Five of the eight candidates vying for Austin mayor met at the South Alamo Drafthouse for the United Way of Greater Austin Mayoral Forum on Wednesday, where they took time to talk affordability, child care, education and, despite the tone of the event, urban rail. United Way of Austin’s Vice President of Marketing Heather Luecke […]
Austin City Council November 2014 Elections
The November 2014 Austin City Council elections marked a shift from an all-at-large City Council to one elected based mostly on geographic districts. The city’s Mayor remains elected at-large.
Posted inLocal Politics
Environmental Democrats back rail, 3 candidates
Even though a majority of the City Council candidates asking for their support said they are opposed to the rail and road proposition on the Nov. 4 ballot, members of the Austin Environmental Democrats enthusiastically endorsed Proposition 1 on Wednesday. More than 75 percent of those casting votes on the issue said they favored passage. […]
Posted inLocal Politics
Firefighters issue four Council endorsements
The Austin Firefighters Association began announcing its endorsements for City Council Tuesday, beginning with two of its own, Council Member Mike Martinez, who is running for mayor, and District 2 candidate Delia Garza. The group also chose Council Member Chris Riley for District 9 over fellow incumbent Kathie Tovo and Ora Houston, the apparent front-runner […]
Posted inElections, Local Politics, Transportation
Candidates talk transportation at mayoral forum
Though Austin residents can only vote for one Council member to represent their geographic district this Election Day, everyone in the city gets a say in who becomes the next mayor. Five of those in the running showed up for the Civic Summit Mayoral Candidate Forum, Wednesday, presented by KLRU, Austin’s PBS station and the Urban […]
Posted inLocal Politics
Austin Monitor Radio, Show 13: 10-1
Monitor Publisher Mike Kanin talks Austin City Council districts and the many many candidates now vying to represent them with longtime political operative Peck Young. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/165064622″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]
Posted inLocal Politics
Council forums unchanged despite new system
As campaign season heats up, fills up and bravely goes where no Austin City Council has gone before, 78 candidates are facing very full schedules. Is the new 10-1 District system working? And is it new enough to accommodate this very different city election? Candidates are also feeling the pressure of sticking with the tried-and-true City […]
Posted inLocal Politics
Labor wants to make its mark on Council races
Local labor leader Jack Kirfman reported that the union for local government employees, AFSCME, has interviewed candidates and decided on its choices for City Council. Kirfman said American Federation of State, County and Municipal employees would present their recommendations to the Central Labor Council Saturday. In District 1, AFSCME picked Ora Houston, a front-runner in […]
Posted inElections
Ballot order set for City Council election
The city took another step in the process toward having a 10-1 Council on Wednesday as City Clerk Jannette Goodall drew the names of each candidate to determine in what order they will appear on the Nov. 4 ballot. Conventional wisdom and a number of scholarly studies indicate that place on the ballot does make […]
Posted inLocal Politics
Austin Environmental Democrats Endorse Garza
The Austin Environmental Democrats got an early start on endorsements Wednesday, or at least voting on endorsements. Though they heard from candidates from Districts 1, 2 and 3, they finalized only one endorsement in the end. Only District 2’s Delia Garza got more than 60 percent of member votes, which is the threshold set by […]
Posted inElections
Austinites file to run for new Council seats
(Reporter Gene Davis assisted in the preparation of this story.) By the end of business Monday, the Austin City Clerk’s Office had assisted 76 78 Austinites wishing to serve their community as members of the new 10-1 City Council. There were a number of new entrants into the races, as well as a number of would-be […]
Posted inLocal Politics
Council hears feedback on boards and commissions transition
City Council heard opinions last week about a plan to move its massive boards and commissions network to the new 10-1 Council system next year. As anticipated, there were several complaints. The Boards and Commissions Transition Task Force issued its final report in May on how the nearly 60 boards and commissions should best transition […]
Posted inElections, Local Politics
Statesman endorses plan for homestead exemption; Martinez, Cole react
The American-Statesman in its Wednesday edition came out in favor of a 20 percent homestead exemption as proposed by mayoral candidate Steve Adler. The other major contenders, Mayor Pro Tem Sheryl Cole and Council Member Mike Martinez have criticized Adler’s plan to grant a 20 percent across-the-board tax exemption for homeowners because the wealthy would […]