Mark Nemir, the owner of Dirty Martin's, said that he remains uncertain about the fate of his property amidst the city of Austin's plans for building light rail and has requested written clarification from city leaders. Nemir was a guest on a recent episode of the Texas Talks Podcast.

"I went to a lot of university-area partners where we learned all our businesses would be destroyed by the light-rail project and I hadn't heard any great news from ATP until more recently,” said Nemir on a recent edition of the Texas Talks Podcast. “Then they had a press release, which I still have not seen personally. And, the media is reporting that they're no longer going to be taking out my property.”

“But I am still very unclear and have not seen any written assurance or updated plans and, now, the possibility of vehicular traffic being diverted from Guadalupe street is apparently still on the table, and I don't know how I could survive with that either," said Nemir. “We've requested some clarity in writing and are still waiting to hear back."

Nemir, the owner of Dirty Martin's near UT campus, is part of a lawsuit against the City of Austin over Project Connect. The lawsuit challenges the city's financing structure as unconstitutional and claims they no longer have voter authorization because they changed the plan so drastically from what voters approved. In addition to the lawsuit, Nemir and others advocated for legislative action, proposing the HB389 (The No Blank Checks Act) to mandate voter oversight of bonds and stating ATP, the organization tasked with implementing the project, must follow the same rules in state law as a city or county. 

Texas Talks podcast is hosted by Brad Swail. The weekly show is focused on public policy in the state of Texas, with insights from the people and organizations that influence it.

The podcast is available on Simple Cast and YouTube.