Guerrero running for District 9 seat

Linda Guerrero, 67, who has served on numerous city commissions and boards, has announced her candidacy for the District 9 City Council seat, joining a growing list of candidates for the job. Council Member Kathie Tovo, who currently represents District 9 and has served on Council since 2011, announced earlier this year that she would run for mayor; however, it is unclear whether she still intends to run. Tovo, Council Member Leslie Pool, Travis County Commissioner Brigid Shea, former state Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos and former Council Member Ora Houston have all endorsed Guerrero. In her news release, Guerrero said, “My goal has always been to bring people together to find sensible, practical solutions that equitably serve the whole city. Our growth is explosive. In some ways, of course that’s good, but it’s creating huge problems, in affordability, transportation, public health, rising property taxes, and our quality of life. Dealing with those problems is the central task of the City Council in the years ahead.” Other District 9 candidates include four men with urbanist views: Tom Wald, Joah Spearman, Zo Qadri, and Ben Leffler.

Over in the race for mayor there are some new candidates too. In addition to Kirk Watson, Celia Israel, Jennifer Virden and fitness trainer Erica Nix, Anthony Bradshaw and Phil Brual have filed appointments of campaign treasurer in recent weeks. Brual, 21, is a government student at the University of Texas. Bradshaw does not have a Facebook page or website. He told the Austin Monitor, “I’m not really into answering questions right now.”