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City Council

Austin City Manager: Dallas discard vs Austin retread

Council members make policy. The city manager’s job is to implement those policies. A great city manager can get that done and keep the ship...

They’re off and running for council

As in horse racing, the bugler has sounded, “Call to the Post” for the Austin City Council campaigns that are now officially underway. A well...

Are tax subsidies for luxury development legal?

In a lawsuit filed last April plaintiffs sought a permanent injunction to prevent the City of Austin from diverting $354 million in future property...

Tina Cannon Challenges Bill Spelman

Tina Cannon Challenges Bill Spelman

Austin Entrepreneur Seeks to Bring a
Small Business Owner’s Voice to City Hall

by Rebecca LaFlure
© The Austin Bulldog 2012
Posted 5:56pm Monday, February 20, 2012

Tina Cannon kicks off her city council campaignTina 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.”

Here’s How the Mayor and Council Spent

From Washington, D.C., to Johannesburg, South Africa, the mayor and city council members traveled extensively meeting with federal lawmakers, attending conventions, and touring other cities’ facilities. One council member and his staff went on 13 city-funded trips in two years.

Hard Fought, Heartfelt Charter Decision

Posted Friday, February 3, 2012 4:05pm
Hard Fought, Heartfelt Charter Decision

Charter Revision Committee Votes 8-7
to Back 10-1 Plan for Council Elections

by Ken Martin
© The Austin Bulldog 2012

Supporters of the 10-1 council election plan won a narrow victoryFormer 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

Brigid Shea Supporters Loud and Proud

Posted Thursday, February 2, 2012 5:15pm
Brigid Shea Supporters Loud and Proud

Former Council Member Packs Threadgill’s
For Rousing Mayoral Campaign Kickoff


by Ken Martin
 © The Austin Bulldog 2012

Brigid Shea surrounded by supportersThe 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.

Lee LeffingwellLeffingwell 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

Martinez’ Focus: Improving East Austin

Posted Friday, January 27, 2012 11:47am
Martinez’ Focus: Improving East Austin

Two-Term Incumbent Draws Strong
Support for Campaign Kickoff Event

by Rebecca LaFlure
© The Austin Bulldog 2012

In front of an enthusiastic crowd Wednesday evening, City Council Member Mike Martinez described the side of Austin residents love to show outsiders: a lively music scene, quirky businesses, a booming high-tech industry, and beautiful parks and trails.

However, there is another side to Austin Martinez says people rarely talk about. The side where children go to sleep hungry, teenagers drop out of high school, and parents struggle to make ends meet on multiple minimum-wage jobs.

It’s this aspect of Austin that Martinez wants to focus on if elected to a third term to the Austin City Council, he said.

“We’re defined by our failures as much as our successes,” Martinez said. “It’s government’s job to do for those who cannot do for themselves.”

Martinez, 42, kicked off his re-election campaign at Nuevo Leon Restaurant on East Sixth Street Wednesday, saying more needs to be done to improve Austin’s east side.

Hundreds of Austin citizens—including fellow Council Members Bill Spelman, Kathie Tovo, Laura Morrison and Chris Riley—gathered to show their support as Martinez launched his re-election campaign.

Martinez did not mention his opponent, Laura Pressley, a business owner and member of Fluoride Free Austin, who announced Friday that she would challenge Martinez, the council’s only Latino, for the Place 2 spot.

Martinez said he moved to Austin in 1988 with $50 and a trumpet, hoping to make it as a musician. He eventually joined the Austin Fire Department, and worked at an East Austin fire station for 13 years. Martinez was elected president of the Austin Firefighters Association in 2003. In that position, he successfully fought to secure collective bargaining rights for firefighters, and a pay raise that made Austin firefighters among the highest paid in Texas.

Martinez was first elected to the City Council in 2006 on a platform of understanding the concerns of working-class minorities in East Austin. Martinez noted his efforts to ensure workers are paid on time and have rest breaks during the workday.

“This community has been historically underserved,” Martinez said of East Austin. “I am that champion.”

Martinez said, if elected to a third term, he would continue focusing on economic, transportation and equality issues. As chairman of the Capital Metro board, Martinez said he helped transform the agency over the past two years, noting the launch of the Red Line, a the Metrorail service that connects downtown Austin with the suburban areas including Wells Branch, Lakeline, and Leander.

He also plans to continue his support for Austin’s music community and work with musicians and neighborhood groups so that they coexist harmoniously.

Martinez alluded to his reputation as the council’s most outspoken member saying, “I don’t shy away from challenges. I take them head on. That’s my style.”

Gloria Aleman, an Austin resident and retired Travis County employee who was raised on the eastside, and Linda Ramirez, director of accounting at Rz Communications, were among those who came out to show their support for Martinez. (Andy Ramirez, CEO of Rz Communications, bundled campaign contributions for Martinez’s 2009 re-election campaign.)

“East Austin still has a lot to be done,” Aleman said. “His heart is in the right place, and I think he’s the only candidate who can make that happen. He cares about people.”

Ramirez said Martinez helped the nonprofit Bellas Artes Alliance raise money for the Pan Americana Festival—a free music festival scheduled for March 17 at the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center. This is just one example of how Martinez has supported Austin’s Latino community, said Ramirez. Both she and Andy Ramirez are Bellas Artes Alliance board members.

Opponent has Latino support, too