Austin Neighborhood Council Gains Ground on Key Austin Commissions

by: Karl-Thomas Musselman

Tue Jul 28, 2009 at 04:39 PM CDT

It is well known that the City of Austin Planning Commission is a pipeline for higher office and whose appointed membership greatly effects the direction and design of the city. This May's race between Chris Riley and Perla Cavazos, both former Planning Commission members being case in point. But with the current retirements, expirations of terms, replacements, and upcoming term expirations, it's clear that the Planning Commission as a whole has drifted towards a heavier influence by the Austin Neighborhoods Council.

Here is the new make-up of the Planning Commission with the year in which their terms expire (so most recent appointments are at the top).

2011: Chair, Dave Sullivan (Reappointed- Shade)
2011: Vice Chair, Jay Reddy (Reappointed- Riley)
2011: Danette Chimenti (Spelman)
2011: Kathie Tovo (Morrison)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2010: Mandy Dealey (Wynn)
2010: Clint Small (Wynn)
2010: Saundra Kirk (Cole)
2010: Dave Anderson (Wynn)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2009: Gerardo Castillo (Martinez)*

*term expires this Friday

The bolded names are brand new to the board and both are very closely aligned with the ANC. Councilman Spelman's appointment Danette Chimenti was Morrison's successor to the ANC. Morrion's appointment Kathie Tovo, former Bouldin Creek Neighborhood Association President, was almost a candidate this spring in the Place 1 race and is thought to still have council aspirations. Commission member Dealey ran previously in 2005 for Council, losing in a 4 way race to Jennifer Kim.

With the Planning Commission having in the last year lost Chris Ewen (not reappointed) this indicates a shift on the board. A close eye should be given to Martinez's next appointment as Castillo's partial term expires this Friday. Beyond that, Mayor Leffingwell will get to replace all 3 of Mayor Wynn's appointments next summer so given his close relationship with Martinez, will make or break the direction and diversity of the Planning Commisison in its next iteration.

Also of note from Bradford's piece was the Board of Adjustment which is the funnel through which variance requests are routed (for instance, business designations for noise requests). Another 9-member board like the Planning Commission, two "nay" votes can kill a variance request.

Councilwoman Morrison has appointed quintessential neighborhood activist, and once again, former ANC President Jeff Jack to the Board of Adjustment where he will join former ANC President Bryan King who Bradford notes as "a reliable nay vote". The other appointments from last week include former ANC South Central Representative Clarke Hammond (Leffingwell) and the reappointment of Nora Salinas (Martinez).

And then there's Morrison's choice of Mary Arnold for the Waterfront Planning Advisory Board which guides the development debate along Lady Bird Lake. That one's already stirred up controversy beyond Bradford with the Austin Chronicle critiquing the choice as not following the Waterfront Overlay ordinance's commands for a diverse professional board with specific categories of representation which Arnold may or may not particularly fit.

In sum, none of this is to say that appointments to city boards and commissions will behave or vote in similar patterns just because they have similar backgrounds in their activism and interaction with the City. But Bradford's closing statement in his article is all to true, and is reflective of what happens under our current system of local government.

Someone should just draw up a list of the dozen or so neighborhood representatives who seem to serve on every board and commission.   When one is appointed, we can cross her off the list and move to the next name.  When we get to the end of the list, we can simply return to the top of the list.

I thought Austin had a deeper pool of neighborhood activists.

I've commented on this before. So long as Austin is captivated by low turnout and lack of interest from the broader electorate, we will be captivated by a limited pool of dedicated activists whose ranks are not growing in proportion to the city's population. While some of those long time activists are revered institutions and others reviled (it often just depends on which side of a local skirmish you are on), the question might be would Austin's citizen-government be improve by having more activists on top of just long time activists?  

On a personal note- it is easy to offer a critique in Austin and I think that's healthy to the larger debate we as a community are having on the nature and structure of our government (single member districts, campaign finance, public financing, etc). But in addition to words, there is action. And along those lines, I'm now serving with the newly created Austin Bike Theft Task Force which is making some real progress, and am in discussions to help restart my own inactive neighborhood association, Kealing, in Central East Austin.  

Who's Who in the Austin City Council Races

by: Matt Glazer

Fri Dec 19, 2008 at 01:30 PM CST

Team McCracken:

• Christian Archer: Bill White, Phil Hardberger, Mikal Watts, Dawnna Dukes '08 primary, Juan Garcia, Bexar County candidates, Julian Castro in 11/09, former Archer Nathan partner.
• William Yarnell: Patrick Rose, Hays County candidates, Capitol Lobbyist
• Mario Bravo: Juan Garcia campaign manager, Mikal Watts

Team Leffingwell (anticipated):

• David Butts: Every current and recent past City Council member but McCracken, every current and recent past County Commissioner, every current and recent past District Judge, most Austin ISD and ACC board members, Laura Morrison, Woodie Jones and Karen Huber in '08
• Mark Nathan: Every current City Council member but McCracken and Morrison, Bill White and Phil Hardberger (with Archer), Lloyd Doggett '04, Austin Bonds '06, Anti-Prop 1 & 2 '06, Anti-Prop. 2 '08, Travis Dem. Coordinated consultant '08, Randi Shade '08, frequent Butts partner, former Archer Nathan partner
• Nancy William: Leffingwell aide, former Executive Director of Texas Democratic Party, longtime local Democratic activist

Other key players expected to emerge after likely Leffingwell announcement in mid-January

Longtime labor activist Kitty Clark has been Lee's treasurer in '05 and '08 and will likely be again in '09

Team Levy (anticipated):

• Sandra Ramos: Kirk Watson, Travis Dem. Coordinated '06, Sarah Eckhart aide,  Started with Karen Huber '08.

There are also rumors that Jack Martin (Public Strategies) is involved in the campaign.

Team Keaton-Rylander-Strayhorn-McClellan (anticipated):
This one is more speculation and rumor than fact. We guess this will be a family affair and Scott and /or Dan McClellan will be involved. Thornton Keel has been CKRSM's campaign treasurer in the past and Louise Epstein is treasurer for CKRSM's "exploratory" committee.

Council Races:

Place 1 (Lee Leffingwell incumbent)

• Rick Cofer - manager David Nerio, consultant David Butts
• Chris Riley - manager Katherine Haenschen
• Perla Cavazos - manager Laurie Felker Jones
• Kathie Tovo - consultant Mark Yznaga

Place 2 (Mike Martinez incumbent)

• Mike Martinez - consultants David Butts and Mark Nathan

Place 5 (Brewster McCracken Incumbent)

• Bill Spelman - manager Ian Davis

Place 6 (Sheryl Cole Incumbent)

• Sheryl Cole - consultant David Butts
• Sam Osemene - unknown

On The San Antonio, Austin City Races

by: Matt Glazer

Fri Dec 19, 2008 at 10:09 AM CST

Across the state campaigns for city council and mayor are gearing up, and once the holiday cheer fades the spotlight will shine a little brighter on these men and women.

Here is a little holiday guide to what we already know about some key races.

Back in July, David discussed the future San Antonio Mayor's race. Super popular Mayor, Phil Hardberger is term limited, which usually creates the political climate apt for a lot of candidates to get in one race (just think U.S. Senate race if Kay Bailey steps down).

David wrote almost 5 months ago that Julián Castro, Diane Cibrian and Fernando Reyes were all eyeing the race.  

Speculation was almost proven right.  To date, PR consultant Trish DeBerry, Former Councilman Julian Castro, and Councilwoman Diane Cibrian have all entered the race.

Julian Castro is the favorite in this race.  

Castro first ran in 2005 and lost by about 3,000 votes after being down over 10,000 in Early Vote.  Castro closed the margin, ran a tough campaign, and made a strong case for his vision for the city and his qualification.  

Beyond campaign experience, Castro is the only candidate with a website and the site includes video endorsements from San Antonio State Senator Leticia Van de Putte and Henry Cisneros.   Two high profile endorsements in a low turnout election.

For more information about San Antonio politics and San Antonio races, visit Dig Deeper Texas and check out their fine work or the aptly titled San Antonio Mayor Blog.

While the race for Mayor of San Antonio seems cut and dry, the races in Austin seem to be crowded and confusing.

By statute, city council places 2, 5, 6, and the Mayor's office are all up and voters will have to cast a vote in all of them.  In addition to these , place 1 may be vacated by Lee Leffingwell if he chooses to run for Mayor.  This will create an interesting dynamic since the only two people not running and not on the ballot are newly elected council members Laura Morrison and Randi Shade.

While place 2 and 6 are on the ballot, no serious candidates have emerged to take on either Mike Martinez or Sheryl Cole.

In the place 5 race, Brewster McCracken's current seat, only one candidate has emerged,  former city council member and current UT Professor, Bill Spelman.

Spelman already appears to have a large and diverse coalition of supporters surrounding him.  It is hard to imagine any candidates trying to challenge Spelman and its even harder to imagine Spelman losing.

While places 2, 5, and 6 already seem to have front-runners, place 1 and the race for Mayor are totally up in the air.

The irony to this is, place 1 isn't on the ballot unless Lee Leffingwell decides to vacate it and run for Mayor and unless Lee runs for Mayor, a lot of candidates won't have a place to run.

Let's start with the assumption Lee Leffingwell runs for Mayor (as is suspected), then the place 1 race looks like it will be Chris Riley, Perla Cavazos, Rick Cofer, and Kathy Tovo.  Not quite as easy to manage as the place 5 race, but still interesting.

As of today, only Chris Riley and Rick Cofer have websites.

This race nearly guarantees a runoff.  With four candidates who draw from 4 distinct, unique bases it hard to see how anyone will win this in the first round.  It also means endorsements and supporters will have a massive impact.  Not to mention the always-important fundraising numbers.   Unlike any other race, this one is wide open.

Of course, the campaign for place 1 hinges entirely on who runs for Mayor.

Already in the race is Brewster McCracken.  Carole Strayhorn is "exploring" as is Mike Levy.  That leaves Lee Leffingwell who is being  "drafted" by Austinites but is likely in.

Even in the exploring phase, Strayhorn's past is hurting her.   It's hard to see how Strayhorn wins even with a small, more conservative electorate.  As KT once pointed out, looking at her Governors bid, her base is 21% of the general election vote. This electorate will be closer to 50,000 people and even with a smaller voting population its hard to see how Strayhorn gets to 50% plus 1.

Especially with Mayor Pro Tem McCracken running and former Texas Monthly editor Mike Levy.

While the field is predictably crowded, it is also diverse.  No two candidates appear to have similar backgrounds or messages.  Leffingwell and McCracken get close, but their priorities in the council have differed.  Leffingwell has been an environmental leader and Brewster has focused on women's issues.  It's an over simplification, but shows the contrast in policy priorities.

If Facebook groups and supporter lists are any indication on who the front runners are, this race is between Leffingwell and McCracken.

All in all, the city council races look to be very interesting this year.