Natasha Harper-Madison looks forward to planning progress for her district

With two years left on her term of office, Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison is looking forward to helping move the Northeast Planning District toward the bright future she envisions for it. That’s “really at the top of my list” of what she wants to work on in 2025, she told the Austin Monitor.

Work on the district follows approval of an interlocal agreement between the city and Travis County to find “funding mechanisms to support communities in East Travis County that have faced displacement and systemic racism that has left people of color falling further behind economically,” according to the resolution approved by commissioners in March.

“I think the community at large doesn’t realize how important it is we have this historic agreement,” she said. However, the area has been an afterthought for years, with many people not recognizing where city regulations govern development and where the county – with many fewer regulations – is in charge.

Although she is anticipating considerable investment in the Northeast Planning District from the private sector, Harper-Madison also sees the possibility of creating a tax increment reinvestment zone, called a TIRZ, for funding the many amenities the area needs. But, she said, “I’m almost always going to come back to private dollars doing more for the public good. I think there are many instances where I could name missed opportunities,” she said, because there was no mechanism to deploy private dollars for the public’s benefit.

Overall, her focus remains on housing, economic opportunity and mobility, Harper-Madison said.

“I’m putting some emphasis on equitable development (and) really thinking about our anti-displacement measures,” she said. Looking back at her early years in office, Harper-Madison said she started her tenure with many big goals – too many, it turns out, to get it all done.

Harper-Madison said she is particularly hoping to help people who are formerly incarcerated, and even some of those who are still in jail, with education and workforce training. So those people could be able to fill the gaps in the workforce.

“Workers to do the construction on changes to I-35 comes to mind,” she said. “There’s a huge swath of folks we are just missing” who could join the ranks of the employed if they had some help, she said.

Harper-Madison was pleased about the news that rents have gone down from their peak, but there are other expenses, such as utility bills, where employers should recognize their employees may need some help. She suggested that employers should be talking with Austin Energy about how they might help people reduce their utility bills.

One big win for employees, Harper-Madison noted, was passage of the Travis County tax rate increase to help some lower-income families pay for child care. But the cost of child care remains a major concern in Austin. Harper-Madison said employers should make sure their employees are able to cover the cost of those things without too much strain on their budgets.

Harper-Madison wants to help new Council members as they join the dais. She noted that when she started her tenure with Council, she brought in two members of her campaign staff, one to be her policy director and one to handle communications. Both of those people were highly knowledgeable and did an excellent job, she said. She added that she is curious and a fast learner, so luckily everything came together quickly. But she said, “I don’t think our constituents should have to rely on our luck.”

In order to help future Council members, Harper-Madison said, the city should provide knowledgeable staff for them on their first day in office. The outgoing Council member should also provide a book of facts, including a map of the district and names of neighborhood leaders that they have interacted with, she said.

Harper-Madison is very supportive of City Manager T.C. Broadnax and she said, without naming anyone, that she hopes he will encourage some Council members “to find their lane” and not step into areas that should be the purview of staff.

As for the spotlight that fell on her as she made the unsuccessful motion to deny historic zoning for an East 12th Street building, Harper-Madison is critical of those who threw figurative stones at her.

“I think it’s important to talk about how we operate moving forward,” she said. “If and when people look to me to be the champion, part of me cringes,” she said, because if their side wins all is well. But when there’s any appearance of failure on the part of the champion, people stop supporting her, she said. She concluded that “when folks approach the dialogue and take a cooperative position, we get so much further together.”

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Posted In: City Council, District 1