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Geographic Representation

An Election For History Books

 An Election For History Books

Geographic representation achieved, GOP wins
three seats, and several other records set

by Ken Martin
©The Austin Bulldog 2014
Posted Wednesday December 17, 2014 8:28pm
Updated Thursday December 18, 2014 6:21am

Steve Adler at victory party, with wife Diane Land looking onThe largest landslide margin ever in an Austin mayoral runoff was achieved last night, as mayoral victor Steve Adler swamped incumbent Council Member Mike Martinez.

In Travis and Williamson counties a combined total of 80,669 votes were cast in the mayor’s race. Adler garnered 54,366 for 67.39 percent, while Martinez netted 26,303 for 32.61 percent.

Laura Morrison set the previous record by getting 65.0 percent of the votes in her 2008 runoff against Cid Galindo. Robert Barnstone got 64.98 percent in beating Sam Guzman in a 1988 runoff.

Lee Cooke in 1988 set the prevous record for margin of victory in a mayoral runoff when he got 58.43 percent of the votes to unseat incumbent mayor Frank Cooksey.

Greg CasarAt age 25, Greg Casar became the youngest Austin City Council member ever elected.

Previously the youngest council member was 26-year-old Jeff Friedman, elected in 1971.

Friedman’s campaign consultant in that election, Peck Young, verified this, saying, “Jeff was the youngest when he was elected and Greg beats him by a year.” Casar will turn 26 in early May.

Casar ran a smart campaign to soundly defeat now two-time loser Laura Pressley (she got an impressive 44.48 percent of the votes in her one-on-one challenge of incumbent Martinez in 2012).

Laura PressleyCasar’s District 4 victory of 2,851 votes (64.62 percent) to her 1,561 (35.38 percent) resulted in part from her campaign’s faux pas. Perhaps not the least of which was getting involved in a discussion of the 9-11 attacks being an inside job, which drew intense media coverage, and her latest mail piece attacking Casar for, among other things, allegedly being an atheist.

Still, last night Pressley couldn’t resist a parting shot. A little after 8pm as early voting results showed she was already behind by more than 700 votes, she insisted on being quoted as saying, “Greg sold District 4 to special interests.”

In response Casar told The Austin Bulldog, “My track record stands up for working people and progressive ideals, even when special interests stood in the way. I’m going to stay committed to that.”

Women rule

What Can Austin Learn From California?

What Can Austin Learn From California?

Panel discussion focuses on how Golden State
experiences inform city’s move to 10-1 council

by Ken Martin
© The Austin Bulldog 2013
Posted Monday, May 6, 2013 2:00am
Updated with video link Tuesday May 7, 2013 10:50am

Emcee Bickerstaff and panelists Ancheta, Lewis, Hadavi, Limaye, FishkinCalifornia’s official nickname, The Golden State, adopted in 1968, harkens back to the discovery of gold in 1848. Now the left-coast state’s experiences with using an independent citizens commission to draw maps for 177 seats in four different governing bodies offers a golden opportunity for learning how best to implement the City of Austin’s 10-1 plan.

The 10-1 plan for electing council members from geographic districts was approved by 60 percent of Austin voters last November 6 who voted for Proposition 3. Work is well underway to establish an Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (ICRC) that will draw council districts to be implemented in the November 2014 election. The ICRC’s duties are specified in Article II, Section 3 of the Austin City Charter.

Close to a hundred people attended the panel discussion held the evening of Thursday, May 2, at the Bass Lecture Hall on the University of Texas campus. Upwards of half of those raised their hands when asked who had applied to serve on the ICRC.

The event was jointly hosted by UT’s School of Law, the LBJ School’s Center for Politics and Governance, and Austinites for Geographic Representation.

Redistricting Veteran Shares His Wisdom

Redistricting Veteran Shares His Wisdom

 Member of California Redistricting Commission
describes what to watch out for in Austin redistricting

by Ken Martin
© The Austin Bulldog 2013
Posted Thursday May 2, 2013 3:55pm

One of the 14 members of the California Redistricting Commission was the featured speaker at today’s luncheon hosted by Austinites for Geographic Representation and sponsored by the Austin Area Research Organization and League of Woman Voters Austin Area.

Angelo AnchetaAttorney Angelo Ancheta is director of the Katherine and George Alexander Community Law Center and an associate clinical professor at Santa Clara University, where he teaches on subjects including election law, voting rights, and immigration. He came to Austin at his own expense and with no other business here to help educate the community about what to expect going forward.

From an applicants’ pool of 30,000 people, Ancheta won a slot on the California Redistricting Commission, the group that drew the maps for four different political jurisdictions, which included 80 seats in the California State Assembly, 40 seats in the California State Senate, 53 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, and four seats on the California State Board of Equalization.

Ancheta’s experience in drawing maps for California, a state with 38 million people, offers good insights into what lies ahead for the City of Austin and its 845,000 people.

Prop 3 Proponents to Monitor Implementation

  • Prop 3 Proponents to Monitor Implementation
  •  
  • Austinites for Geographic Representation form
  • committee to help guide work on 10-1 system
  •  
  • by Ken Martin
  • © The Austin Bulldog 2012
  • Posted Sunday November 25, 2012 8:56pm

Fresh off a major victory in the November 6 election, some three-dozen fired up members of Austinites for Geographic Representation (AGR) packed the meeting room at the Austin Firefighters Hall last Monday evening to map out how to stay involved during implementation of the 10-1 system for council elections.

Volunteer political consultant Peck Young, who provided the strategy for the winning campaign, roused the crowd.

Peck Young“We need to remember we won a campaign. We created districts. We have changed something a half century old and changed it for the rest of this century,” he said.

But he added a note of caution.

Young said, “The work to keep this fair and honest isn't over. I promise you we have work to do so this process is not perverted or corrupted by people who never wanted this in the first place.”

“We've got at least another year of hard work to be sure it's implemented correctly.”

City Hustles to Initiate Prop 3 Tasks

  • City Hustles to Initiate Prop 3 Tasks
  •  
  • Auditor coordinating with proponents of 10-1 plan
  • to begin what will be a lengthy transition process
  •  
  • by Ken Martin
  • © The Austin Bulldog 2012
  • Posted Thursday, November 15, 2012 1:25pm
  •  
  • Faced with a December 1 deadline to announce a call for volunteers to serve on the Citizens Independent Redistricting Commission (CIRC), and a panel of auditors to screen applications, the city auditor’s office has shifted into high gear.

  • The deadline was set by Proposition 3: Ordinance No. 20120802-015 to implement what was approved by 145,910 voters, or slightly more than 60 percent of those who cast ballots on this proposition November 6.

The CIRC will ultimately draw 10 council districts that the City Council will have no choice but to adopt for the November 2014 elections, subject to approval by the U.S. Department of Justice under the Voting Rights Act. Only the mayor will continue to be elected at-large.

The city’s Fiscal Impacts for Propositions 1-10 estimated that Proposition 3 includes a one-time cost of $888,000 for construction and build-out of new offices and additional ongoing costs of $1.4 million a year to operate the four additional council offices.

But the cost of the conducting the work necessary to draw council districts and get federal approval has not been determined.

10-1 Plan To Rule Council Elections

  • 10-1 Plan To Rule Council Elections
  •  
  • Both propositions for geographic representation pass
  • but grassroots group dominates election results
  •  
  • by Ken Martin
  • © The Austin Bulldog 2012
  • Posted Wednesday November 7, 2012 3:21am
  • (Updated Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 3:08pm)
  •  (Updated Wednesday, November 7, 2012, at 5:48pm.)

Austinites for Geographic Representation’s Proposition 3 won a thumping victory Tuesday with its plan for electing 10 council members from geographic districts and electing only the mayor at-large.

Gonzalo Barrientos“This is a historic moment,” said retired State Senator Gonzalo Barrientos, who chaired the 2012 Charter Revision Committee. He told the crowd made boisterous when the early voting results were announced, “I have never seen the people of Austin come together like they did on this campaign—that is truly American.”

Some five hours later the Travis County Clerk’s report posted at 12:17am this morning indicates that Proposition 3 got 142,615 145,910 votes (60.02 60.15 percent) while Proposition 4 (the 8-2-1 hybrid plan) got 118,855 121,366 votes (51.08 percent). (Updated Wednesday, November 7, 2012, at 5:48pm.) Because Proposition 3 got the most votes it will be implemented and Proposition 4 will be rejected.

Prop 3 Fundraising Outpaces Prop 4

  • Prop 3 Fundraising Outpaces Prop 4
  •  
  • Financial support for 10-1 council elections
  • far outstrip dollars donated for 8-2-1 hybrid
  •  
  • by Ken Martin
  • © The Austin Bulldog 2012
  • Posted Monday, October 29, 2012 9:11pm

Austinites for Geographic Representation (AGR), proponents of Proposition 3’s 10-1 plan for electing council members, continues its lopsided advantage in fundraising compared with Austin Community for Change (AC4C), which is backing the 8-2-1 hybrid plan for electing council members.

Through the previous reporting period that ended September 29, AGR had raised a total of $69,793. That’s 15 times the $4,592 raised by AC4C.

Today’s reports indicated that AGR raised an additional $54,058, bringing its total to date to $123,851. AGR still has $13,856 left on hand for the sprint to the finish.

AC4C’s latest report indicates the 8-2-1 hybrid plan backers raised $14,600, bringing its total to date to $19,192. AC4C still had $1,227 on hand through today’s report.

Push for November Elections Raises $52,250

  • Push for November Elections Raises $52,250
  •  
  • RECA and Austin Board of Realtors PACs each
  • kick in $26,000 to move council election dates
  •  
  • by Ken Martin
  • © The Austin Bulldog 2012
  • Posted October 29, 2012 8:51pm
  •  

The Democracy Austin Political Action Committee reporting raising more than $52,000 in the latest reporting period and spent nearly all of it on television and ads in The Austin Chronicle to get voter approval for Propositions 1 and 2 on the November 6 ballot.

Both propositions would move the election of mayor and council members from May to be held during the November general elections. Prop 2 differs from Prop 1 by additionally lengthening terms from the current three years to four years; shortening the number of terms allowed from three terms to two terms; and requiring that staggered elections be held in even-numbered years.

Mike MartinezChris RileyAustin City Council Members Mike Martinez and Chris Riley were appointed to serve as treasurer and assistant treasurer, respectively, September 5. They were appointed by Austin Strategies political consultant Mark Nathan, who in July 2011 left his job as chief of staff for Mayor Lee Leffingwell.

Nathan answered The Austin Bulldog’s questions about the campaign via e-mail this evening.