Two of the least-competitive City Council races played out exactly as most people anticipated they would, with Council members Vanessa Fuentes and Chito Vela easily holding on to their City Council seats Tuesday. Vela, who squared off against four challengers, won 58.5 percent of the vote in District 4, avoiding a runoff. His campaign centered […]
District 2
District 2 is primarily south and east of Ben White Boulevard and east of Interstate 35. Its two major landmarks are Austin Bergstrom International Airport and the Circuit of the America’s Formula 1 race track. Its eastern edge blends into the southeast portions of Travis County.
Posted inElections
Incumbent Fuentes has just one challenger for the Council D2 seat
Austin voters living in District 2 will get to cast their ballots for Vanessa Fuentes or challenger Robert Reynolds in the upcoming City Council race. District 2 encompasses the neighborhoods of Dove Springs, Del Valle, Pleasant Hill, Dittmar, Easton Park and Goodnight Ranch. Additionally, it includes the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, Circuit of the Americas racing […]
Posted inCity Council
Fuentes put her focus on working families in 2022
Elected to represent Southeast Austin’s District 2 in 2020, City Council Member Vanessa Fuentes has quickly become one of the more accessible and well-known members of the dais within the community. That was intentional, Fuentes told the Austin Monitor. It’s notoriously difficult for residents of Southeast Austin to regularly visit City Hall. “It was really […]
Posted inHousing
Mobile home park residents challenge developer after receiving 60-day notice to vacate
Dewain Willmore calls his home in the Congress Mobile Home and RV Park a “sanctuary.” “Once you get off the street in here,” said Willmore, who has lived in the park for 21 years, “everything just slows down.” Over the past two decades, Willmore has become a leader in this close-knit community on South Congress […]
Posted inCity Council
Vanessa Fuentes: Putting health and equity first
City Council Member Vanessa Fuentes stepped into a rather busy first term in office – this year, an unprecedented winter storm took Travis County by surprise and the pandemic continued to surge despite hopes for Covid-19’s retreat. But Fuentes, who now represents Southeast Austin’s District 2, took the challenge head-on. “No amount of preparation can […]
Posted inParks
Resolution promises further development at Onion Creek park
Southeast Austinites can look forward to renovations at District 2’s Onion Creek Metropolitan Park, thanks to a resolution passed by City Council this past Thursday. The resolution, sponsored by Council Member Vanessa Fuentes, calls upon city management to explicitly outline plans for the park that have long been discussed by Council and the Parks and […]
Posted inCity Council
Delia Garza is on the move
Delia Garza is blazing a trail of firsts: first Latina on Austin City Council; first Latina mayor pro tem; and soon, the first Latina Travis County Attorney. “I stand on the shoulders of other Latinas,” Garza noted. “There were four before me who tried,” she said. “Even my own (seat) on the City Council would […]
Posted inCity Council
Vanessa Fuentes: Building a pipeline to community power
Vanessa Fuentes, like all of us, had no idea what 2020 would entail when she ran to become the District 2 City Council member. But the issues that the pandemic have exposed were less of a surprise. “I didn’t realize the extent of what 2020 would include,” Fuentes told the Austin Monitor. “(But) certainly, the […]
Posted inElections
Fuentes coasts to victory in District 2
Political newcomer Vanessa Fuentes was headed toward a victory in the District 2 race Tuesday night after the early vote was counted, showing her with more than 56 percent of the vote. Her two competitors, David Chincanchan and Casey Ramos, each had less than 20 percent of the vote. A fourth candidate, Alex Strenger, had […]
Posted inElections
District 2 race features four new faces
When Delia Garza, who has represented City Council District 2 for the last six years, starts her new job as Travis County attorney in January, there will be a fresh face in the seat representing Southeast Austin. All four of the candidates – Alex Strenger, Casey Ramos, Vanessa Fuentes and David Chincanchan – are under […]
Posted inCity Council
Delia Garza recalls 2019 as a good year
The year 2019 has been a good year for Mayor Pro Tem Delia Garza. The former firefighter pushed hard for new fire stations for her District 2 constituents, and she got a great birthday present on June 5 when the city broke ground on a new station for the Del Valle/Moore’s Crossing area. “It was […]
Posted inElections
Garza not running for reelection, others eye seat
Mayor Pro Tem Delia Garza, who represents District 2 on City Council, announced Tuesday that she would not be seeking reelection in 2020. The announcement is Garza’s next step in her likely run for Travis County Attorney. As the deadline for filing for office on the March primary ballot is Dec. 9, that is Garza’s […]