• I will prioritize the public benefits of growth to protect our natural and cultural environment.  

We are growing and that means change – both good and bad, and it means having to work extra hard and extra smart to protect our air, water and parks, while also defending our community’s affordability, quality of life and unique character. We need to do a better job with planning to help good development happen where it should and stop bad development from happening anywhere. We must make sure that Austin stays Austin rather than becoming Anytown, USA. We need to reboot the neighborhood planning process to be more inclusive and predictable. And, we must make transportation and public safety planning central to any decisions.

• I will work to eliminate the impact poverty has on our community’s safety and well-being with a vision of equal opportunity for all Austinites.

It is wonderful that Austin is consistently recognized for its economic vitality, but until, at a bare minimum, everyone’s basic human needs are met, we have very few bragging rights as far as I am concerned. Too often issues related to poverty are at the bottom of our City’s priority list rather than at the top. This has direct consequences on our public safety network in particular as many of our public safety personnel are regularly performing tasks much closer to social work than law enforcement and emergency response. Our City contracts with more than 60 health and human service organizations and spends tens of millions of dollars each year, but we’ve got to do more to create lasting solutions and leverage the strengths of our local nonprofit organizations. I plan to build on my extensive experience in the nonprofit sector to improve the way the City does business with basic needs providers and will also work hard to create new resources by bringing private sector partners to the table. I will also explore new sources of federal funding that will likely become available with the upcoming change in White House administrations. Austin must not only get its fair share of those funds, it should get even more, by competing as successfully on that front as we do on so many others.

• I will strive to make our City operate with energy, entrepreneurial spirit and creativity – just like our local businesses and nonprofits do.

I will ask the tough questions, and tap the activism of our citizens rather than squelch it. That means never taking our eye off the ball when it comes to efficiently providing the services that touch the lives of people every day, and it means always looking for ways to improve. It also means making sure decisions by representatives at all levels of City government are transparent and rooted in citizen perspective. Our City government should look and act like Austin.

• I will be responsive and accessible, so everyone has a voice at City Hall.

The responsibility of engaging citizens at City Hall falls on Council members. The Council sets the tone for the way the City’s staff involves citizens, as well. I will actively seek your input, rather than relying on you to visit me, and you will continue to see me at meetings, town halls and community forums after I am elected, not just while I am campaigning. I see accessibility as the most important aspect of a Council member’s job. I decided to challenge the incumbent in Place 3 specifically because of her reputation for inaccessibility. The best way to change the perception that City Hall is not listening to citizens is to prove that perception wrong through action. I will make my calendar public and work to see that online resources are more readily available so that anyone interested in following City business can do so.