Sammy Winner: Sal Costello
Best Short Satire Video
Sal Costello—an advertising, design, and marketing professional from Austin, Texas—can vouch for the fact that if you want to see someone stand up to unaccountable government, you’ve got to jump in and get involved yourself.
That’s what happened to Costello when, in 2004,
Worse yet, Costello said, special interest groups (like toll lobbyists) give contributions and other favors to elected officials to support this plan, and some of the major media outlets (including the main newspaper, The Austin American Statesman) also support it because the special interests contribute most of the advertising revenue of the paper.
And, although the public overwhelmingly opposed this plan, no one was doing anything about it—until Costello, that is.
“I kept waiting for someone, elected or unelected, to do something,” he said. “Nobody did anything, so I stepped up and got sucked in.”
Once Costello got started, though, many angry Texans joined him in fighting the toll plan. He formed the group People for Efficient Transportation (PEC), Inc. to file lawsuits, and its sister organization, the PEC Political Action Committee, to direct the political fight.
Because of tremendous public outrage about the toll scheme, the PEC groups continued to grow, leading to numerous victories in chipping away at the plan. The PAC was able to remove several large toll sections of the plan, amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars saved. PET Inc. also filed and won a lawsuit proving the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (CTRMA) was unconstitutional, forcing the CTRMA to pay PET Inc. $19,000 for legal fees.
A key part of making all of this possible, however, was the satirical video Costello created to spread the word to citizens about what was going on. (Watch it below.) The video has raked in more than 10,000 views, and has been picked up by a local TV news station. This success was simple: people find the video funny and informative, so it goes viral as hundreds of people pass it around to let others know what’s going on.
Better yet, Costello’s video earned him the Best Short Satire Sammy Award, which seemed to come not a moment too soon.
Citizen leaders often sacrifice enormous amounts of time or money to fight for good government. Costello was no exception. His dedicated involvement in fighting the toll plan demanded thousands of hours of his time, and as a result, the income of his business suffered.
“It just so happens that the day your great organization informed me of my award, I was having a horrible day,” he said. “Christmas was coming, and I was really freaking out about my finances. I was beating myself up pretty good, and then you guys and gals swooped in like an angel with $5,000 tucked under its wing.”
He continued, “It was also a great feeling to be recognized on a national level for our fight here in
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Congratulations to Sal Costello—the Sam Adams Alliance & Foundation is thrilled to reward you for your efforts to defend liberty. Keep up the good work!
