No, this isn't a ra-ra post about Place 1 candidate Chris Riley. At least not in the traditional sense. I want to share a story with you.
Last night, I apparently thought it would be a good idea to trek across town on my Trek 3700 bike in the 35 degree weather to a Texas Environmental Democrats Austin meeting. Now, I've had the bike since fall of 2004, so about four and a half years as my primary mode of transportation other than busses and walking. I've had to replace the tires once because of running over some thorns, and also replace the bike seat and headlights as they were stolen during the county convention when I had it tied up outside the TCDP headquarters overnight. In sum, along with the original cost of the bike, less than $600 since I've owned it.
Well, as I cross Ann Richard's Bridge on Congress, I noticed things are going a little slow, and roundabout Riverside and Barton Springs the back tire is getting pretty flabby. I must have run over something or gotten a rock stuck in the air nozzle (the cap of which was lost months ago). I was able to limp my way to the meeting at Vinny's on Barton Springs but it was clear that a return trip would be impossible without new air or assistance if it was a full on flat.
Of course, my saving grace of the day, was that candidate Chris Riley was there. Clearly I should have figured that it being election season and it being an environmental meeting there would be candidates galore, and I happened to end up at the right one to attract the man who also doesn't have a car.
After the meeting, we braved the cold, and with the help of Riley's bike pump, re-inflated the back tire which it kept, allowing me to get back home without freezing my way through an hour's walk.
Awesome. I love Austin politics and our candidates. If there is one thing about politics in this city that is often overlooked it is that candidates and campaigns are way more open and accessible than people suppose when they think about politics. For as much as people will complain about insiders, backroom deals, or such, I don't think they understand that relative to other cities our size, the system is a lot more accessible. I tell people, just show up and show up regularly and you'll meet more people than you imagine.
Matt and I realized that we have some of the best IM conversations. Maybe we should start printing our stunningly brilliant political insight. Edited slightly for taste... very slightly.
Matt Glazer: I'm not going to lie, the pictures of Chris Riley's event are pretty stunning
Karl-Thomas: yeah, and in other conversations I've had, there is a sense of "where is Cofer, where is Perla" going on
Karl-Thomas: i feel it to
Karl-Thomas: Cofer's done nothing publicly
Matt Glazer: I know
Karl-Thomas: and Riley is eating up energy
Matt Glazer: I completely agree
Karl-Thomas: I think I'm going to post on that publicly
Karl-Thomas: maybe it will goad them into action.
Matt Glazer: but even then, Chris is campaigning like a machine
Matt Glazer: Cofer's asset is his perceived youth and freshness
Matt Glazer: yet Chris is campaigning with that meme
Karl-Thomas: yeah, isn't that funny?
Karl-Thomas: Chris is like, how old?
Matt Glazer: like 50
Karl-Thomas: that's hilarious
Matt Glazer: yet he seems like the most youthful candidate
Karl-Thomas: you know, that is actually an incredibly insightful statement
Matt Glazer: sometimes I think we should just post our IM conversations
Lee Leffingwell is set to announce a couple of high profile endorsements Tuesday. Until then, his newly launched Facebook Candidate Page has broken through 100 supporters in the first 24 hours.
Leffingwell's campaign team has also launched a twitter account @TheLeeTeam. What I love about it is that it's not a campaign account, it's updates about the actual campaign teams operations. That's totally geek! I love it. Granted, it's a limited appeal sort of thing but who knows- technology in campaigns continues to amaze me.
Chris Riley writes a thank you post here on Burnt Orange Report after his successful campaign launch. Cavazos has hers next week and I don't know when Cofer's is. Riley has really been hustling and while I'll be fair in saying that being first out of the gate doesn't always mean you are in the lead, I've heard a number of people who are supporters of the other 2 candidates wonder when they are going to show up to the Place 1 race.
The University Democrats at UT are starting back up for the semester with their first meeting this Wednesday at 8:00pm in Garrison Hall (GAR) 0.102. Jimmy Talarico is now at the helm.
Perla Cavazos releases her first list of 200 supporters. Matt sent me the email announcement and I wondered why I hadn't received it. I thought that maybe my last post had put me in the penalty box for getting Cavazos email updates so I checked again to make sure. I found it...
Sigh. I have a feeling Cavazos email and my inbox are going through some identity issues.
Yesterday I got the first email from the Perla Cavazos campaign now that the Place 1 seat is official open with Lee Leffingwell's announcement for Mayor. Unfortunately, it appears that the first email had a small problem.
Oops.
Matt noticed this too and we had a back and forth conversation about it on twitter in which he reminded me that when he worked for Jennifer Kim they sent an email titled "CHANGE THIS SUBJECT". Oddly enough, it had the highest open rate of the campaign. (Jennifer Kim is a donor to Cavazos, co-incidence? Totally.)
Someone else emailed me directly and joked.
I noticed that, too. I like Perla, but so far <no subject> has been the message of her candidacy.
Ouch.
I think that is unfair, but it does speak to some similar narratives that others have grumbled about privately. I figure that's more due to a "fresh candidate & early in the race" effect. In meeting with Perla at Little City the other week, we talked about a wide range of topics, from access to the city, diversity, and fighting for the middle class. I can sense that she very much is driven in running for real average, common folk reasons and that's a good thing. It's a lot of the same middle class things that she worked on for six years in Sen. Lucio's office (yeah, I know that's not a popular Senator for a lot of you, but he represents her hometown, so that's the driver behind that decision). A campaign is about articulating those things into policy, action, and vision. I look forward to that from the Cavazos campaign.
To that end, here was some of the more relevant parts that were inside the email.
Over the next few weeks I want to spark an open and honest dialogue on what Austin needs to do to plan for the future. My policy initiatives outline immediate steps to promote entrepreneurial spirit and small businesses; address affordability issues, including energy, transportation, and health care; and put plans in place for Austin's economic comeback, from partnering with schools to developing community support for a Medical School in Austin.
I also invite you to join me in person on Tuesday, February 3rd from 5:30-8:00pm at Nuevo Leon restaurant located at 1501 E. 6th Street from 5:30pm to 8:00pm at my campaign kickoff.
She's also re-launching her website so check it out to learn more.
It's slim posting on the Austin City Council race until the campaign finance reports are filed, but related to that department (and interesting to all of about 18 people in Austin, all of whom are reading this blog) is which consultants are working for whom. Matt wrote up a good round-up of this last year in this post. Chris Riley has added a name to his team.
Chris Riley announced today that Susan Harry will join his city council campaign as chief fundraising consultant, bringing her tremendous experience and success to an already strong team. Riley described Harry as "a top-notch fundraiser who's up to the task of helping our campaign bring meaningful, positive change to this city during a challenging time."
Harry, a veteran of many successful city council and partisan elections, stated that she is excited to take part in sharing Riley's vision with the Austin community. "Chris Riley is a strong candidate with a tremendous history of leadership and service to our city," Harry stated. She cited his plans to address the growing economic crisis and his solid environmental record as reasons she joined the campaign team. "Chris has a vision for Austin that will allow all of us to live in a more sustainable, collaborative community."
Susan Harry is also doing fundraising for Bill Spelman (and as noted in the comments, work for Councilman Mike Martinez). I believe that her work for Sheryl Cole is similar in nature in terms of keeping the filings in order.
Related to place one, rumored candidate Kathie Tovo appears to have declined to enter the race, meaning the Chris Riley will join Rick Cofer and Perla Cavazos for the time being in the (still not quite a) race for Place 1 whenever Lee Leffingwell makes an announcement for Mayor.
While I haven't spoken with anyone from Cavazos camp, I have been told that fundraising was better than expected for the Cofer campaign. Of course, that's all relative as I'd be shocked if anyone in the contested races raises more than $25,000 other than maybe Brewster McCracken for Mayor. And speaking of Brewster, I had a rather pleasant lunch with him today at El Chile which was entirely political while being totally non-political somehow.
After much deliberation and careful consideration, Clean Water Action and Texas Vote Environment have endorsed the following candidates for Austin City Council, 2008:
Place 1: Lee Leffingwell
Place 3: Jennifer Kim
Place 4: Dual endorsement: Robin Cravey and Laura Morrison
I'm not sure if the place 4 endorsement was driven more out of endorsing the credible non-Cid Galindo candidates, or a hedge on endorsing the (no longer) frontrunner Laura Morrison and environ Robin Cravey.
There seems to be a bit of a hullabaloo going on about advertising in this year's city council elections. It first started out with Rick Culleton of Discount Electronics started using his ad space in the Austin Chronicle on behalf of Austin City Council Place 1 candidate Jason Meeker (possibly in violation of state ethics laws).
Well, that came and went until yesterday, when a full page ad (.pdf) was taken out by Mr. Culleton as an individual, this time aimed at both Councilmembers Lee Leffingwell and Jennifer Kim. Now, it appears that he has taken that message to the airwaves, spending his own money on a similar message on TV.
I've found the whole episode a bit strange- I'm not sure I'd spend that much money randomly in a city council race but this is Austin and stranger things have certainly happened. Randi Shade released the following statement in regards to the apparent independent expenditure.
"I've been made aware today that Mr. Rick Culleton, the owner of Discount Electronics, has begun airing television commercials which are critical of Jennifer Kim and which advocate for my candidacy. I want to make clear that I have never met with or talked to Mr. Culleton about my campaign, and have no previous association with him. Mr. Culleton did make an unsolicited online contribution to my campaign on Wednesday night, and while I appreciate his support and advocacy, I am in no way involved in his effort and have not received any notification from him regarding any of his
independent expenditures."
For your enjoyment. Incumbent Lee Leffingwell (Place 1) puts up a rather large showing given the contribution cap of $300 per individual. I don't have a donor count, but simple math will show it's way over 500 people.
Total Current Cash On Hand: $110,069
Total Raised This Period: $121,465
Total Spent This Period: $54,081
Total Raised Last Period: $46,909
Total Spent Last Period: $1,304
Total Raised In Both Periods: $168,374
Total Spent In Both Periods: $55,385
The difference is in-kind contributions and personal expenditures which aren't included in expenditure totals.
This is one of the more interesting press releases I have received. "Councilman" is indeed written in quotes. This would be Lee Leffingwell's current seat.
Future Austin City Council Member Allen "Councilman" Demling confirmed today that he will run for election to the Place 1 seat in 2008. The election is Saturday, May 10, 2008.
"It is my desire to give back to the greatest city in this country. The city council, as it currently stands, could use some new blood (and beards) to invigorate it!," said Demling. "I'm looking forward to running, sharing my vision for Austin's future, and allowing the voters to get to know me."
...
Allen and his campaign staff will be at Club DeVille on Saturday, February 9th for the 2nd Annual Misprint Magazine Beard and Moustache competition. This year, Allen has his sights set on winning the competition. He has a fundraising event scheduled for February 22nd at the Scoot Inn. Details of that event will come later.
I like that he's a member of the Austin Cycling Association, though.
