(More on the City Council Races. For those keeping tabs, I support Jennifer Kim as well, and this seems like one of the more interesting May races. - promoted by Matt Glazer)
Today, I am proud to join Ann Kitchen, Hon. Greg Hamilton, Juan and Marta Cotera, Amy Simmons (owner of Amy's Ice cream), Cathy Echols, Brigid Shea, Willie Mae and Saundra Kirk, and other community leaders and announce I'm endorsing Jennifer Kim for re-election to the City Council. She's earned our support.
I did not endorse Jennifer the first time she ran, but her record the last three years has impressed me. She has worked hard and meticulously studies the issues. She is an independent voice on the council, and she calls it like she sees it.
Most importantly, Jennifer has a very substantial track record on actual votes, especially against toll roads, Walmart and on the right side of key environmental, afforadble housing, and local independent business issues. I particularly respected her stance on the big box ordinance and the innovative way she brought the city auditor in at a key moment. She also has an excellent record on public health and safety issues. Jennifer knows her stuff. She is not afraid to stand up to anyone - be it a fellow elected official or greedy outside interest groups.
She's proven herself time and again.
Though I've known Jennifer's opponent for many years and she's a nice person, she simply doesn't have the expertise or track record we need. When the big votes were going down at City Hall, I don't recall ever seeing her there lending her voice for progressive issues. Plus, she already has some key toll road backers on her donations list - this is a serious concern.
We can't afford to lose Jennifer's strong voice standing up for Austin. She deserves our support.
(Finally a chance to voice our opinions. - promoted by Matt Glazer)
Tonight, January 15 from 6 - 8 PM at the Palmer Auditorium, the public will have an opportunity to meet and talk with the finalists in our search to hire a new city manager. Last Thursday, the City Council announced the finalists for the position: Jelynne Burley of San Antonio and Marc Ott of Ft. Worth.
We will be making our decision on the new city manager after the public has an opportunity to provide input. The finalists will be making 15 minute presentations and the public will have the opportunity to meet with them afterwards. Comments can then be provided to the City at the forum. If you choose as well, please send any comments that you may have to my office directly.
Clearly, the lack of public process in hiring the new city manger is troubling and this opportunity for public input is certainly not the full public process that I would have liked to have had. However, I do want to make sure that you are aware of the public forum taking place.
Please attend if you can. If you have any other thoughts you'd like to share on the finalists, please feel free to contact my office at (512) 974-2255 or online.
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.
The University of Texas has made a strong push to develop and expand around the Lions Municipal Gold Course and the Brackenridge tract. UT's wish is the neighborhoods fear, and Austin City Council Member Jennifer Kim plans to sponsor a resolution opposing possible development of the Lions Municipal Golf Course, as well as calling on The University of Texas at Austin to include the City and neighborhood in all planning efforts for the Brackenridge tract.
The resolution is expected to come before Council on Nov. 8, 2007, one day before the UT Board of Regents conducts a public hearing on the issue.
"UT is a vibrant part of the community, but we need to put a brake on any proposed development projects," Council Member Kim said. "Lions Municipal Golf Course is a valued asset not just to the neighborhood but for all of Austin. This proposal will also be removing much needed student affordable housing, which is just not acceptable. Clearly the neighborhood needs to be involved in any planning process of the Brackenridge tract, but so far they have essentially been shut out. UT has a responsibility to the community, and I hope we can move forward in a direction that is positive for the university and for Austin."
This issue has caused growing concerns among neighbors, as well as affordable housing advocates. Councilwoman Kim provided the following statements from community leaders.
"In this time when thousands of families can no longer afford to live in our city, we need our public institutions to join together in creating, not destroying, affordable housing opportunities for families in Austin," said Heather Way, housing advocate. "Almost half of the school children who attend Matthews Elementary School live in the UT apartments. Losing the apartments would result in the closure of Matthews Elementary, a showplace of educational excellence and the most diverse elementary school in Austin."
According to Mary Arnold, a member of the Executive Committee of the West Austin Neighborhood Group, "Many people have approached me with grave concerns about the possibility of losing the golf course and of having more development resulting in traffic increases on Lake Austin Boulevard. My hope is that together the City of Austin and UT Board of Regents can take a broader look at the needs of both UT and the City."
Kim hired Elliott McFadden to run her campaign, Dean Rindy to make her ads, Yael Ouzillou to raise the money to pay for them, and Matt Hersh to help bring it all together. McFadden worked for Kim's opponent in 2005. She also rejected any tax incentives or other sweetheart deals for White Lodging, the corporation behind the planned Marriott.
While in Austin on vacation last week, one of the best things was getting to see the local political action up close and personal again. And unsurprisingly (for Austin) it's alive and well way in advance of the traditional election season. Of course, it's why I love Texas politics and politics in general- candidates, campaigns, and consultants are always on the move. In particular, it's also the fact that former foes can be friends and vice versa. Take for instance next year's Austin City Council elections...
Political consultant Elliott McFadden is going to run the re-election campaign of Austin City Council Member Jennifer Kim.
The pairing is somewhat surprising, given that McFadden ran the campaign of Kim's opponent, Margot Clarke, in 2005. But both Kim and McFadden said today that any ill will from the 2005 campaign is water under the bridge. They're gearing up for a potentially tough fight this year against Internet entrepreneur Randi Shade, a former executive director of the Texas Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service under Gov. Ann Richards.
Meanwhile, Kim's 2005 campaign manager, Amy Everhart, is endorsing Shade this time around, saying: "I had pretty high expectations of Jennifer" that Kim has not lived up to. Everhart now works for the ACLU, a group that's opposing an ordinance that Kim has championed to crack down on panhandling.
I saw this in the latest e-issue of the "Kim Connection" which I'm apparently subscribed to.
At the May 3rd Council Meeting, I will be bringing forward a resolution directing the City Manager to start work on a new 3-D model of Austin.
The purpose of this new system is to provide an easy- to-use modeling tool for better planning of our land use for the future.
This will facilitate more effective discussions regarding development standards and specific zoning cases. We will be able to look to the future by compiling the best, most recent data into one 3-D model that everyone can see.
Last year, I made 3D visualization software available to the public at the City's One Stop Shop for development. For more information, please download the presentation (pdf) I made to council that demonstrates the capabilities of this new software.
The presentation is kind of cool to check out. In a city like Austin with a lot of tech savvy users, I can see neighborhood or individuals using such a thing to virtually look out of their backyard at how proposed building plans might change the landscape.
Austin City Council Member Jennifer Kim has just been appointed to the Texas Democratic Party State Democratic Executive Committee (SDEC). At the last state convention, it was decided that two add-on seats to the SDEC would be allocated to the Asian American community through the Asian American Democrats of Texas and Councilmember Kim was one of the two selected.
Kim recently launched a newly designed website and is also a registered user of Burnt Orange Report. McBlogger is reporting (did I just say reporting?) that the Asian male seat has gone to an AJ Durrani of Katy.
