AUSTIN, Texas -- Austin leaders are looking at ways to improve the city's Development Services Department. One recommendation from an audit last year, known as the Zucker Report, was to create a fast lane for developers willing to pay for expedited permits.

While city staff intended to model their expedited permit review process after the City of Dallas, elected officials had a different plan. The Dallas model moves developers to the front of the line if they pay an additional fee.

District 7 Council Member Leslie Pool initiated the process in June with a resolution "to draft policy options, to be presented to Council, that include minimum requirements for developers wishing to voluntarily participate in the City of Austin's expedited permit review process."

This round, District 5 Council Member Ann Kitchen is lead sponsor on a follow-up resolution, which includes extensive input from labor rights group Workers Defense Project.

"Fifty percent of workers report not receiving overtime; one in five report being seriously injured on the job," Bo Delp of Workers Defense Project said. "This local hiring goal ensures that men and women who work in construction can gain access to the kind of skilled jobs that can help put food on the table and be a good, safe, blue collar middle class job."

Phil Thoden with the Austin Chapter of Associated General Contractors of America said his members already provide safety training and workers' compensation, as proposed by the resolution.

Clauses of Concern

However, two clauses concern him and others in Austin's development community. They include, "A local hiring goal for project owners to ensure commercially reasonable efforts are made to recruit 30 percent of the total workforce hours performed from local DOL-registered apprenticeship programs or bilingual craft training programs that offer instruction at zero or nominal cost to the worker," and "independent, third-party on-site monitoring selected through a competitive process to ensure these standards are upheld."

"I am concerned about how it was crafted," said Phil Thoden, President and CEO of the Austin Chapter of Associated General Contractors of America. "I believe that there's one organization in town that is pre-selected."

The on-site monitor would be able to charge developers what it wants and have unfettered access to participating work sites, Thoden said. Requiring workers from local DOL-registered programs excludes participants from Goodwill, Austin Independent School District and Austin Community College.

"I think it will be interesting to see if people actually choose to go into an expedited permitting program that carries with it a host of unknowns and risks that probably just aren't worth it," Thoden said.

Thoden expects the Expedited Permit Review Process could benefit construction workers and city revenue. However, he believes the proposed regulations will cause the plan to have the same result as Austin's downtown Affordable Housing program: zero units built in the Central Business District since its creation.

Casar's Role Questioned

District 4 Council Member Greg Casar played a key role at Workers Defense Project before he took office. He's a co-sponsor of both Pool and Kitchen's resolutions.

Delp said Casar played a role in drafting the resolution, as did the other sponsors.

"I've always been a strong supporter of Austin’s workers, and I am proud to be a member of a City Council that is dedicated to workplace fairness," Casar said in a statement Tuesday. "I'm glad to be a co-sponsor on Council Member Kitchen’s resolution that ensures that workers are not left behind as our City revamps its permitting system. I think that providing worker safety training and a decent wage is a good idea even if some big construction companies disagree."

Casar did not address the extent of his involvement in drafting either resolution. Austin City Council will consider approving Item 29 Thursday, which would initiate code amendments to create the Expedited Permit Review Process.