Hello Austin- I hope that you’ll take the time to share your initial thoughts here on my campaign and what you see as the important issues that face our city.
I also hope that you’d consider signing up or donating to our campaign to kick start our community effort.
Libraries closed while APD helicopter soaks up big bucks, accomplishes nothing but waking close-in residents night after night (see recommendations in city auditor report); meanwhile, burglary rates skyrocket and pedestrians afraid to cross streets because traffic signals for them are too brief and there’s no speed enforcement; Asplundh and Davey contracts are big waste of resources as Austin becomes heat island for lack and destruction of tree canopy; water cut-offs without notice & dispatch desk claims ignorance of work orders, crew whereabouts; routine resort to use of delay for attorney consultation in face of public-information requests, rather than immediate compliance with the law; ex parte communications with developers while homeowner interests are ignored; lack of code compliance everywhere; “remodels” that are really demolitions but for a token stud or two; etc., etc., etc.
forgot to mention need for sidewalks and keeping swimming and wading pools open while the weather’s hot; doing away with cheap giveaways of parking space to valet-parking services (you should really look into this); save money by dispensing with “public information officers,” who are rife (cf. with state government)
I am interested in maintaining affordable housing that is not “public housing” per se. I am a single mom earning approx 33,000 a year, and lucky to be living at a Foundation COmmunities apt complex.
What can we do to combat rising home prices and still keep Austin affordable? I dont want to move outside of Austin in order to buy a home. I want a community!
Thanks, Bill, for being there for the efforts of Prop 2 last November. Though we didn’t quite make it, if we — together — keep organizing we’ll see a real change at City Hall in May and beyond. I think you’re so right to focus on our shoring up our economy and democratic process — they cannot be separated. That’s why we (Brian Rodgers, myself and others) just formed ChangeAustin.org. I look forward to bringing you out to our supporters for dialogue over the campaign season. Meanwhile, have a great holiday. See you just after the New Year!
I think it’s great that you’re using social media tools at the outset of your efforts. We’re fortunate to have such a highly qualified candidate for city office.
I’m concerned about transit, bike, and pedestrian issues in general, and the operations of CapMetro specifically. The agency, While Metro has hosted plenty of “big picture” community meetings about rail and expansion of bus service, the day-to-day operation of the agency is opaque and top-down. The recent neutering of the Access Advisory Committee, which represents the interests of disabled Metro customers, is but one example.Unfortunately, the structure of the board is such that the public can only influence Metro through the Austin City Council members who serve on the board. Given your interest in transportation issues, Bill, I hope that you will seek one of the council seats and bring some sunshine into the Metro board room.
I am concerned that the City consistently fails to provide meaningful, if any, public involvement in issues of great importance to many Austinites (e.g. hiding the animal shelter relocation issue in bond package discussions). I am also troubled by the City’s lack of front-end research and planning (again, the animal shelter issue-moving it to a campus that contains historic structures).
Let’s insist that the City Manager do more than just follow orders for $200K+ a year. We need inspiring leadership that will allow Austin to return to its rightful place amongst the most progressive and innovative cities in America.
I have been working with other neighborhood groups and citizen to implement single member district here in Austin. We belive Sinle member districts will make the City Council more responsive and will reduce the amounts of money spent by monied interest groups thatundermines our so called representative government.
We would like to meet with you to discuss this issue and offer a solution.
We need a council who will stand up with Capital Metro and other transit solutions, such as Austin-San Antonio rail and advocate for non-auto transportation. We need to provide top notch facilities for pedestrians and bicyclists to get around our city and do our part for the environment by lowering vehicle use in the city center.
I also agree with Ardilla about questioning why we allow the police budget and police union to occupy so much space in our city services and budget process. Can’t we find ways to maintain/increase safety in the ciyt while at the same time cutting unnecessary spending like employing a police helicopter and making police go after recreational drug users in their own homes?
Thank you for the opportunity to voice our opinions. I look forward to your responses and views on these subjects.
Why should we home owners of Tejano Town – formerly known as East Austin vote for you
When we are losing our land everyday to urban development. Many families who live in Tejano Town cannot afford the huge increase in property taxes. We supported you when you ran against Manuel Zuniga El Concilio. We hope to hear from you soon. I strongly believe we need single member district representation. What is your position on the subject
Poverty in Austin and the increased division between the haves and the have-nots.
Free downtown parking after 5:30 being taken away by businesses/valet parking companies.
The economy and what it is doing to the small business owners on 2nd Street and elsewhere, and how bad things will appear to out-of-towners when these retail businesses continue to fail(which is happening now and more soon to come).
I saw a map recently of voter turnout for the last local election – and while it was tiny across the city, it was significantly higher west of Lamar. And this past November, we saw the effect of increasing voter turnout in previously low-participation communities.
1) What will you do, as a candidate and as a Councilmember, to help East Austinites feel included in the political process? Right now there’s a vicious circle where people don’t feel heard, so they don’t engage, so they’re not politically important, so they don’t feel heard.
2) What will you do, as a candidate and as a Councilmember, to make it clear that you represent all of Austin, not just the people who are politically connected and who have the money and clout to help you get elected?
Bill can explain this better than I, but after he was elected to the Council, he was also offered a position teaching at UT. From there, he worked on some real in depth public policy work related to criminal justice and economic development. At the end of his term, he choose to focus on his research and teaching at UT (he didn’t lose the election, just chose not to run again). He’s in a position now where the workload is balanced and he can return to bring his smarts to political arena again.
I tried twice to send you a contribution via PayPal, but the link only sent me to account overview–no info on the contribution appeared nor a way to process it.
I’m glad to see so much interest in single-member districts for City Council. Austin is no longer a small city. It’s well past time for us to move beyond Austin’s old hedge against a civil rights lawsuit (the “gentlemen’s agreement”) and put together a modern form of representation that is inclusive of ALL our neighborhoods.
I propose a 1-2-6 arrangement initially, where we have one Mayor, 2 large-district members–one for the North half and one for the South half, and 6 single-member districts (we’ll need 8 once we reach about 1 million population). This provides small enough districts that neighborhood leaders without millions of dollars will be able to launch grass-roots campaigns without having to be supported by the fat-cats. The larger North and South Austin seats will attract experienced Council members, well-known enough to challenge big-money candidates and represent larger segments of town to limit parochial in-fighting, while developing the reputation and contacts necessary to run a Mayoral campaign. With six-year term limits, the longest a popular and successful candidate could serve would be 18 years, yet they would have to prove themselves at each level.
At-large races for Council require too much money and too much name ID for many potentially promising candidates (and allow TV ads too much influence). This three-tiered approach lets them grow toward/into the Mayor’s office in stages. It prevents the same few politically powerful groups from eliminating many community-based candidates. After four or five years in office, an excellent single-member Council member will become well-known by groups around town, so that they can attract the support necessary to run for the larger North or South Council seat without having to conform to the downtown interest groups just to fund a viable campaign. Any Mayor who ignores the public good will have two likely candidates right there on the dais, ready to unseat them at the next election.
We’ll always have some celebrity or Chamber of Commerce candidacies that by-pass Council races to pursue the Mayor’s office directly, but the large North & South seats will provide an able opponent already known by voters across the city.
This is a balanced approach to city government: Six to eight neighborhood representatives, plus two broader-interest representatives, plus an elected Mayor (and an appointed city manager) representing the entire city. It will be transformational for neighborhoods and grass-roots organizations across the city.
Thanks for your thoughts on how best to structure a representative city council. Whether we go with single-member, double-member, hybrid-member, or some other form of council, one thing is for sure: we need to ensure that every voice in our growing city is heard and accounted for. We will be looking at all different types of representative schemes and look forward to working with city residents on how best to form a truly representative and accountable city council.
Hello Austin- I hope that you’ll take the time to share your initial thoughts here on my campaign and what you see as the important issues that face our city.
I also hope that you’d consider signing up or donating to our campaign to kick start our community effort.
Libraries closed while APD helicopter soaks up big bucks, accomplishes nothing but waking close-in residents night after night (see recommendations in city auditor report); meanwhile, burglary rates skyrocket and pedestrians afraid to cross streets because traffic signals for them are too brief and there’s no speed enforcement; Asplundh and Davey contracts are big waste of resources as Austin becomes heat island for lack and destruction of tree canopy; water cut-offs without notice & dispatch desk claims ignorance of work orders, crew whereabouts; routine resort to use of delay for attorney consultation in face of public-information requests, rather than immediate compliance with the law; ex parte communications with developers while homeowner interests are ignored; lack of code compliance everywhere; “remodels” that are really demolitions but for a token stud or two; etc., etc., etc.
forgot to mention need for sidewalks and keeping swimming and wading pools open while the weather’s hot; doing away with cheap giveaways of parking space to valet-parking services (you should really look into this); save money by dispensing with “public information officers,” who are rife (cf. with state government)
I am interested in maintaining affordable housing that is not “public housing” per se. I am a single mom earning approx 33,000 a year, and lucky to be living at a Foundation COmmunities apt complex.
What can we do to combat rising home prices and still keep Austin affordable? I dont want to move outside of Austin in order to buy a home. I want a community!
Thanks, Bill, for being there for the efforts of Prop 2 last November. Though we didn’t quite make it, if we — together — keep organizing we’ll see a real change at City Hall in May and beyond. I think you’re so right to focus on our shoring up our economy and democratic process — they cannot be separated. That’s why we (Brian Rodgers, myself and others) just formed ChangeAustin.org. I look forward to bringing you out to our supporters for dialogue over the campaign season. Meanwhile, have a great holiday. See you just after the New Year!
I think it’s great that you’re using social media tools at the outset of your efforts. We’re fortunate to have such a highly qualified candidate for city office.
I’m concerned about transit, bike, and pedestrian issues in general, and the operations of CapMetro specifically. The agency, While Metro has hosted plenty of “big picture” community meetings about rail and expansion of bus service, the day-to-day operation of the agency is opaque and top-down. The recent neutering of the Access Advisory Committee, which represents the interests of disabled Metro customers, is but one example.Unfortunately, the structure of the board is such that the public can only influence Metro through the Austin City Council members who serve on the board. Given your interest in transportation issues, Bill, I hope that you will seek one of the council seats and bring some sunshine into the Metro board room.
I am concerned that the City consistently fails to provide meaningful, if any, public involvement in issues of great importance to many Austinites (e.g. hiding the animal shelter relocation issue in bond package discussions). I am also troubled by the City’s lack of front-end research and planning (again, the animal shelter issue-moving it to a campus that contains historic structures).
Let’s insist that the City Manager do more than just follow orders for $200K+ a year. We need inspiring leadership that will allow Austin to return to its rightful place amongst the most progressive and innovative cities in America.
I have been working with other neighborhood groups and citizen to implement single member district here in Austin. We belive Sinle member districts will make the City Council more responsive and will reduce the amounts of money spent by monied interest groups thatundermines our so called representative government.
We would like to meet with you to discuss this issue and offer a solution.
you can contact me at rwilliams163@austin.rr.com tele# 480-3190
We need a council who will stand up with Capital Metro and other transit solutions, such as Austin-San Antonio rail and advocate for non-auto transportation. We need to provide top notch facilities for pedestrians and bicyclists to get around our city and do our part for the environment by lowering vehicle use in the city center.
I also agree with Ardilla about questioning why we allow the police budget and police union to occupy so much space in our city services and budget process. Can’t we find ways to maintain/increase safety in the ciyt while at the same time cutting unnecessary spending like employing a police helicopter and making police go after recreational drug users in their own homes?
Thank you for the opportunity to voice our opinions. I look forward to your responses and views on these subjects.
Why should we home owners of Tejano Town – formerly known as East Austin vote for you
When we are losing our land everyday to urban development. Many families who live in Tejano Town cannot afford the huge increase in property taxes. We supported you when you ran against Manuel Zuniga El Concilio. We hope to hear from you soon. I strongly believe we need single member district representation. What is your position on the subject
Gavino Fernandez Jr
Homeowner Tejano Town
My issues are varied:
Poverty in Austin and the increased division between the haves and the have-nots.
Free downtown parking after 5:30 being taken away by businesses/valet parking companies.
The economy and what it is doing to the small business owners on 2nd Street and elsewhere, and how bad things will appear to out-of-towners when these retail businesses continue to fail(which is happening now and more soon to come).
I saw a map recently of voter turnout for the last local election – and while it was tiny across the city, it was significantly higher west of Lamar. And this past November, we saw the effect of increasing voter turnout in previously low-participation communities.
1) What will you do, as a candidate and as a Councilmember, to help East Austinites feel included in the political process? Right now there’s a vicious circle where people don’t feel heard, so they don’t engage, so they’re not politically important, so they don’t feel heard.
2) What will you do, as a candidate and as a Councilmember, to make it clear that you represent all of Austin, not just the people who are politically connected and who have the money and clout to help you get elected?
I’m wondering why you only served on term and didn’t run for a second term in 2000?
@Russ Hodes
Bill can explain this better than I, but after he was elected to the Council, he was also offered a position teaching at UT. From there, he worked on some real in depth public policy work related to criminal justice and economic development. At the end of his term, he choose to focus on his research and teaching at UT (he didn’t lose the election, just chose not to run again). He’s in a position now where the workload is balanced and he can return to bring his smarts to political arena again.
Bill
I tried twice to send you a contribution via PayPal, but the link only sent me to account overview–no info on the contribution appeared nor a way to process it.
Dick
@Dick I sent you an email with some follow up help!
I’m glad to see so much interest in single-member districts for City Council. Austin is no longer a small city. It’s well past time for us to move beyond Austin’s old hedge against a civil rights lawsuit (the “gentlemen’s agreement”) and put together a modern form of representation that is inclusive of ALL our neighborhoods.
I propose a 1-2-6 arrangement initially, where we have one Mayor, 2 large-district members–one for the North half and one for the South half, and 6 single-member districts (we’ll need 8 once we reach about 1 million population). This provides small enough districts that neighborhood leaders without millions of dollars will be able to launch grass-roots campaigns without having to be supported by the fat-cats. The larger North and South Austin seats will attract experienced Council members, well-known enough to challenge big-money candidates and represent larger segments of town to limit parochial in-fighting, while developing the reputation and contacts necessary to run a Mayoral campaign. With six-year term limits, the longest a popular and successful candidate could serve would be 18 years, yet they would have to prove themselves at each level.
At-large races for Council require too much money and too much name ID for many potentially promising candidates (and allow TV ads too much influence). This three-tiered approach lets them grow toward/into the Mayor’s office in stages. It prevents the same few politically powerful groups from eliminating many community-based candidates. After four or five years in office, an excellent single-member Council member will become well-known by groups around town, so that they can attract the support necessary to run for the larger North or South Council seat without having to conform to the downtown interest groups just to fund a viable campaign. Any Mayor who ignores the public good will have two likely candidates right there on the dais, ready to unseat them at the next election.
We’ll always have some celebrity or Chamber of Commerce candidacies that by-pass Council races to pursue the Mayor’s office directly, but the large North & South seats will provide an able opponent already known by voters across the city.
This is a balanced approach to city government: Six to eight neighborhood representatives, plus two broader-interest representatives, plus an elected Mayor (and an appointed city manager) representing the entire city. It will be transformational for neighborhoods and grass-roots organizations across the city.
Thanks for your thoughts on how best to structure a representative city council. Whether we go with single-member, double-member, hybrid-member, or some other form of council, one thing is for sure: we need to ensure that every voice in our growing city is heard and accounted for. We will be looking at all different types of representative schemes and look forward to working with city residents on how best to form a truly representative and accountable city council.