4 Democratic Clubs Endorse

South Austin Democrats??? (0.00 / 0)

So the South Austin Democrats endorsed no City Council Candidates that live in South Austin. If all their endorsed candidates win, no council member will live in South Austin.

In the mid 1990's, Nofziger was from Southeast Austin, Goodman was from South Central, and Mitchell was from Southwest. So South Austin has gone from three council members to one (Kim), with the possibility of none. That's not progress.

Yet Wynn, Dunkerley, Cole, McCracken, and the Austin American Statesman do not think under representation of South Austin is problem. They do not even want the citizens to vote on this issue in the November General Election to change the City Charter to allow for single/mixed election districts.  

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by: ssuits @ Thu Mar 27, 2008 at 07:47:33 AM CDT

It's the new map (0.00 / 0)

I had a recruiter try to tell me that a job out towards Manor was in Southeast Austin. South Congress is considered North Buda these days.

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by: George @ Thu Mar 27, 2008 at 08:19:32 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Remove of boundary restrictions hurts SAD (0.00 / 0)

I've been a South Austin Democrats member since 2000, and I have to say the one of the reasons SAD is not endorsing any of their own has to do with some unfortunate rule changes made 4 years ago (being pushed by Jeff Jack I believe.) Until that time, to vote in SAD you had to ACTUALLY LIVE IN SOUTH AUSTIN. Also, SAD in general did not endorse in races whose voting jurisdiction was outside of South Austin. Starting in 2004, the membership restrictions were removed and SAD started voting in races like Commission Precinct 1 (an East Austin district that is miles from South Austin.) This has meant the club is subject to the kind of wholesale packing that has hurt other clubs' reputation. I hope our club will return to original rules so South Austin Democrats will actually represent South Austin.

Elliott McFadden
Ignite Consulting
Direct Mail, Design & Automated Calling Services for Political & Non-Profit Clients.

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by: bikindem @ Thu Mar 27, 2008 at 11:03:31 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Randi Didn't Pack the SAD Meeting (0.00 / 0)

Despite Jennifer Kim's campaign manager's suggestion, Randi didn't rig the SAD endorsement.  She earned it.

Of course, Kim's campaign manager is no stranger to trying to pack endorsement meetings.  For example, he's been known to try to have Republican frat boys pack University Democrat endorsements.

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by: TeamTexas @ Fri Mar 28, 2008 at 11:15:55 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Elliott is Not the Campaign Manager... (0.00 / 0)

Paige Hill is.  And to clarify my position, I am the Field Director and Volunteer Coordinator.

Expect little reporting from me on this race except straight news like this.

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by: Matt Glazer @ Fri Mar 28, 2008 at 13:41:50 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

South Austin (5.00 / 1)

Betty Dunkerley lives in South Austin, which actually makes our geographic representation pretty even, I'd say.

Wynn: downtown
Leffingwell: northwest
Martinez: far east
Kim: south central
Dunkerly: southwest
McCracken: central/north of campus
Cole: near east

The South Austin Democrats pick their candidates based on who has earned their support and who will represent their interests the best. Last night was a hard fought contest and the winners had to get 60%.

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by: Amy Everhart @ Thu Mar 27, 2008 at 08:59:13 AM CDT

our geographic representation pretty even?? (0.00 / 0)

How so? Dunkerly is not running for re-election. If all  candidates endorsed by the South Austin Democrats win, no one on the City Council will be from South Austin.

So 60% plus of the South Austin Democrats support not having a council member from South Austin? Surely at least one South Austin candidate in one of the three races considered would make a good council member.

The at-large system for selecting council members needs to be changed.

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by: ssuits @ Thu Mar 27, 2008 at 11:17:47 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Time for Single-Member Districts (0.00 / 0)

Amen!
It's way beyond time for single-member districts.  Can you imagine at-large elections for Congress the Texas Legislature, or even a county commissioners' court?  Why is the City Council still at-large when single-member districts are the only means to hold council members accountable?

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by: TeamTexas @ Fri Mar 28, 2008 at 13:30:19 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

South Austin Pride! (0.00 / 0)

As a native Austinite, I've lived in neighborhoods all over Austin.  But as long as I'm able, I will proudly call South Austin my home.  We've got a funky combination of artists, working families, political activists and legendary Tex-Mex restaurants.  My Bouldin neighborhood is one of the most liberal areas in the state, and I love the free-spirited and independent-minded attitude that South Austin embraces.

When I arrived at the South Austin Democrats meeting last night, I fully expected Jennifer Kim to win the SAD endorsement because...well...she lives in South Austin.  But Randi Shade made her pitch, and the good folks of SAD apparently liked what they heard.  This is a HUGE endorsement for Randi because SAD is one of the most influential progressive groups in town.  And this endorsement carries extra weight because SAD is one of the few groups that actually invests money to send postcards to Democratic voters across South Austin announcing the endorsement.  Congrats Randi!

Normally, incumbent council members (like Lee Leffingwell) sweep the club endorsements and cruise to re-election, but it looks like Place 3 will be different and Randi is going to put up a strong challenge this year.  It takes political courage to stand up to an incumbent city council member, and I'm proud of my fellow South Austin progressives for doing the right thing and endorsing the candidate who can bring Austin together to tackle the big challenges facing our city.  Just today, it was announced that Austin is one of the Top 10 fastest growing regions in the country, and we need to be honest and forward-thinking about how we're going to accomadate all this growth while still keeping Austin weird.

Thank you South Austin Democrats!  

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by: Ian @ Thu Mar 27, 2008 at 09:32:40 AM CDT

CCYD (0.00 / 0)

The Capital City Young Democrats also participated in the forum, but they will be holding their endorsement election at a later meeting.

"In this world of sin and sorrow there is always something to be thankful for; as for me, I rejoice that I am not a Republican." - H.L. Mencken

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by: PI Lawyer @ Thu Mar 27, 2008 at 12:49:48 PM CDT

Jerry Garcia, Ken Vasseau, Jennifer Gale and Tim Mahoney (0.00 / 0)

For the AISD District 3 race,I didn't and still don't have much information on this race (the candidates didn't really provide much information), and I don't know how much it really matters, but Jerry Garcia seemed to ramble on at 100 mph about absolutely nothing.  What was that endorsement based on?

Now Tim Mahoney, once again I am quite uniformed on this race, but it seemed to me that Harrison Keller had better knowledge of the system and an actual vision and he was able to convey that. Now I know he works in Tom Craddick's office, so would someone explain to me how that could be detrimental to ACC if he would be elected? I don't doubt that it could, but I would like for someone to make that clear to me.

On a lighter note there was some great entertainment from Jennifer Gale and Ken Vasseau during the Place 4 Q&A session, wow!

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by: Hangerman44 @ Thu Mar 27, 2008 at 12:58:52 PM CDT