City Council

When Mike Martinez announced he would seek a third term on the Austin City Council, The Austin Bulldog went to work researching Martinez’s personal and political background.

As with prior investigations of Mayor Lee Leffingwell and Mayor Pro Tem Sheryl Cole, we used an organized plan to find, copy, and publish every public record we could find in an effort to educate citizens about their elected officials in the months leading to the May 2012 election.

We also read and compiled past news articles from The Austin Bulldog and other publications, and fact-checked statements elected officials made about their backgrounds. 

Our research into Martinez painted a picture of an outspoken politician financially backed by well-connected donors who has gained a loyal following over the past six years and a vocal group of critics.

Tina Cannon emphasized her slogan, “fostering entrepreneurship in Austin,” last Friday, when she officially launched her campaign against incumbent Bill Spelman for the Place 5 Austin City Council seat.

Despite chilly winds and rainfall, about 30 supporters huddled under a covered patio outside Pour House Pub in North Austin as Cannon discussed her desire to bring a small business owner’s perspective to City Hall.

“I want us to put Austin back on the map as a leader in innovation and economic development and growth, and bring back transparency in city government that has been so absent at our City Hall,” said Cannon, noting that her friends and family have encouraged her to run for office over the years. “I’m really trying to lean on my background in business and entrepreneurship … and be a completely new voice.”

Former State Senator Gonzalo Barrientos knew things might get dicey at the final scheduled meeting of the 2012 Charter Revision Committee he chairs.

He brought in retired Travis County District Judge Bob Perkins, who sat on the 331st District Court bench for nearly three decades, to referee as parliamentarian, if need be.

It was a guaranteed evening of high drama given the scheduled final vote to decide what form of electoral system the committee would recommend to the Austin City Council. That vote culminated five months of public meetings in which the committee members listened to hundreds of citizens and heard the advice of several attorneys well versed in election law and compliance with the federal Voting Rights Act.

After voting 12-2 to recommend that a measure be put on the ballot to have an Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission draw council district lines should voters should approve some form of geographic representation—something voters nixed six times before between 1973 and 2002—the committee was at last ready to deal with what form of geographic representation to recommend.

During a sometimes heated and often passionate discussion that lasted nearly an hour, the deeply split committee was unable to reach a compromise.

The final vote was to recommend the 10-1 plan—in which 10 council members would be elected from geographic districts and only the mayor elected by all voters—passed 8-7.

The vote on a previous motion to recommend a 10-2-1 plan, where the mayor and two council members would be elected at large, failed 7-8.

There were calls for compromise that would unite the group and strengthen its recommendation for what the City Council should put on the ballot in November but in the end that was fruitless.

Committee members budged not one inch from the positions they had announced in previous public meetings.

Intense debate, no surrender

The big crowd that came to hear Brigid Shea announce she will run for mayor showed she has a strong core of supporters willing to help her try to unseat incumbent Mayor Lee Leffingwell.

She has 100 days before the May 12 election to expand her support and build a winning campaign against a well-funded, deeply entrenched incumbent who has won three previous elections and been on the city council for seven years.

While time is short for Shea to rally a winning campaign, Kathie Tovo got an even later start last year by not appointing a treasurer—a prerequisite to soliciting campaign contributions—until April 1 for a May 14 election. Yet Tovo bested incumbent Council Member Randi Shade 46-33 percent in the May general election and then won a thumping 56-44 percent victory in the runoff.

Leffingwell was first elected to the City Council in 2005 and re-elected in 2008, winning both elections without a runoff. He got 47.23 percent of the vote in his first mayoral contest in 2009 but avoided a runoff when opponent Brewster McCracken withdrew.

Like all who were serving on the City Council in January 2011, Leffingwell is being investigated by the county attorney for possible violations of the Texas Open Meetings Act. The outcome of that investigation, now in its second year, could have an impact on Leffingwell’s re-election chances.

Some who attended Shea’s kickoff—including Shea herself—contributed money to Leffingwell’s mayoral campaign in 2009.

In her speech, Shea touted accomplishments during her three years on the Austin City Council, 1993-1996. She said she championed consumer, electoral, and environmental issues and was proud that she helped usher in a political consensus that “preserving our environment is essential to the economy and our future.” 

“I am running for mayor because we need new leadership and new direction at City Hall. This race is about the future,” Shea said. “We need leadership that’s true to Austin’s unique character and the interests of all the people who live here. We need a city government that works for all of us—not just the insiders and the influentials.”

She said as mayor she would have two main priorities: “Protecting Austin’s quality of life and keeping our city affordable, for the people who live here and pay taxes here.”

Shea said our current city leadership is falling short on both counts, focusing more on making big development deals than maintaining the quality of life and affordability of the city.

“Property taxes have increased year after year, to the top level allowed by law,” she said. “City fees have gone up. Water rates have soared. Electrical rates are rising. These increases strain our families’ budgets and are proportionately higher for average homeowners and small businesses than they are for big businesses.”

Some of these increases might be necessary, she said, but many could have been avoided through better management, better oversight, and better vision.

“The city has also been irresponsible in spending our tax dollars,” she said. “There have been too many giveaways, too many bad deals, and too much bad management.”

“We’re operating with an old-school model that gives away city assets because we think we need to pay people to come here. I’m running for mayor to put a stop to that,” Shea said, drawing strong applause.

As examples, she cited a $4 million subsidy for a high-rise hotel “the owners were going to build anyway” while the city could not afford to keep open all community swimming pools, and okaying a $250 million state subsidy for Formula One racing when our school district was considering closing some neighborhood schools.

“And now we find out that New Jersey was able to negotiate for a Formula One race without any subsidies,” she added. “It’s a sad day in Austin when we have to say, ‘Why can’t we be more like New Jersey?’”

She said Austin needs a new economic vision that “get’s it,” that protecting the city’s unique qualities is key to attracting new business.

“We need economic planning that makes Austin more prosperous but also makes new development pay for itself instead of being so heavily subsidized by current residents.”

She said that despite Austin’s rapid growth our poverty rate in increasing.

“As mayor I'll pursue a vision that keeps Austin unique, and beautiful, and shares the fruit of prosperity with all of our citizens,” she said.

Shea vowed to work closely with the Austin Independent School District to save neighborhood schools, which she said are key to healthy property values and strong neighborhoods. 

“I will organize mayors across this state to send that same message to the Legislature,” she said, “and urge full funding of our schools.”

She noted that Austin is frequently one of the most traffic-congested cities of its size in the nation and promised to find creative ways to get traffic moving—but not by adding toll lanes to the MoPac Expressway.

“I want us to be the most water-wise city in the nation,” Shea said, “and with the drought we need to be.” She promised to pursue ways to better use and conserve water and to fix the city’s leaking water lines.

As mayor Shea said she wanted to create a culture at City Hall where all citizens, regardless of their status, are welcomed and listened to, a remark alluding to the council e-mails published last year that showed some council members were not respectful of all who came to speak.

“I want to cut back the influence of lobbyists, and special-interest campaign money. It corrupts the process when those who are financing the incumbents’ campaigns are the same ones who are reaping millions in city contracts and deals. I’ll introduce true transparency and tougher contribution limits.”

She said she wanted to preserve green space, open space and neighborhoods.

“There’s nothing personal in this” Shea said. “I’ve known Lee Leffingwell a long time. We’ve worked on projects together. But City Hall needs a new direction.

“I see this election as the opportunity for an honest discussion about the future of our city.”

Shea closed with a call for support and contributions that was met with loud, sustained applause, before the crowd broke out in a chant reminiscent of what winning candidates typically hear on election night: “Bri-gid! Bri-gid! Bri-gid!”

Supporters dislike status quo