ATP lawyer argues against sharing information with the public

Lawyers for the Austin Transit Partnership and Austinites who have filed suit to try to stop ATP from proceeding to build a light-rail system without another vote will be in court next Monday to argue about whether the city of Austin should be removed as a party in the lawsuit. Attorney Bill Aleshire is representing the plaintiffs, including former Council Member Ora Houston and former state Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos.

Unless they reach agreement before then, they will also be arguing over whether ATP should be able to keep information it provides to the plaintiffs’ lawyers from being shared with the public.

In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs say the city should never have been a party to the lawsuit because it is ATP and not the city that will be issuing the bonds. In addition to Barrientos and Houston, the plaintiffs include Mark Nemir, the owner of the venerable burger joint Dirty Martin’s; Travis County Commissioner Margaret Gómez; and East Austin activist Susana Almanza.

As a city spokesperson explained to the Austin Monitor, “The City approves an annual transfer of voter-approved tax revenues to Austin Transit Partnership through its yearly budget process. At its February 14, 2024 meeting, the City Council authorized amendments to the Interlocal Funding Agreement between the City and Austin Transit Partnership that memorialized this annual transfer and clarified that the revenue transfer is subject to annual appropriation.”

The plaintiffs have requested a number of documents relating to the cost of building the rail system, and an attorney for ATP has asked Aleshire whether he would agree to keep the information confidential – even from his clients.

Aleshire told the Monitor via email, “In response to our discovery requests, ATP’s attorneys want to restrict public access to some of the information they would provide us in the bond validation lawsuit. So … they proposed what’s called a ‘Protective Order’ that would allow only (attorney Rick Fine) and me to see the responses but not be able to share the information with anyone else. I declined to agree to that, especially without them telling us in advance exactly what information they seek to conceal.”

Last June, ATP and the city approved a revised plan that would offer considerably fewer miles of rail but cost less than what was projected to be a $10 billion construction project. The revised project is expected to cost between $4.5 billion and $4.8 billion, with property taxes providing the lion’s share and anticipated federal funding making up the rest.

In an email to attorney Elliott Clark, who represents ATP, Aleshire quoted from a variety of statements made by the transit agency, including this one from executive director Greg Canally: “We committed to create this Plan with full transparency and engagement with the Austin community. … Commitment to accountability and transparency are front and center in our continued readiness to implement Austin Light Rail.” Canally made the statement last year after a new budget was approved for the plan.

Casey Burack, executive vice president for business and legal affairs, told the Monitor: “ATP is focused on validating our bonds and advancing Austin Light Rail. ATP is not commenting on the bond validation proceedings and will respond in court.”

Photo made available through a Creative Commons license.

The Austin Monitor’s work is made possible by donations from the community. Though our reporting covers donors from time to time, we are careful to keep business and editorial efforts separate while maintaining transparency. A complete list of donors is available here, and our code of ethics is explained here.