Fuentes spent 2023 on program implementation

City Council Member Vanessa Fuentes continued her focus on working families and delivering community-focused policies in 2023, bringing forward 19 items and co-sponsoring another 80 resolutions.

“We’ve been very active and collaborative with my colleagues on the dais,” Fuentes told the Austin Monitor.

She is most proud of the measure she sponsored directing the city manager to find ways to lower city-imposed barriers that child care providers face in setting up new facilities, which passed unanimously in February.

“We’re trying to expand access to high-quality, affordable child care,” Fuentes said. “That work in trying to make it more affordable, more accessible and more convenient for families has really carried through throughout the year.”

During the budget season, Fuentes successfully added a group of amendments aimed at improving child care, including $1.3 million for the Family Stabilization Grant Program, a social services grant to provide a 20 percent raise for Austin Public Health child care workers, and a child care operators grant program.

“I feel like a lot of what we did this year was just seeing through policies that I brought forward last year and the year before – making sure they got implemented, that they were launched,” Fuentes said. “So we focused a lot on implementation.”

In November, the city celebrated the opening of the Harvest Trauma Recovery Center, which is the first of its kind in the state. Fuentes noted that the idea initially took root in March 2022.

“Now we have this incredible, trauma-informed, evidence-based center that is going to provide comprehensive services,” Fuentes said. “It’s going to help survivors of violent crime. That took a lot of work.”

Another policy that Council passed last year but was not implemented until 2023 is the enhanced library card. It is intended to act as a form of ID for individuals who can’t obtain other official forms, such as people experiencing homelessness or those living in the country without legal permission.

“To date, we have had over 2,000 enhanced library cards issued, and I think that’s really important for our community,” she said.

Central Texas experienced an ice storm in February that sparked fierce criticism of the city’s communication strategy and ultimately led to the firing of City Manager Spencer Cronk. The city and Austin Energy have made a number of changes since then, and Council received an update on those efforts in November.

“I feel a lot more confident in our city’s ability to prepare and respond effectively during the next disaster, because unfortunately with climate change worsening, we’re going to have another disaster,” Fuentes said. “The presentation that we got from city staff last week was really good and it was comprehensive, and I’ve seen significant improvements on the communications side of things. Making sure that our messages were available in multiple languages, that we weren’t just relying completely on social media, that we were really leveraging all of our lists and methods to communicate.”

In March, Fuentes sponsored an item directing the city manager to encourage city departments to coordinate regarding the placement of underground utility lines in the development of future capital projects.

“So when we’re doing Project Connect or any of our big infrastructure projects, if we’re already going to be digging up, let’s go ahead and bury the lines. It’s more cost-effective that way,” Fuentes said. “And so I think that’s one way we’re able to see, with severe weather events happening more often, how can our city better prepare for the next big storm?”

While she feels the warming centers have come a long way, Fuentes is still concerned about the city’s strategy of directing people without reliable housing to a single location and then transporting them to locations throughout the city.

“I just don’t think that’s the best approach, but I trust that they have improved,” she said. “They’ve publicly committed that there’s going to be outreach into the encampments to notify folks and that more outreach efforts will be done. But that’s still top of mind for me.”

When it comes to housing and land use, Fuentes was one of a majority of Council members who made significant strides in reform efforts, including eliminating parking requirements and allowing up to three units on plots of land that previously could hold only one or two.

“I know that this HOME initiative has been particularly top of mind for folks in our community and it has caused a lot of fear thinking about the changes that could happen as a result of allowing an additional home on a lot,” she said. “But what I think about is what happens if we don’t do anything? What kind of Austin are we putting forward with that? Not taking action is an action.”

With regard to transportation, the regional focus will remain on Project Connect, the city’s generational investment in bus transit and light rail. City leaders are facing not only increased costs that led to scaled-down plans this year, but a lawsuit by aggrieved voters who say the plan is too different from what voters approved in 2020.

“What’s important is that we don’t lose sight that Austinites were very loud and clear in wanting Project Connect and wanting rail and wanting additional ways to get around our city, and that’s what we’re very focused on delivering,” Fuentes said. “And while others might decide to initiate lawsuits against a democratically held election, we’re very focused on delivering for our community.”

Fuentes is excited that a piece of Project Connect, the Dove Springs pickup center, will launch in January.

“That’s going to be huge for our Dove Springs community,” she said. “I think what’s important for community leaders and city leaders is that we show and demonstrate progress on Project Connect. It wasn’t just a rail line. There are other parts of it. It’s the bus rapid transit. It’s pickup. It’s all the anti-displacement initiatives, which have been incredible.”

Looking ahead to next year, Fuentes predicted one of her most important votes will be on the next city manager.

“I think what we’ve learned as a community is the importance of that role and the impact and influence whoever is in that role has – not only on how the city operates, but how policies get implemented, who gets a seat at the leadership table,” Fuentes said. “It’s a very influential position. And it’s important that we take time to make sure we get it right.”

She continued, “Our community has been through several disasters these last three years, and now that we’re in a new normal post-pandemic, we have to ensure that we have someone who can work closely with City Council in carrying out the direction that we put forward, and that also understands the Austin way. Austinites are very engaged on the issues, so we have to make sure we’re building in time for those processes so that our community has a say in how our community grows.”

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Posted In: City Council, District 2