Watching PACs

Texans for Accountable Government has declared its support for anti-fluoride activist Laura Pressley, a candidate in the District 4 race. The largest donor to this group was Jeff Kantoff, identified online as a member of Ron Paul Republicans Meetup Group. Austinites for Geographic Representation filed the appropriate paperwork for dissolution of their political action committee. Stacy Suits, campaign treasurer, declared no further expenditures would be made and there was no money left in their coffers. After all, they won their fight more than 18 months ago when Austinites finally agreed to single-member districts. Let’s Go Austin, the PAC collecting money to support Austin’s rail project on the November ballot, raised about $76,000. Of that, the Downtown Austin Alliance contributed $37,000, dwarfing others’ donations. Tyson Tuttle, the CEO of Silicon Labs, contributed $10,000. The architects of Page Southerland Page gave $5,000, as did Texas Gas Service. Rather surprisingly, the Downtown Austin Neighborhood Association donated $4,000 to the effort. Engineers and land planners Cunningham- Allen, Inc. gave $2,500.