the Commissioner agreed to pursue with CAMPO having Hamilton Pool Rd. from FM 12 to the Blanco County Line reclassified as a Hill Country Arterial. This is a 2-lane road with wide shoulders and a buffer of land on either side. The Commissioner mentioned that turn lanes would need to be added in places and that eventually he sees the entire length of Hamilton Pool Rd. from Hwy. 71 to the Blanco County Line being a 2-lane road with a third center lane. We should all thank and encourage the Commissioner for his willingness to work on getting the classification of Hamilton Pool Rd. changed in the CAMPO 2030 plan.[Emphasis original]
Pam. Pam pam pam pam pam.
A three lane highway west of RR 12. Across the river on a 30 foot bridge. Who is that for? Is it to benefit Kaila and me? Annie and Ric? Any residents out here at all?
No. The new bridge is not for us. It is for new cul de sac neighborhoods needed to house shoppers for the Hill Country Galleria.
The threat to make HPR a 4-lane was always a straw man. They presented it as option #3 above just so that they can make option #2 appear to be a compromise.
Option #2 was the plan all along.
The community meeting was a sham, providing cover for it. Now we have to fight, and keep fighting, just to preserve what it seemed we won that evening.
It's a developer bridge, I ain't calling it anything else.
http://www.learn-usa.com/transformation_process/acf002.htm
The Delphi Technique — How to Disrupt It
Ground rules for disrupting the consensus process (Delphi Technique) — when facilitators want to steer a group in a specific direction.
1) Always Be Charming. Smile, be pleasant, be courteous, moderate your voice so as not to come across as belligerent or aggressive.
2) Stay Focused. If at all possible, write your question down to help you stay focused. Facilitators, when asked questions they don't want to answer, often digress from the issue raised and try to work the conversation around to where they can make the individual asking the question look foolish, feel foolish, appear belligerent or aggressive. The goal is to put the one asking the question on the defensive. Do not fall for this tactic. Always be charming, thus deflecting any insinuation, innuendo, etc, that may be thrown at you in their attempt to put you on the defensive, but bring them back to the question you asked. If they rephrase your question into an accusatory statement (a favorite tactic) simply state, "that is not what I stated, what I asked was… (repeat your question)." Stay focused on your question.
3) Be Persistent. If putting you on the defensive doesn't work, facilitators often resort to long drawn out dissertations on some off-the-wall and usually unrelated, or vaguely related, subject that drags on for several minutes – during which time the crowd or group usually loses focus on the question asked (which is the intent). Let them finish with their dissertation/expose, then nicely, with focus and persistence, state, "but you didn't answer my question. My question was… (repeat your question)."
Remember…
always be charming,
stay focused, and
be persistent.
Never, under any circumstance, become angry. Anger directed at the facilitator will immediately make the facilitator "the victim." This defeats the purpose which is to make you the victim. The goal of the facilitator is to make those they are facilitating like them, alienating anyone who might pose a threat to the realization of their agenda. [People with fixed belief systems, who know what they believe and stand on what they believe, are obvious threats.] If the participant becomes the victim, the facilitator loses face and favor with the crowd. This is why crowds are broken up into groups of seven or eight, why objections are written on cards, not voiced aloud where they are open to public discussion and public debate. It's called crowd control. It is always good to have someone else, or two or three others who know the Delphi Technique dispersed through the crowd; who, when the facilitator digresses from the question, will stand up and say nicely, "but you didn't answer that lady's/gentleman's question." The facilitator, even if suspecting you are together, certainly will not want to alienate the crowd by making that accusation. Sometimes it only takes one occurrence of this type for the crowd to figure out what's going on, sometimes it takes more than one.
If you have an organized group, meet before the meeting to strategize. Everyone should know their part. Meet after the meeting to analyze what went right, what went wrong and why, and what needs to happen the next time around. Never meet during the meeting. One of the favorite tactics of the facilitator, if the meeting is not going the way he/she wants, if he/she is meeting measurable resistance, is to call a recess. During the recess, the facilitator and his/her "spotters" (people who wander the room during the course of the meeting, watching the crowd) watch the crowd to see who congregates where, especially those who have offered measurable resistance. If the "resistors" congregate in one place, a "spotter" will usually gravitate to that group to "join in the conversation" and will report back to the facilitator. When the meeting resumes, the facilitator will steer clear of those who are "resistors." Do not congregate. Hang loose and work the crowd. Move to where the facilitator or "spotters" are, listen to what they have to say, but do not gravitate to where another member of your team is.
This strategy also works in a face to face, one on one, meeting with anyone who has been trained in how to use the Delphi Technique.
With thanks to Sandy Vanderberg, Peg Luksik and others
I'd also like to bring this article up because it describes tactics used in low population areas.
http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/spe/2001/0610denton/
Thanks to Jueri for the info about disrupting the Delphi technique! I don't live out there, but I want you to feel confident that when it comes time to act, there are many of us in Austin who support your efforts to retain the quiet, unique character of that portion of HPRd. I'll keep watching for updates and I'll be there to help when you need me.
Although my role in the Hammett's Crossing bridge saga is to call neighborhood meetings, obtain as much information from officials as I can, and report back to the neighbors in an objective manner, my personal preference is to see the bridge remain unchanged or rehabilitated. During my meeting with Commissioner Daugherty and Steve Manilla, director of Public Works for Travis County, Steve mentioned that one of the parameters for the bridge design is the future plans for Hamilton Pool Rd. Since the bridge is currently listed in the CAMPO 2030 plan as a MAD4 (4 lane divided highway), it would be beneficial to those of us who want minimal change in the bridge to work toward having the CAMPO designation of the bridge downgraded to a 2-lane road. I have asked Commissioner Daugherty to consider going before the CAMPO board with this request. I urge others to contact Commissioner Daugherty with this same request. Commissioner Daugherty is well aware of the sentiments of the majority of the neighbors around Hammett's Crossing. We want minimal change to the bridge.
Please email Commissioner Daugherty: Gerald.Daugherty@co.travis.tx.us.
Pam Reese
Thanks Pam, for taking up this work.
You are right: it's a great opportunity to have GD support CAMPO's downgrading the plan to a two lane road. We should back him up on this, because a two lane road certainly requires a smaller bridge.
I object to the two lane, thirty foot elevation bridge because, if built, it would facilitate faster travel on the road, more cars, and more development. If they just wanted to build us a nice bridge, but had a plan in place to protect wildlife and water, and night skies, that would be great. Their plan, though, is to hook that bridge up to a straightened, wider, faster HPR.
The bridge is the critical point. We have to concentrate all our forces there.
We have to fight to keep any improvements to the bridge limited to guardrails, widening, and shoulders. We cannot let them erect a flyover across the river canyon. That will accelerate the construction of the cul de sac neighborhoods they're dying to build out here.