We have to work as one city and one district if we are going to tackle any of our major issues like housing, transit, housing our unhoused neighbors, and being better stewards of our environment. District 3 needs bold and inclusive leadership that creates space for new Austin but has the lived experience and community relationships to bring old Austin to the table. I have the lived experience and proven track record as a coalition builder to bring my district together and can speak with authority, intelligence, and trust in the community about the disparities of this city.

We need to be able to build all types of housing in every part of the city. My family has been in Austin for four generations, so I know we can no longer continue to operate as a sleepy college town. We are now a major metropolitan area. We need to build broader and inclusive coalitions around housing and make it a city lift. Affordable housing can no longer be shouldered by three districts alone. I’d work hard with stakeholders and community advocates to rectify that.

We need to work to eliminate redundancy, fund policy that is working and revisit initiatives that aren’t. Having a state-imposed 3.5% property tax cap will make it difficult to navigate and provide essential services. At the same time, we can’t fall for tricks in the Republican playbook—increased sales taxes hurt districts like mine the most. Working people can’t afford to shoulder the weight of tax increases that should be levied in a more equitable way. We always need to be able to articulate a clear and substantial public benefit in return for tax dollars spent.

We need as much community engagement as possible. I'm inspired by what I’m seeing from the city as far as engagement around Our Future 35 and look forward to building on that level of engagement. There are a number of safety and mobility improvements that I would support, and those include: more paved shoulders, separation buffers, better shared lane markings, bike boxes, raised pedestrian crossings and median refuge islands.

It is clear to everyone that the city of Austin’s response during major disasters is lacking in a number of ways. We are a major national metro area, and every resident of Austin deserves thoughtful, carefully coordinated emergency response that acts quickly, whether in a crisis of public safety or natural disaster, or when something as simple as our water processing plants malfunction. Our city also needs to be prepared when state emergency response is also lacking—we saw during the beginning of the pandemic that state leadership can’t be trusted to care for the health and safety of Texans. The city must be ready to step up as state leaders fail to take swift action.

I am running for office because I am passionate about equity, justice and a city that can maintain long-term sustainability. I have a calling to serve and am deeply concerned about the future of our city and the direction we are headed if housing, health and environmental equity are not taken more seriously. It is time our elected officials not only have the academic and professional background necessary to do the job well, but the lived experience required to approach social, political and economic issues with nuance and empathy. I am prepared to be the next City Council member to represent District 3 by being equipped with a master's degree, which allows me to comprehend the policies that would be crossing my desk; experience working with government on a state, federal and international level; a history of organizing, activism and advocacy in Austin surrounding food insecurity, gerrymandering, homelessness and restorative justice; and the lived experience that comes with being a first-generation millennial queer woman who is working class and a renter.

When I am a council member, I will work to ensure that middle-class Austinites are not forgotten in policy initiatives and can have access to affordable apartments and homes in the communities they serve. By building in a more equitable and dense fashion, particularly in transit corridors, we can drive costs down. Specifically, I support programs such as the “Affordability Unlocked” Development Bonus Program that waives or modifies some restrictions in exchange for not only providing low-income housing, but moderate-income housing as well. Furthermore, we need to upzone West Austin, ease compatibility restrictions across the city, zone change more commercial parcels to MU, ease unreasonable compatibility restrictions, remove parking minimums and allow building of small homes on tiny lots. I’ll be sponsoring and supporting changes making it easier to build more housing across the city. By looking at areas that have not felt as much development pressure, we can determine how they can help reduce some of the pressure felt by areas along the Eastern Crescent. This can be done by putting into action the dozens of studies conducted relating to our city-owned assets and their viability for housing development, especially of the “missing middle” type, i.e. duplexes, fourplexes and multifamily housing under 12 units.

Some challenges I anticipate the council facing during my term in office involve reducing the vacancy rate for civilian staff, ensuring that money allocated toward preventing displacement and homelessness are used with compassion and long-term thinking, having to use city dollars to protect Austin residents from policy shortcomings at the state and federal levels, and ensuring communities are well-resourced to withstand climate, economic and public health disasters. One of the biggest challenges faced by Austinites is rising property taxes. There are a few approaches to address this issue: increasing the supply of both market-rate and subsidized housing across the city, cracking down on property owners who have filed for a homestead exemption but use the property for short-term rentals and finding ways to better assist homeowners to navigate existing tax exemption opportunities. Different fiscal strategies that can be used to address these challenges, and needs can range from hiring staff who solely work toward finding systematic redundancies or expensive bureaucratic processes that can be made more efficient; ensuring that ordinances, propositions and budget items are founded in data; using lateral benchmarking, not only across U.S. cities but also international ones, to drive innovation and performance; and further engaging nonprofit partners to ensure they are supported and well-resourced in the work they do.

I fully support Project Connect. We are decades behind on where we should be when it comes to our public transit system. The number of working-class people who can afford to live in Austin is shrinking rapidly, and this is having a huge impact on the economy. Businesses are struggling to hire people because more and more folks moving here from other cities or states are high-wage earners that can afford to pay the higher rents, and investors are gobbling up affordable homes and properties in order to build luxury housing. Without an adequate transit system, people can’t afford to commute one to two hours into town, assuming they even have a car. Small businesses are being acutely impacted by this since they operate on smaller margins and can’t afford to either be understaffed nor pay employees the wages necessary to afford living in Austin. Building a robust, reliable and efficient transit system is of absolute priority, and we must move forward with Project Connect before costs go even higher. The improvement priorities I consider most important in Austin are improving public transit, decreasing car dependency and maintaining roads and sidewalks. When it comes to public transit, Project Connect is the largest public transit venture that Austinites will be involved with. Ensuring that the yearslong project is developed in a sustainable and equitable way will be my top priority for the transit system. Additionally, I will work to ensure that the $300 million anti-displacement funds are spent in a way that aligns with community input. Another huge concern for many Austinites is the redevelopment of I-35. Very few residents want an expansion of the highway, and it is imperative that TxDOT take community needs into consideration. I have signed the ReThink 35 pledge to support a comprehensive study of community alternatives, such as rerouting nonlocal traffic around Austin and turning I-35 into a boulevard or burying I-35 and capping the highway so that it can be used for community amenities such as greenspace and safe bike paths. As we move towards a more dense, wakable, and transit-friendly city, we can consider creative ideas that reduce car dependency, such as car-free streets and the equitable expansion of the COA e-bike program.

I recall being without power during Winter Storm Uri, and it’s not something I’d care to repeat. I spent 12 days straight working 14-16 hours per day with other nonprofits and community leaders to ensure the safety and health of our city’s residents. I will not let such a disorganized disaster response affect Austinites again. I would follow the recommendations set out in the city of Austin and Travis County Winter Storm Uri After-Action Report & Improvement Plan Technical Report. The improvement plan framework is designed to address the shortcomings of both the city and county during the last winter storm. The recommendations align with the city of Austin Strategic Direction 2023 and the Strategic Vision and Goals of Travis County and are designed to bolster our disaster response. During Uri, I noticed that there was a lack of communication between the hundreds of good samaritan volunteers and the Emergency Operations Center. There was also no way to get information to citizens due to so many homes being without power and cell service. I will propose a direct line to the EOC from primary staging locations throughout the city. Examples would be Austin Fire Fighters Association building, Workers Defense building, Dove Springs Rec Center, and/or the Montopolis Rec and Community Center. I’d also advocate for several disaster and inclement weather equipped mobile units with PAs who could literally drive through neighborhoods without power or cell service providing community updates.

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My experiences teaching in District 3, raising my family in District 3, and serving on boards and commissions make me the best candidate to represent District 3 in the Austin City Council. As candidates, we talk about our workers and their families and how they are struggling to live in the city. I see those struggles every day as a teacher and just living in my community. I have knocked on over 6,000 doors and spoken with hundreds of voters and have heard time and time again how our workers, those who make our city function, and their families are struggling to live in Austin. We need a pro-worker, pro-family and pro-community voice in City Hall, and I am that candidate. I have authored, co-authored and passed resolutions and recommendations on affordability, equity and the city budget for our current City Council to consider. I have fought to preserve our affordable housing, our historic properties and our green spaces. My unique experience and perspective makes me a qualified candidate to represent District 3 in the Austin City Council.

We are building a lot of housing in Austin, especially in District 3. The problem is who gets to live in this housing. HousingWorks data shows that we are falling way behind in building housing for those families that earn less than 50% of the area MFI, especially for those that make below 30% MFI. We need to invest our housing money in building deeply affordable housing with multiple bedrooms for families on publicly owned land. We also need to look at other options, like helping people stay in their homes by offering tax relief and home repair funds. Housing repair funds should be used to offer quality repairs, including weatherization and other upgrades that make homes energy efficient. Building on publicly owned land will allow us to build deeply affordable housing since the cost of land will not be a factor. It will also allow us to build affordable housing throughout the city, which is another goal that we are not meeting. Finally, the City Council needs to demand that developers include affordable units in their developments in exchange for land entitlements. Community groups have demanded affordable units from developers, but that never comes to fruition because the current City Council does not support our communities.

The biggest fiscal challenge that I anticipate is the allocation of funds. We speak about equity and justice but the budget is the real indicator. As a commissioner on the Austin Community Development Commission, I have worked with other commissioners to make budget recommendations that address the issues of housing, health, food insecurity among others, and we worked to make sure that the budget demonstrates equity.

These major projects must be implemented with community in mind. Who lives in the area and who will be most impacted? Of course the answer is those working class families that have historically been marginalized in our city. The I-35 expansion, for example, will greatly affect our East Austin communities and those who drive on I-35 to get around. We need to oppose the expansion of I-35, but also make sure that our working families are able to stay and live near their work and schools so that they can drive less. We also need to reroute those drivers just passing through. If we can help working families drive less and reroute traffic, we will need to expand I-35. Project Connect is huge because it is not just a transportation project but a land use and real estate project. The question is, who will benefit? Working families are already being displaced along East Riverside Drive and South Congress Avenue because speculators are buying up the land in anticipation. We need to make sure that our working families are able to stay in their communities near the Project Connect lines and make sure that any development around these lines includes family friendly housing. Again, when our working families are able to live near the Project Connect lines, they will drive less and we will decrease traffic around the city. Even those that do not live near I-35 of the Project Connect lines need alternative ways to get around their communities and the city. We need to reduce the amount of car trips that are less than a mile. Many parts of our city lack proper sidewalks, pedestrian pathways, pedestrian crossings and other improvements that can help us get around without using our cars. We need to look at why people are driving less than a mile to drop off their kids at school, to get a snack at the corner store, or to the local community center.

We need a community approach to emergency preparedness. During the height of the COVID pandemic and during Winter Storm Uri, our communities did not know where to find resources or information. I partnered with our Parent Support Specialist to make sure that our families had the information and resources they needed. We organized a food and water drive, without Resilience hubs are a great start and a great idea, but we need to take a community-centered approach. Many residents, including those that need assistance the most, are not even aware of the resilience hubs project nor the community meeting being held.

I grew up in Austin when it had a reputation of being a safe and affordable city. I will shake up City Hall receiving constituent input as well as pursuing accountability and transparency while homing in on how public services can be highly efficient with limited regulations and fees.

I will diligently pursue and correct the undue barriers and governmental regulations, fees and mandates set by local government leaders as I hear from residents, neighborhood and community groups and acting on solutions that are less reliant on government dependence and oversight.

There is a lack of trust and oversight with regards to transparency and accountability of tax dollars. I will aggressively promote a citywide independent third-party audit of how the city has been incessantly spending and wasting money. We will remove wasteful spending initiatives and end the “must spend it or lose it” mentality.

Project Connect is a failure, and we need to go back to the drawing board to bring an effective solution to building an effective public transportation system. Multiple solutions including limited-evasive widening of I-35 must be resolved. Roadway improvements need to be examined, including widening streets and improving sidewalks for safety to alleviate the traffic congestion. We must correct the traffic nightmares at the South Austin Hospital through its expansion.

The leadership in Austin has failed in its response to recent disasters. Emergency management operations needs to ensure communication to residents and visitors is prioritized as well as its response. Proactive policies, improvements and maintenance are needed to the infrastructure so it can withstand within reason the various disasters Austin endures.

I have an associate in engineering and am a former USAF veteran. I have held job positions in HVAC, landscaping, videography, photography, sales and administration. My age, knowledge and diverse life experience give me a strong voice to get things done.

To reduce taxes, I suggest that Austinites that have lived at their property for at least five to 10 years will pay tax rates of five-plus years prior depending on first- or second-generation status. Second, the current City Council is charging homebuilders $41,000 of permit fees per home. I will cut most of the red tape that [is] causing the unaffordability.

I would start with auditing all the city officials and the past accounts. If they are still voicing that they do not have money for an audit, I will create a Go Fund Me account to raise money to audit all the officials. And upon that, we can reduce property taxes and properly allocate the budget for the departments and the wages of the city workers.

I would like to analyze the current plan for the I-35 expansion and Project Connect to see if the current plan could reduce traffic for the next 20 years. I will make my decision afterward. I would like to expand the walkway along the Lady Bird Lake along the river past District 3 toward the airport.

Austin has a great response time for severe weather. I would not propose any new measures for the time being.