After hiatus, Harper-Madison puts focus on wellness, community involvement

Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison speaks plainly about the burnout and fatigue she was facing for much of 2023, which led to her decision in September to take a nearly two-month leave of absence from her seat on City Council. A deterioration in sleep patterns, eating habits and her general state of mind was accompanied by the realization that, as a once-avid gardener, Harper-Madison had neglected the plant life outside her home.

It was one more real-world sign that she’d been overwhelmed by the demands of life as a highly visible public servant and needed to focus on her health.

“​​Some of that is the direct result of just trying to do too much and then taking better care of myself. I can’t do anything for other folks if I’m not taking really good care of myself,” she said. “If I’m not in tip-top condition, I’m not the best Council member, I’m not the best mom, I’m not the best friend, I’m not the best employer, I’m not the best for my church congregation.”

While resting and healing ahead of her return to duty in November, Harper-Madison said she realized the city needed to be more people-first in its policies and approach. On top of the lingering impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, she said the effects of two winter storms, severe summer heat and the mental and emotional effects of racist policies felt by the people in her heavily Black district make it necessary to offer as much assistance as possible throughout the community.

One area where she intends to focus that work is city employees, teaming with at least one other Council member to start designing worker-friendly policies to promote wellness.

“How do we laser focus on employees for the city of Austin and how they can all take the opportunity to see the signs (of burnout), which obviously will have an education component? What are the signs? What should you be watching for? And when do you know that you need to take a break and how do you say it? And what steps do you need to take?” she said.

“What resources are available to you and your family for when you do take that break? What does it look like to get healthy and whole, and what does your return look like, the proactive reentry? What does that look like for everybody? Those are kind of the bullet points that I’d like to specifically put some focus on.”

That focus on wellness also extends to doing more to make sure District 1 residents are aware and able to use the public health programs and others available through the city and Travis County to improve their quality of life. That messaging will continue an effort Harper-Madison envisioned in late 2022 to make her office as open and available as possible to residents seeking to become more familiar with and get involved in public policy.

“We’re looking at what resources do we want to make certain that we’re providing to the community to give them a clearer picture of what it looks like to make policy, to get it passed and to go through the necessary compromises that you have to to get six votes,” she said.

“Some of the things that they just don’t know, that’s all by design that the people don’t really know exactly how these things work. It doesn’t matter whether they’re in favor of or in opposition of something, but it is an opportunity for them to participate in a way that’s just considerably more productive.”

Within her East Austin district, Harper-Madison sees needed progress on the planning and looming work on the Colony Park planned unit development project that will help establish and attract badly needed housing and community benefits to the northeast corner of the city.

On the matter of the planned expansion of Interstate 35 at the western edge of her district, she said more community voices are needed at negotiation and discussion tables to prevent the “usual cast of characters” in policy and business circles from dominating the decision-making process.

And she said the planned redevelopment of two blocks along 11th and 12th streets – seen as a focal point of the African American Cultural Heritage District – will move from a crawl to a walk and then a run as the city’s Economic Development Corporation moves forward with its solicitation of developers.

“I look forward to seeing how the other community institutions like (Huston-Tillotson University) and some of the other adjacent pillar organizations can be incorporated into that final design,” she said.

“I’m putting a big gold star next to your H-T and Six Square, and the Austin Area Urban League and the NAACP and Austin Revitalization Authority. Some of these organizations that have proven to be effective in bringing resources and having the best interest for the historic African American Cultural Heritage District at heart.”

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Posted In: City Hall, District 1