The race for City Council Member Sheri Gallo’s District 10 seat is a now a three-person contest. Nicholas Virden filed formative paperwork late last month to run against Gallo and her first challenger, Parks and Recreation Board Member Alison Alter. Virden, a 23-year-old recent University of Texas graduate, told the Austin Monitor on Wednesday that he is making his first foray into city politics in order to “change my community for the better.” Virden said he wants to target fiscal waste and also “make Austin a more tech-friendly community.” He added, “We’re trying to be a tech hub, but at the same time we’re pushing some of the most innovative companies out of the city, like Airbnb and Uber and Lyft.” (The latter two companies chose to stop operations in Austin city limits after voters rejected their proposed rewrite of city regulations in May.) Virden also proposed to tackle affordability issues by relaxing zoning rules and also address traffic congestion by “moving jobs from downtown.” Virden said he is preparing to formally launch his campaign, complete with a website and social media accounts, later this week.
In D10, Virden’s the third’un
