| Over the last week in particular, I've been excited for BOR to finally turn its attention, at least in part, to Austin City Council races, because I believe my values and my vision for Austin are in line with what most people in the BOR community want: practical, progressive, proactive leadership.
In the 18 years I've lived in Austin, I've been involved in some way in almost every kind of organization, in nearly every part of our community. You can check out my complete work history and community involvement here, but the point is that I bring a diversity of relevant experience to my campaign for City Council - and that throughout my life and career I've always tried hard to focus on doing good for the people around me.
I won't pretend for a moment that I haven't also been focused on making a living for myself and my family, but the truth is that money has never been a primary motivator. I've been blessed to have succeeded in business (as well as in government and in the non-profit sector), but for me, real success has always been about making a positive difference - whether in the life of one person, or in the life of my community.
People can label that set of values in any way they choose, but to me they are progressive values, and I think they sync up very closely with the values that I've heard expressed by the BOR community over the past few months.
Still, it's important to recognize that progressive values are only the foundation of progressive leadership - what ultimately matters is having the ability to get good things done, and that's really why I decided to run for Austin City Council last year. After watching most of our City Council - but especially Place 3 incumbent Jennifer Kim - accomplish very little of note over the last few years, I simply became convinced that I could do a better job, and resolved to try.
At first, I considered running for the open seat being vacated by Betty Dunkerley. Then the more I talked with and listened to people from everywhere across Austin about what they saw happening at City Hall, the clearer it became to me that Jennifer Kim had not only failed to deliver the results she promised when she ran, she had also failed to maintain good working relationships with many of the people around her - from the rest of the City Council to her own staff and past supporters.
Having read about Kim's attempt to cut the airport security line (doh!) and seen the TV news story about the traffic stop incident (in which she apparently asked an Austin police officer "do you know who I am?"), I had the same sense as others probably did at the time: that her apparent sense of entitlement as an elected official was weird (and not Austin weird), and a little distasteful.
But when I finally put the background on the failed working relationships and few accomplishments together with the entitled attitude I'd seen on display, I came to the honest conclusion that Jennifer Kim did not deserve a second term on the Austin City Council. So before any toll road votes had been cast and after two other good progressive candidates (Robin Cravey and Laura Morrison) had already announced they were running for the open seat, I decided to challenge Jennifer Kim.
The contrast I've been offering is pretty simple:
I am a candidate with solidly progressive values and a history of bringing people together to get good things done. I'm running with the strong support of a lifetime's worth of friends and colleagues who know me and who believe and trust that I can make a meaningful, positive difference for Austin. My coalition of support comes from every part of our community, and 2/3 of my campaign donors so far have NEVER before donated to an Austin City Council race. I am devoted to the idea that keeping Austin special matters and that public service is an exercise in self-sacrifice, not self-importance.
I think Jennifer Kim is a candidate whose values are subject to change at any time, and whose history on the Council is one of failed relationships and few accomplishments. So far, only a handful of the people who supported Jennifer Kim's 2005 campaign are supporting her again in 2008, while quite a few are now supporting me, including her 2005 campaign manager and two former Council aides. Most of Jennifer Kim's 2008 donors to date appear to be people who do business with the city - lobbyists, attorneys, contractors, and engineering firm employees. In sum, I think Jennifer Kim has too often prioritized her personal status as a Council Member over getting good things done for Austin, and while I certainly don't think she's a bad person, I do think she's done a bad job.
I, obviously, see this contrast between my candidacy and Jennifer Kim's candidacy plainly - but this is politics, and obviously not everybody is going to see it my way.
:-)
For instance, Matt's post last week titled "Randi Shade Gets By With A Little Help From Her Toll Road Friends" was not an unexpected attack, although it did come from an unexpected source.
Frankly, given that Jennifer Kim's 2008 campaign consultant also managed Margot Clarke's 2005 City Council campaign AGAINST Jennifer Kim (wherein Clarke was supposedly the ONLY candidate refusing $ from the Toll Road Lobby!), I knew it was only a matter of time until we heard that exact same refrain again, directed at me - especially since a lot of Kim's 2005 donors from the "business community" are now supporting me.
But I'll confess that I didn't expect the attack to come as a post on BOR. And, that it happened before I'd introduced myself formally to the BOR community was also unfortunate. Hopefully, though, I can work to change any negative first impression that the BOR community may have of me, and I'll start that right now by addressing the toll issue and my campaign contributors as clearly and as simply as I can.
My position on tolls is that I'm not for tolling any road that has already been paid for with gas tax revenue in any way, shape or form, period. But I don't and won't categorically oppose tolls as a way to finance the construction of needed roads when there is no other viable financing method and when tolling is transparent and accountable and when revenue generated is distributed equitably. Tolls would always be my very last choice to relieve traffic congestion. I believe that we face major traffic challenges in Austin and Central Texas, and while it's important to say "no" to bad solutions, it's just as important to say "yes" to good ones. The question I have is: What has Jennifer Kim done to address traffic congestion, which was one of her main platforms for election in 2005?
Regarding my campaign donors from the "business community" (Jennifer Kim's former donors): Yes, I raised money from some partners in the Endeavor Group - because I've known a couple of them since high school, and have worked closely with a couple of the others on community projects in the Jewish community and through fundraising efforts for many Democratic candidates and important local charitable and progressive causes (i.e., Anti-Defamation League, Equality Texas, Atticus Circle, PeopleFund, Hill Country Conservancy, and Entrepreneurs Foundation).
And, yes, I have also gotten financial support in this campaign from colleagues I met while I served on the board of the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce. I was recruited to serve at a time when very few members of the technology sector and even fewer women were asked to serve. While on the board I helped launch the Austin Clean Energy Initiative and helped promote the availability of health insurance for small business owners (85% of the Chamber's membership are companies with fewer than 50 employees).
I'm sure I've probably taken other campaign contributions from people in the "business community" who Matt or other Jennifer Kim backers may want to pluck out of my supporter list and take issue with, but ultimately it's hard to see that as anything other than an exercise in trying to divert attention from the incumbent's bad attitude and failed approach. To save us all time and to stay focused on the things that matter over the next few months, if you want to see my supporters, you can click here- for a list of my donors, click here. If you want to see Jennifer Kim's supporters, click here - for her donors, click here.
Judge the lists for yourself, knowing that I'm very, very proud of my diverse group supporters, which includes people from every part of our community - progressives, business leaders, environmentalists, neighborhood activists, teachers, Republicans, cops, moms, entrepreneurs, artists, and so many more.
I've been writing solidly for at least two hours, and I'm sure it feels to you like you've been reading this for at least that long, so I'm going to wrap it up. Obviously we didn't even really make it to most of the big issues, so I want to invite you to please come over to my website now and read about my philosophy, my priorities, and my positions on the issues, and feel free to shoot me any questions or comments at Questions@RandiShade.com.
To summarize for now, let me say that I am running for Austin City Council because, like you, I love Austin and care deeply about the direction our community going. I'm running against Jennifer Kim because I believe I can do a better job than she has of leading our community in the right direction.
I know that achieving agreement on every issue is unrealistic, as is solving every problem. But I also believe that knowing how and why our city is responding to changing circumstances is a must, no matter which side of any argument you are on.
The bottom line is that we can't afford to have an isolated, unresponsive representative in City Hall, in any seat. We need leadership that brings people together to get good things done for Austin. I can be that kind of leader, if you will give me a chance.
Thanks so much for reading and for your interest in the race for Place 3.
All the best,
Randi |
