(A whole slew of local groups are meeting tonight starting at 6 at the Gardner-Betts Juvenile Center (2515 South Congress Ave) for a city council endorsement forum. - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
With several Democratic clubs endorsing this evening I would like to take this opportunity to highlight a couple of the reasons why I deserve the endorsements of local Democratic clubs above my opponents.
Each candidate in this race has something unique to offer however, what they cannot offer is my consistency, passion, and knowledge.
First of all, I invite you to look at my voting record and compare it to the other candidates in this race. Although city council elections are non-partisan, we all know that this is the year of the Democrat! As a life long Democrat, I have taken the responsibility of voting in democratic primaries very seriously and have done so consistently for over 20 years. My opponents have voted in only one or two. I'm not sure that either of them voted in the SOS election.
I am a member of the South Austin Democrats, Texas Environmental Democrats, and a sustaining member of the Travis County Democratic Party. In 1988 and 2006, I was a state delegate to the Democratic party convention.
As Walt Whitman said about Manhattan,"This is the city, and I am one of its citizens." My love for the city of Austin is not a newfound love. When I came here in 1969 to attend UT, Austin was a green oasis flourishing in an era of profound change. It was a state capital and university town set at the geologic and climatic edge called the Balcones Fault. In 1970 I started publishing an environmental magazine which began my dedication to the city as a voice for the citizens of Austin and the environment. I took a degree in American Studies, drove a taxicab, and I wrote about the city as a journalist and a poet. |
| Then came love, then came marriage, then came a babyseat on the bicycle and diapers on the clothesline. Jane and I raised both of our kids in a small house in the Zilker Neighborhood, the same house we still live in today. I spent numerous hours volunteering in Austin public schools and even served as the PTA president of Zilker elementary. During the eighties, Austin lost its vision, and the city was gripped by a feverish real estate boom. I did what I could to keep the vision alive, volunteering and voting in city council campaigns year after year. In time, the real estate bubble burst. In the nineties, a new force arose in Austin politics, the SOS Coalition, single-minded and determined to save Barton Springs. I worked in the petition campaign to get the ordinance on the ballot and celebrated with fellow activists when it was passed.
I have been an active Austin resident longer than any of my opponents. Early last summer when Betty Dunkerly decided to retire, I realized that council needed a voice that would promote Austin's hometown agenda. I have always been that voice and I will continue to be that voice. I am passionate about this city and I have a vision to progressively respond to the needs of this city.
I attained my knowledge of the city from a diverse background including driving a cab, owning a small business, writing for several newspapers and magazines, serving on the planning commision, and most importantly working at city hall. In my forties, I took a law degree from UT, and then I went to work at city hall, for Max Nofziger and then Daryl Slusher, where I learned about the budget process from Betty Dunkerley, who was city finance director then. I also found that I was pretty good at working with people, and assembling programs, and building majorities, and counting votes. I left city hall in 1998 to start my law practice, and became active in the Austin Bar. Soon I was appointed to the Austin Planning Commission, where I balanced the needs of landowners and the environment; neighborhoods and businesses; homeowners and affordable housing. When the deplorable state of Barton Springs was disgusting many swimmers, I took a practical approach, and helped to found the Friends of Barton Springs Pool, a volunteer organization that helped to clean up the pool and persuaded the city council to budget money for pool improvements.
I know how city hall works, I have experienced it for myself and I understand the need for a more available city council. Over the past 39 years, I have gained experience and knowledge from being an active Austin resident and I am confident in my ability to lead this city into the future.
As a life-long Democrat who passionately cares about this city, I ask for your vote tonight in the endorsement meeting and on May 10th.
-Robin Cravey
www.robincravey.com |
