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Elections

First-ever opportunity to elect appraisal board members

Right now local voters are of course focused on the Super Tuesday primary elections of March 5th, but another election two months later should...

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...

District 10 Council candidates jump in early

With 2024 being a presidential election year—maybe a rerun of the 2020 election between Joe Biden and Donald Trump—we should be expecting record-breaking turnout...

Shea Wants More Contribution Limits, Disclosures

Shea Wants More Contribution Limits and Disclosures

Those Affected Say Shea’s Proposals Would
Further Undermine Candidates’ Campaigns


by Ken Martin
© The Austin Bulldog
Posted Tuesday, March 20, 2012 8:22pm

Brigid SheaFormer City Council member and current mayoral candidate Brigid Shea says she wants more limits on—and more disclosure of—contributions made to City Council incumbents and challengers.

At a press conference at City Hall this morning she announced proposals that are far tougher than reforms the Charter Revision Committee has recommended for the City Council to put on the November ballot, including restrictions on bundled campaign contributions.

Bundlers are individuals who solicit and obtain contributions of $200 or more from five or more individuals. The reporting of bundlers’ names in contribution reports is already required by City Code Section 2-2-22.

A chart thatserved as a backdrop for the press conference was titled “Bundling Influence at City Hall.” The chart displayed the names of 13 individuals who bundleda total of $103,900 incontributions detailed in the incumbents’ January 2012 campaign finance reports. Not all of the bundlers listed are currently registered city lobbyists.

Council District Backers Want Quick Decision Big

Council District Backers Want Quick Ballot Decision

Big Press Conference, Big Pressure Promised
to Get Council Decision Before Council Elections

by Ken Martin
Event photographs by Mario Cantu
© The Austin Bulldog 2012
Posted Thursday, March 8, 2012 11:06pm
Press conference draws many supporters

More than two-dozen backers of the proposal to change how council members are elected packed a room at City Hall today for an early morning press conference headed by former State Senator Gonzalo Barrientos (D-Austin).

Barrientos chaired the 2012 Charter Revision Committee appointed by the Austin City Council to recommend changes to the Austin  City Charter. The Committee met in locations all over Austin starting last September and finished February 16. The Committee made a total of 19 recommendations for charter changes that the Austin City Council could put on the November ballot.

Most prominent among the 19 recommendations is a call for a proposition that would ask voters to approve a plan calling for 10 geographic council districts to be drawn by an Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission. Under this plan, only the mayor would be elected at-large by all Austin voters.

The Austin City Council could delay until August to decide what propositions to put before voters in the November general election. But the Charter Revision Committee’s majority faction, as well as the grass-roots coalition Austinites for Geographic Representation, are going to apply heavy political pressure for the Council to commit to putting the 10-1 plan and Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission on the ballot in November—and publicly do so before the May 12 mayoral and council elections.

Chavez Targets Spelman in Council Contest

Chavez Targets Spelman in Council Contest

First-time Candidate Sued City of Austin Over
Tax Abatements for Historical Preservation

by Rebecca LaFlure
© The Austin Bulldog 2012
Posted Wednesday, March 7, 2012 7:04 pm

Dominic ChavezWhen arriving at Austin City Council candidate Dominic Chavez’s campaign kickoff at the Rattle Inn Tuesday evening, one could not help but notice the road construction occurring just outside the 610 Nueces Street bar.

“It’s fitting seeing these guys working,” Chavez said to The Austin Bulldog, amid the sounds of heavy machinery. “In Austin I think we’ve forgotten about the people who built this city, who work here everyday. Austin is much more difficult for these folks to live in now than ever before.”

Chavez, an Iraq War veteran and senior director for external relations at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, officially launched his campaign for Austin City Council in front of about 50 supporters, saying he hopes to make Austin a more affordable place to live.

Leffingwell Draws a Big Crowd

Leffingwell Draws a Big Crowd

Free Beer, Free Eats, and Free Music
Makes a Speech Go Down Real Easy

by Rebecca LaFlure
© The Austin Bulldog 2012
Posted Monday, February 27, 2012, 6:56pm

Lee Leffingwell addresses the crowdAt a campaign event Saturday, Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell touted what he considers several of his greatest accomplishments over the past two and a half years: helping create jobs amid a shaky economy, building collaborative agreements with Austin ISD, and garnering support for a $90 million transportation bond voters approved in November 2010.

But there’s still work to be done, Leffingwell said, and he hopes Austin residents will elect him to a second mayoral term May 12.  

“I think we’ve made a lot of progress over the last two and a half years on a lot of different things, but the job is not finished,” Leffingwell said. “My goal has always been and remains today to leave Austin a better place than we found it.”

Cannon Misfires on Traffic Offenses

Cannon Misfires on Traffic Offenses

Council Candidate Drew Five
Arrest Warrants in Five Years

by Rebecca LaFlure
© The Austin Bulldog 2012
Posted Thursday, February 23, 2012 8:11pm

Tina CannonLess than a week after entrepreneur Tina Cannon officially launched her campaign for City Council, The Austin Bulldog found that Cannon was issued five arrest warrants over the past five years for unpaid traffic tickets and failure to show proof of vehicle insurance.

Also, a company she co-founded was sued for trademark infringement last year. The lawsuit has since been dropped, and Cannon has paid all fines related to the traffic tickets.

Cannon is running against incumbent Bill Spelman, a public affairs professor at the University of Texas, and Dominic Chavez, an Army veteran and senior director for external relations at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, for the Place 5 spot.

“I am not a perfect human being and not a perfect driver, but I try hard at both,” Cannon said. I have “no excuses on missing the initial payment and proof-of-coverage deadlines, all of which I have taken care of a good while ago.”

Warrants for unpaid traffic tickets