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Cid Galindo: "In Her Own Words"
Laura Morrison: "Unbelievable"
(Disclosure: I work for Laura Morrison and support her candidacy 100%. Because of my involvement in her campaign, I present these ads for you with no commentary.)
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Though I have reservations about Morrison's opposing things like increased density downtown--as an environmentalist, increased density in the urban core makes sense to me--I can not overlook Galindo's use of scare tactics on this energy-efficiency proposal.
In the poll at the upper right, subtract one of Galindo's 49 votes and add it to Morrison's 82.
PS I worked for Robin Cravey in round one, who was unapologetically for energy efficiency upgrades at the time of sale. "The eyes of the people are fast opening! Fight on!"--Andrew Jackson
I supported Robin because you could have reasonable discussions with him about the issues. Just don't know about Galindo and Morrison. New version A Austin against new version B Austin in this runoff. I still prefer the old hippie Austin version.
The late Bob Bullock used to say (and I will clean this up just a little, but you will get the point), if you throw mud, you get mud on your own hands. Yes, this runoff campaign has gotten ugly, particularly in comparison to the dignified first Place 4 campaign. My friend Robin Cravey was defeated but he has no apologies to make to anyone about the honorable way he campaigned.
Then comes the runoff with Cid Galindo diving right into the mud with this specious home sales tax attack. I question just what Galindo has against improving the energy efficiency of the current Austin housing stock?
Having been through five or six of these reviews over the years, I can say without reservation Austin Energy's home energy efficiency programs are among the best things the city does, about anything. Costs of a little foam and weather stripping in the right places, generous incentives and rebates on efficient appliances all can and do offer short term payoffs and lasting energy savings to individual customers. And, speaking as one of the owners of our city-owned utility, like you, it can help Austin Energy meet demand much longer without huge new investments--our investments--in new peak capacity.
I have heard Laura Morrison say she wants all the stakeholders to participate in a consensus way to get current efficiency tools into the widest possible use. I have seen her take this approach to building consensus before and she has impressed me as just the kind of deliberate problem solver who generally makes the best kind of city council member.
I too regret that things have gotten so ugly, but if I were in Morrison's shoes, I would not let myself be Swift Boated for trying to find the right thing to do, either.
If you really want to promote energy efficency and reduce the need for capital expenditures for new power plants, a progressive thinker/leader would advocate a return to the old city sponsored 0% loan program for upgrades. Forcing a seller of a house to upgrade a home at a financial loss to lower the energy bills for the new owner is twisted thinking to me.
Galindo/Morrison, who is for going back to the 0% loan incentive program from the 1980's?
