| For current coverage of the 2009 Austin Mayor's Race, click here.
This weekend's runoff election for Austin City Council Place 4 closes the last chapter in this springs endless series of elections. Of course, the most inside City Hall observers will also note that it means that it's the start of a new election- that for the spot of Austin Mayor in May of 2009.
Now, this post isn't meant to start debating and discussing the potential candidate and their merit (though you're more than happy to engage in that speculation and talk in the comments!). The reason I wanted to write this post is to simply lay out my thoughts on what will guide my own thinking about this race since I get asked about it a lot.
This is an open mayoral seat, a chance for Austin voters to step up, engage the candidates, and pick someone to lead their city that expresses what they want to see in their city. It's a free for all, and a chance to really select a Mayor in a different way than we select our council members. There is something that draws in and engages an expanded set of voters in selecting a Mayor, and it's an opportunity to have a much different conversation about who we are as a city and where we want to go.
Austin is a unique place- with energy, with youth, with growth, with different ideas of what it's future should be. Our mayor should be someone who reflects that. A mayor with character. Just like Austin.
I recognize there are prospective candidates from the current council, as many as three. But this race should be much more than a simplistic insiders debate over "Brewster or Lee" which I find rather small-picture and for the most part, unexciting.
Some of the prospective candidates might be former councilmembers, which is a step in the right direction in that you get some institutional knowledge from folks who've stepped away from the game for a while. Bill Spelman comes to mind among others.
We should honestly be looking for possible candidates from outside the typical council world. For the open seat in 2009, why limit ourselves to the known?
All said- this our chance to elect a new mayor without it being under a cloud of scandal, without particular local issues driving the race, or without certain ballot questions taking priority. Who knows, that could all change in a year, but for 2009, my personal feelings about the race for mayor are ones based upon thinking beyond the insider narratives of today. |
