Please spread this widely to those who wish to come together to honor her memory. It will be this Sunday at 11 AM down by the river at the intersection of Riverside and South 1st. Here is a picture of the actual Tree and location to orient yourself.
WHAT: Mobile Loaves & Fishes and House the Homeless are holding a memorial service for Jennifer Gale with remembrances and music of the homeless woman who died on the streets this week
WHEN: 11 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 21
WHERE: The Homeless Memorial and Tree of Remembrance on Auditorium Shores at South 1st and Riverside
MORE INFO: Alan Graham, alan@mlfnow.org or 422-1849
Update: Yesterday we posted some commentary from a staffer at City Hall which may have been a bit premature in its analysis of Jennifer Gale's challenges with Austin homeless services as a Transgender woman. While the issue certainly is a real issue for many trans folks who are homeless, I wanted to post an update from the same individual to shed new light and information on local services and what might be able to be done to make sure we are most accommodating in Austin.
So what I wrote the other day about trans-services may not have been entirely accurate. I have since spoken with people at both the ARCH and the Salvation Army here in town to learn what they do for homeless transfolks. It turns out the ARCH, while a men's only shelter, is actually pretty educated on the issues and accepts people as they present themselves. While this wouldn't have helped Jennifer Gale except for day-sleeping, it is certainly respectable. They will also provide for privacy in the restrooms/showers for transfolks. The Salvation Army on the other hand...they do apparently have a policy of non-discrimination and they do not turn trans people away, but I'm not fully sold on their ability to actually understand the issue. If they are not full they will give trans people privacy (maybe they have private quarters of some sort), but if full and they are in an overflow shelter situation, as they were Tuesday night, I am under the impression that they will assign people according to their anatomy.
To be honest, I'm not sure the right answer. I know that putting a transwoman in a men's dormitory is not the right answer. If she happens to have male anatomy still, having her shower with women doesn't seem like the right answer either. I appreciate the private quarters/private showering situation, but I don't know how sustainable that is or how much agencies can do that in dire circumstances when there just isn't room to provide privacy.
It also seems like the City of Austin may have policies in place already to provide for trans protection in employment, public accomodation and housing. I'm not sure yet what the definition of "public accomodation" is, but I'm starting to wonder if there actually is something we can do policy-wise. If not, maybe this is more of an enforcement...and therefore, education issue for our community, and those service providers. Now, how do we do that?
In her memory, please consider making a donation to the Austin based House the Homeless, a local non-profit education and advocacy group for the homeless whose board of directors is never made up of less than 60% homeless or formerly homeless persons.
So it's pretty obvious that I'm more prone to chatter about Jennifer Gale than most people. While the former owner of Burnt Orange Report wasn't much of a fan, I've run into her more often than not around UT and like many, got to know the interesting character that Jennifer Gale was. Behind the scenes, there was indeed a group of us who out of entertainment and no real good reason, helped her along, tending to her website. her wikipedia page, and her Twitter account. I've signed her ballot petitions and voted for her before. I'm even in the picture on her MySpace page through no doing of my own.
Jennifer was Austin. Even though born in Madison, WI and brief stays (and runs for Mayor in Dallas) I think that Austin was home and many here would claim her as one of ours. Losing her is like losing a small part of Austin for me, and that's a discussion that we'd probably have started to see reappear in city council races anyways as we come to terms that a growing city can change the nature of its people unless its people fight to be help root the city in what makes it unique.
We all have stories about Jennifer. I would run into her at Gatti's Pizza near the University of Texas campus and probably talked to her there about 4 times this fall. She would tell me about her plans to run again which always included some great policy proposals.
Among the ones I can remember were retroactive height limits for buildings downtown so that they could be no taller than the capitol, the removal of downtown buildings as part of her "sunset commission" to see the skyline that downtown was blocking, her support for giving everyone their own space to live so they wouldn't be so anxious which was some hybrid of being socialist pro-sprawl which I contest any other candidate to define. She was for enlarging the City Council to as many as 35-42 members (it often changed) and I remember in past debates her saying there should be specific seats for the League of Women Voters once we made single member districts. She was for a smoking section in the Frank Erwin Center (for marijuana) as believed that Leadership Austin was a cult run by the Chamber of Commerce.
More recently she had taken to studying the Bible and tried to have it explained, finding faults in parts of it while inspiration in others. A study she wasn't able to finish. She also discussed Numerology with me, something she had a hidden skill for. I learned that I was a "9" and she often repeated that she was a "5" and asked me to look it up. I never did until today, and boy was she right.
The key to your personality is freedom. You love travel, adventure, variety and meeting new people. You posses the curiosity of a cat, and you long to experience all of life. You love to be involved in several things at the same time, as long as you are not tied down to any one area.
You like change, new things and new horizons. You can make friends easily, and your personality is upbeat and often inspiring, attracting people form all walks of life.
You have a way with words, and an uncanny ability to motivate others. Highly suitable vocations for you include sales, promotion, entertainment, investment, science, medicine, the occult, public service an all careers that require travel and verbal skills. A person with 5 Life Path is often comfortable in front of an audience particularly as master of ceremonies or in comedy.
You yearn for freedom, and self-employment attracts you powerfully. Your challenge is to settle into one area in order to cultivate your ability sufficiently to earn a living and to attain success. Once you find the niche, the motivation and inspiration you supply to others will bring you much in return. You will find your friends and colleges supporting and promoting you in the road of success.
I'm going to miss her in the same way I miss Austin when I leave it for any amount of time. The difference is that she won't be there anymore when I return. God bless you Jennifer.
Please consider making a donation to the Austin based House the Homeless, a local non-profit education and advocacy group for the homeless whose board of directors is never made up of less than 60% homeless or formerly homeless persons.
I have gotten confirmation from the Mayor's office that the Council will be leaving Jennifer Gale's previously scheduled time on the calendar this afternoon during Council Communication. That begins at Noon at City Hall though they are moving it to the end of the speakers so likely around 12:20-12:30. I'm hoping to attend as there is word there will a short video played and some time taken to remember her as she frequently appeared before the council.
Some of the Council's comments can be seen here as well as a statement by her Mayoral opponent Josiah Ingalls (and best chance to fill her shoes this cycle) but I also wanted to post this release from the Mayor's office. The last paragraph was particularly informative.
"Jennifer's passing saddens me. She was much more than a 'perennial candidate.' She had a true passion for Austin and worked, in her own unique way, to make the city she loved more vibrant, caring, and of course, weird. She was an Austin original and she will be missed. Perhaps this loss will raise awareness about life on the streets."
From October, 2007 to October, 2008 135 homeless people have died on Austin's streets. The city is aware of the seriousness of the issues surrounding homelessness and approved the following budget items for FY2008-2009:
* $4,870,477 for social services contracts that support shelter, transitional housing, and permanent supportive housing.
* $410,696 for City support and operations of homeless services.
* $329,116 for both social services contracts and City support/operations of homeless services.
Additionally the city has developed a Cold Weather Shelter Plan in which the City collaborates with Front Steps (ARCH), Salvation Army, local churches, Cap Metro and Red Cross for cold weather sheltering of the homeless. On very cold weather nights, ARCH and Salvation Army increase their capacity with additional mats, certain churches open their doors for some homeless and the Parks and Recreation Department opens up one of the Recreation Centers. Front Steps and Salvation Army determine if they need to expand beyond their capacity and notifies the City Emergency Operations Officer, who contacts Cap Metro for transportation. The first expansion level is a local church, the next level is a Recreation Center. Red Cross provides the blankets for the rec center shelter. In the morning, Cap Metro takes the people back to Salvation Army for breakfast.
While this entire video is very classic Jennifer Gale, jump to the 1:30 mark. Eerie. Also, another classic Jennifer Gale song around 2:15. She also takes on the Austin Chronicle for not covering her Mayoral campaign, something that was noted in today's edition of the HUSTfm.
Please consider making a donation to the Austin based House the Homeless, a local non-profit education and advocacy group for the homeless whose board of directors is never made up of less than 60% homeless or formerly homeless persons.
Now deceased Austin icon Jennifer Gale sang Silent Night at her last appearance before members of the Austin City Council. I'll have another post on her passing soon but I thought I would put this up now.
You'll also notice that I've posted a donating widget to raise funds for the Austin based House the Homeless, a local non-profit education and advocacy group for the homeless whose board of directors is never made up of less than 60% homeless or formerly homeless persons.
Gale, who was homeless and was a candidate in the upcoming mayoral race, was found sleeping outside the First English Lutheran Church at 3001 Whitis Avenue by a worker about 6 a.m. today, Fire Department spokeswoman Michelle DeCrane said.
The worker returned about an hour later, thought Gale might be in distress, and called 911, DeCrane said.
Austin firefighters at a nearby station responded and began performing CPR, DeCrane said.
Gale routinely attended Austin City Council meetings, county commissioners court and school board meeting, often presenting her political arguments in song. On Tuesday, she sang “Silent Night” at a city health and human services subcommittee meeting.
Jennifer's most successful run for office was in 2004 when she received nearly 39 percent against incumbent Doyle Valdez for Austin Indepedent School District Board At-Large Position 8.
Austin city politics will not be the same. You will be missed, Jennifer.
Updated: Former Austin Mayor Bruce Todd has released a statement on Jennifer Gale:
"Jennifer was a constant presence at various public hearings, forums and meetings in Austin and displayed a great love for and interest in our city."
"Her well-known catchphrase was 'Keep Austin, Austin.' While Jennifer no longer is here to physically trumpet that slogan, her personification of that expression will never be forgotten."
The following is intended to be a one-stop post for all of the information you could want for the Austin City Council races. Please let us know if we are missing any information, and feel free to share this post with any and all friends and neighbors who want to get more informed on Austin City Council races. Thanks for reading Burnt Orange Report.
ABOUT CITY COUNCIL ELECTIONS - Explanation, Endorsements, Polls, Election History
"There are seven members on the Austin City Council: one Mayor and six Council Members. The entire Council is elected at large by the voters of the City. Each member serves a staggered three-year term. Thus, three of the members are voted on one year, with the remaining members, including the Mayor, elected the following year. Term limits are now in place, which means the Mayor and Council Members may serve in their respective seat for a maximum of six years, or two consecutive terms."
(Bumped. This came out last Friday afternoon so many of our weekday readers may have missed it. - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
Earlier I promoted a post regarding some poll results in the Austin City Council races conducted by the Capital Area Asian American Democrats (consider making a donation to them to cover the cost of the poll like I did). I received word that the results were slightly off as they were the raw numbers prior to being weighted to the electorate.
I have posted the official poll results below. The changes are marginal but do reflect a lower level of undecided voters across the board and Robin Cravey swaps positions with Jennifer Gale in Place 4.
Here are the actual poll results.
IVR Polls surveyed 517 likely City Council voters on April 16. The survey's margin of error is +/- 4.3%.
Place 1
Lee Leffingwell 37.5%
Jason Meeker 13.7%
Allen Demling 3.9%
Undecided 44.9%
Place 3
Randi Shade 26.4%
Jennifer Kim 24.9%
Ken Weiss 11.3%
Undecided 37.4%
Place 4
Cid Galindo 11.9%
Laura Morrison 10.3%
Robin Cravey 10.2%
Jennifer Gale 8.0%
Ken Vasseau 4.8%
Sam Osemene 4.8%
Undecided 50.0%
We don't usually have an opportunity to see a poll like this so what does it tell us? First off, according to the pollster, these respondents are those who self-identified themselves as planning to vote in the city elections, so the undecideds, while high, are not inflated by unlikely voters.
That said- it's clear that these races are very fluid and voter contact via TV, Radio, and Mail will play a large role in the next 3 weeks.
In Place 1, Leffingwell clearly has an established lead with Meeker having to work to get beyond his base if he's to have any chance. This concurs with the wideheld assumption that Leffingwell is headed to victory without a runoff.
In Place 3, a statistical tie exists and while always predicted to be a hard fought race, I wouldn't have guessed that Shade would have had this level of support prior to entering the paid media phase of the campaign (which against an incumbent is a place she's probably happy to be in). Still, it's anyone game, but unless Kim or Shade is able to boost their margins, they'll be going head to head until the June runoff and a long campaign and smaller electorate could shift the electoral dynamics.
In Place 4, it is clear that the lack of an incumbent has the race wide open for whom is going to face off in a June runoff. Morrison, having won the lion's share of endorsements and some of the city's better consultants, does not have the poll numbers to back up what many had perceived to be frontrunner status. There is a clear separation of the field in this place with Gale providing the dividing line of those who are contenders and those who are not; Gale, of course, being in a class of her own.
Also, people may have underestimated the power that a Hispanic surname has, even in city elections (note- he has done some tv already). Combine that with a candidate likely to pick up the moderate to center-right city voters, and we may be dealing with a battle between Morrison and Cravey for which progressive will get to take on Cid Galindo in a runoff. Still, the race has the most undecided voters and is wide open so there is a reasonable chance that we get a Morrison-Cravey runoff that makes Austin lefties a little less anxious.
Share your own thoughts in the comments. The poll script is in the extended entry.
Rick Noriega was also in Las Vegas last week during the DNC debate where he met with some key national donors.
"They've got a lot of national donors coming to this, and we wanted them to put a face with the name," Noriega told the Houston Chronicle on Wednesday. "What's going to happen is across the country folks are going to start realizing that Texas is in play."
Texas DNC member David Holmes is traveling the world while blogging. His latest report from Costa Rica is here.
Pictures of Rick Noriega from a San Antonio fundraiser earlier this month.
Jennifer Kim announced her re-election a few days ago for Austin City Council Place 3. Below is part of her statement.
From oppossing Water Treatment Plant 4, to voting against the toll roads, I have worked hard to build a record of speaking out and voting on issues that are crucial to our quality of life.
I am proud of the work I have done to begin addressing affordability by creating the Austin Affordable Housing Incentives Task Force to establish city policy on promoting more affordable housing and the Families and Children Task Force to ensure there is available child-care throughout the city.
I also believe strong small businesses are critical to the success of our economy and keeping Austin the unique place we call home. That's why I secured city staff as a resource for local small businesses to help them navigate the planning process as well as aiding in the development of business plans.
Looks like Noriega won't be alone in the primary for the Senate race. Ray McMurrey, who was previously running as in Independent in the race, didn't choose to collect the 43,000 signatures. He is running as Democrat instead (though is still filed as an Independent with the FEC).
"Ordinary Americans are clamoring for someone to stand up and be truthful about what is going on in our country, and I feel both major political parties have abandoned their responsibility," McMurrey said.
Actual filling stars in December and runs for a month. No word on whether Gene Kelly will make a come-back.
Speaking of which, I learned last night that Jennifer Gale has once again returned to Austin! Of course, she'll need to update her campaign website from her run for Dallas Mayor earlier this year.
