Mayor and City Council Elections - May 12th

[Miggy]

I probably should have posted this in advance of last monday's Creative Sector Candidate forum, hosted by the Austin Creative Alliance, but better late than never. Austin Music People did a recap of the Q&A here:
http://austinmusicpeople.org/2012/05/mayoral-city-council-candidate-forum-for-the-creative-sector-recap/

As you're likely aware, four out of seven city council members, including the mayor, are up for election. Early voting goes through Tuesday and election day is this coming Saturday, May 12th. Last year only 7.4% of registered voters turned out which is dismal...but also means that your vote means that much more. Please vote.

The list of candidates on the ballot are below. * indicates incumbents

Mayor
Lee Leffingwell*
Brigid Shea
Clay Dafoe
Watch Mayor candidate videos

Council Member Place 2
Laura Pressley
Mike Martinez*

Council Member Place 5
John F. Duffy
John A. Rubine
R.A. "Bo" Prudente
Audrey "Tina" Cannon
Bill Spelman*
Dominic "Dom" Chavez
David Y. Conley

Council Member Place 6
Sheryl Cole*
Shaun Ireland


Election day voting must take place at your actual precinct. To find out where you are registered to vote, go here:
http://www.traviscountytax.org/showVoterNameSearch.do

I'm not going to do my usual run down of candidates this year for a variety of reasons. Below is just a little basic intro on each. Let me know if you have questions, though.

There is a fact sheet on the candidates here: http://impactnews.com/articles/2012-election-coverage-%7C-april-2012/

And links to video introductory messages from each candidate here:
Mayor:
http://www.austintexas.gov/page/may-12-general-municipal-election-mayor-candidate-videos
Place 2:
http://www.austintexas.gov/page/may-12-general-municipal-election-place-2-candidate-videos
Place 5:
http://www.austintexas.gov/page/may-12-general-municipal-election-place-5-candidate-videos
Place 6:
http://www.austintexas.gov/page/may-12-general-municipal-election-place-6-candidate-videos

[Terry]

*bump*

It takes maaaaybe three minutes to vote.

[Jessica]

Hey,
This is who I'm voting for and why - please join in if you have another opinion or viewpoint!

Mayor - Bridget Shea - She is smart and experienced. I've thought she was great since way back in the SOS days. She's always been about the environment - but it seems that now she is adding to that some important thoughts on keeping the city's economy strong and making sure our educational system works.

Place 2 - Mike Martinez - He seems like a really nice guy. More interested in people than in getting his agenda across.

Place 5 - Bill Spelman - He's been in a good long time and always done a good job. Also he is a professor at the LBJ school. He totally knows his stuff and thinking up creative solutions to difficult problems.

Place 6 - Sheryl Cole - She has also done some really good work and she is super smart. The other guys is nice, but totally new.

Those are my thoughts

[fogelsong]

My vote has the most impact at the local level. You probably shop local already, so why not vote local too?

If you'd like to inform yourself before participating in local elections, I highly recommend the non-partisan League of Women Voters Austin voters guide. They publish Q&As sent to the candidates during every local/county/state election

Current League of Women Voters Austin voters guide:
http://lwvaustin.org/votersguide/2012MayCityVG.pdf

I second Jessica's choices.

Mayor - Bridget Shea
Place 2 - Mike Martinez
Place 5 - Bill Spelman
Place 6 - Sheryl Cole

[Terry]

Consigned on all the above, except I support reelecting Leffingwell.

Not a fan of Shea or her campaign. This city has achieved a lot of accolades and has done really well under Leffingwell. There's a reason we're on a lot of number one lists.

[Jessica]

Yeah, I kinda wish I could vote for both Leffingwell and Shea. He's done well- but he is also pro-developer. I like Shea from way back. Either way I think the city will be fine - I just like Shea and her environmental roots better.

[mpbrockman]

...Leffingwell...He's done well- but he is also pro-developer.

Pick your poison. Urban sprawl or jacked up housing and rental prices.

Actually when I consider two extreme examples of this: Phoenix (with stage five smog alerts, freeways everywhere, and miles and miles of cookie-cutter homes) vs. San Fransisco with it's 99% occupancy rate and ridiculous cost of housing, I find myself leaning towards the latter.

Dunno why. Maybe it's b/c I went to high school in Phoenix and still remember what a nice place it used to be as opposed to the giant, ugly beast it's become. Going back there makes me sad.

Having lived in Austin for some 8-9 years now I'm beginning to see it as Phoenix in it's nascent stages of repugnant. Still very, very cool - but if it continues I can see myself moving on. That, too, would make me sad.

[fogelsong]

Pick your poison. Urban sprawl or jacked up housing and rental prices.

Actually when I consider two extreme examples of this: Phoenix (with stage five smog alerts, freeways everywhere, and miles and miles of cookie-cutter homes) vs. San Fransisco with it's 99% occupancy rate and ridiculous cost of housing, I find myself leaning towards the latter.

In the city, all we can do is build vertical. Leave the cookie-cutter homes to the burbs.

Austin is already moving in the direction of San Francisco. When I was looking for a new apartment in December, I thought I was casting a wide net by setting boundaries of Koenig/2222 to Ben White/71 (North/South) and I-35 to MoPac (East/West) Not so! The rental occupancy rate in that area is 98%. I had to use a precious vacation day to see what few rentals were available and signed a lease based on viewing the maintenance man's apartment. Demand for living IN Austin shows no signs of slowing. I expect my rent to increase annually.

[trabka]

Not so! The rental occupancy rate in that area is 98%. I had to use a precious vacation day to see what few rentals were available and signed a lease based on viewing the maintenance man's apartment. Demand for living IN Austin shows no signs of slowing. I expect my rent to increase annually.

I just signed a lease on an apartment in Hyde Park. They had 2 2BR units come available last Monday, I happened to email them about openings they day they came open and was able to check them out on Tuesday. When I put the application in on Thursday they mentioned the other open unit got an application put on it the day before. Neither had even gone out to realtors to be publicly advertised. I found out about the 98% occupancy in town over the weekend and was amazed at how lucky I was.

[mpbrockman]

Hmmm... south of Ben White (I live near Slaughter & Manchaca) there are "for rent" signs everywhere and we're only 15 minutes from downtown if you use MoPac.

[Terry]

Demand for living IN Austin shows no signs of slowing. I expect my rent to increase annually.

This.

I've lived here since 1993 and have heard the anti/pro growth arguments for a couple of decades now. We're not going to stop growing. The reason I support Leffingwell is b/c he's in favor of smart growth. And his record proves he's doing something right.

Personally, I see Shea as anti-growth, and someone who's in with the old-money neighborhood associations that are adamantly anti-growth. Having this kind of political stance puts any smart growth at risk, and with Tovo and Morrison on the same side, adding Shea to the mix scares the hell out of me.

[Miggy]

Terry, have I told you lately how awesome you are?

[Terry]

@Miggy -- I learned it by watching you!

[Miggy]

Well... roughly 10% of registered voters turned out. Thank you to those that turned out to vote.

All four incumbents were re-elected. Some by closer margins than others, but all are in office for another 2-3 years.