Leslie Pool is ready to take on more duties in 2023
Wednesday, December 28, 2022 by
Jo Clifton December was a busy month in the busy year of 2022 for District 7 City Council Member Leslie Pool. As chair of the Council Austin Energy Utility Oversight Committee, her most important duty was shepherding through the utility’s rate change, which will bring Austin Energy much-needed revenue but was not popular with some advocates for low-income ratepayers. The utility and Council have been working all year on the update that finally passed on Dec. 8.
Pool was particularly adamant that Austin Energy should increase its revenues by more than $30 million. AE General Manager Jackie Sargent said the utility needed an increase of $31.3 million. Several Council members balked at the idea and the number ultimately came down to about $29 million.
Pool told the Austin Monitor, “One of the reasons why AE has had gaps in its funds is due to its strong advocacy for conservation, modern building techniques and a widespread recognition of city residents that our defense against climate change … is to reduce energy consumption.”
In other words, having sold the idea of conservation to the community, the utility must now raise rates to continue its services.
As utility officials noted, the number of people in the upper tiers of electric usage has fallen significantly because people are conserving energy. In a way, AE is a victim of its own success. Just because usage declines does not mean that the utility’s costs in building and maintaining infrastructure are declining.
In addition to Austin Energy, Pool has concentrated on a variety of local environmental and social issues and serves as vice chair of the Council Audit & Finance Committee. She said she is looking forward to hearing from the city auditor about ways to improve Austin’s Animal Services division.
Pool’s District 7 in Central West Austin includes the North Burnet/Gateway area. She advocated for getting updated plans for the area, which now include a zoning change for the Q2 Stadium area. Some of the changes that have already occurred include allowing new construction to reach heights of 400 feet around the stadium and the Domain.
When she spoke with the Monitor in mid-December, Pool was at a United Nations biodiversity conference in Montreal, Canada, where she was elected vice chair of an international committee on the environment and natural resources.
Locally, Pool has sponsored resolutions related to biodiversity and environmental matters, including one directing the city manager to submit an application to certify Austin as a Bee City, raising awareness of the critical need to protect and expand pollinator habitat in the community.
In January, Pool will become the last of the members elected in 2014, when the city switched from at-large to single-member districts. The other members elected that year will have retired, moved on to higher office, or were defeated in their reelection efforts. Those retiring in January include Mayor Steve Adler and Council members Ann Kitchen, Pio Renteria and Kathie Tovo.
Pool told the Monitor, “I want to help the new City Council find its footing … and I think the first six months or so will be key to everybody settling in, getting comfortable with the legal and procedural and programmatic framework. So that’s something coming up pretty quickly that I think is important and I’ll be engaged in that.”
Pool acknowledged that she would like to take on more duties when 2023 rolls around. She declined to say whether she might want to become the next mayor pro tem, a position Council members decide among themselves. Council Member Alison Alter has served in that position for the past year and Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison served in the role during 2021.
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