The previous vote by the City Council on the creation of an Austin Music Office was delayed after the police union threatened to rescind its offer to delay contractual raises. The move by the union would save the city about 5 million dollars. They protested the creation of the Music Office as apparently $330,000 is too much to spend to support and foster a billion dollar local industry. With the recent residential development downtown, music venues are facing a new set of challenges yet don’t have a clear voice in local government.

The City Council agreed to delay the vote and the new vote is scheduled for today. Ever the skeptic, I am taking bets on whether or not the vote will take place. I suspect that even if the vote does happen, they will vote to not create the music office.

What do you think? Will Austin’s local government finally realize that live music isn’t a self-sustaining industry? Will they realize that a small investment now could help incubate new talent and support the existing music scene?