Election Q&A: Austin City Council District 5 candidates

How safe do you believe Austin is today? Do you think any funding, staffing or operational changes are needed in the city’s public safety departments?

Austin is a safe city for many, but should be safe for everyone. Everyone should feel comfortable walking around their neighborhood, enjoying an evening out around town, and interacting with law enforcement. This can be a reality if we move past the old way of thinking and instead approach public safety holistically. Council needs to establish what responsibilities are the most appropriate for our public safety departments and ensure adequate resources are provided for that response to be effective. There are numerous situations that not only do not require police responses, but would actually result in better outcomes for the public if other professionals are utilized. For instance, we know mental health emergencies are best suited for an entity like EMS, yet many of these calls still end up with APD. Similarly, victims of sexual assault can be retraumatized when interacting with law enforcement and would be better served by another agency. We can design a comprehensive public safety system that makes Austin safer and more prosperous if we are willing. Everyone should feel free to enjoy all that Austin has to offer, and that’s what I intend to do.

How do you believe city resources should be used to address homelessness? What do you see as the most effective policy options to get people services and housing?

We have not done enough to help our unhoused neighbors. We need a more robust effort that addresses this challenge at the scale that is needed. At the heart of this issue are human beings who deserve to have a bed to sleep in, a roof over their head, and a place to call home. The city does have a big plan to create thousands of units for the unhoused, with a large portion of those being critical permanent supportive housing. I would like to see us execute this plan on time or early and remember that this plan does not solve the problem. We have to make sustained investments in permanent housing beyond Finding Home ATX, and I would advocate for such in our future budgets. We should also establish regional stabilization hubs that provide a safe space to live and receive necessary services like physical and mental health, transportation, sanitation, and case working, which will then serve as the bridge to the housing we have in the pipeline.

What challenges or needs related to the overall city budget and property tax rate do you anticipate facing during your term? What fiscal strategies would you bring to the table to address those?

A budget is a moral document and reflects our values as a city. When crafting our budget, we must first provide the necessary resources to ensure we are excelling at providing our core services. It is equally important to include proper accountability metrics that ensure the money we are spending is money well spent. It is then essential that we invest in programs that invest in our people, from public health, to clean outdoor spaces, to enriching our cultural diversity. This must all be done while remembering that we are in an affordability crisis. It is our duty to remember that it is real people and small businesses that pay for these programs, and we should do all that we can to provide robust effective services while keeping the overall tax bill for our people as low as possible so they can continue to enjoy the many things they helped pay to create.

What aspects of the city’s land development code, if any, would you propose to review? How do you believe council should handle Austin’s ongoing growth and its existing neighborhoods, from individual zoning cases to broader policy updates?

The biggest thing we can do to make Austin more affordable is update the Land Development Code to allow for housing opportunities for everyone everywhere. Our code is older than I am and dictates building large expensive homes that few can afford. Austin is a different city than it was 40 years ago, and it is time we updated our code to ask not what Austin used to be, but rather what do we want Austin to be decades from now. This should be paired with immediate action that will create the diversity of housing we need throughout Austin. My Housing Now plan contains a series of policies that would do this. A major component of this plan is Opportunity Unlocked, which will create more housing at levels that are affordable for a majority of Austinites. This will not only create more opportunities for everyday residents, but it will also lessen the pressure on low-income housing. Currently, many people looking for middle-income housing simply cannot find it, because it doesn’t exist. This forces them to overbid on homes that are less expensive and price out those who can only afford these less-expensive options. This persists down the income ladder and eventually squeezes out those at the bottom. By creating more missing middle housing, as my Housing Now plan does, we can take that pressure off the lower- priced homes and finally create housing for everyone everywhere.

How should council address the implementation of larger transportation initiatives including the I-35 expansion and Project Connect? What safety and mobility improvements would you propose for city roadways and bike/pedestrian routes?

We have failed to keep up with our transportation infrastructure for too long and it shows. Imagine enjoying your commute and not worrying about sitting in traffic. This is possible if we prioritize policies that create options for people to get around the city in an efficient manner, using a multitude of transportation options. This starts with Project Connect and delivering the promise we made to the voters. Austinites asked for a robust transportation system and we must deliver it. This means not getting bogged down in the usual fights or failing to coordinate with the other agencies involved. It also means fulfilling our promise to protect our residents at risk of displacement through a revolutionary fund dedicated to this purpose. Another large investment we are going to be making in transportation is along I-35. If we are going to invest billions of dollars into I-35, the end product has to be something that makes us better off than we are today and that advances our values. We must push for real solutions that support our investments in multimodal transportation; lower emissions for our region; and undo the nearly 100 years of racism that this road has literally cemented into our community. But we must also remember that transportation issues don’t exist in a vacuum. If we make housing available for everyone everywhere, we will allow more people to live near their place of work/study. This will ease the stress on our already congested roadways by making walking/biking a real option or simply replacing the need to drive across town with a short trip. Through smart transportation investments and robust housing policies that support them, we can connect all our residents and finally end the headaches of traveling around Austin.

How safe do you believe Austin is today? Do you think any funding, staffing or operational changes are needed in the city’s public safety departments?

Austin is no longer a safe city! Crime statistics are increasing in every category. There needs to be better funding for training, equipping, and retaining the highest quality police force. I did something called a “ride-along” with the Austin Police Department several weeks ago. This is an experience I think every citizen should have. The first thing the officer did when we got into his car was to bring up the computer and see what emergencies were pending. He commented, “there are currently 20 callers on hold at 911 for five minutes or longer.” We clearly need more 911 personnel. I asked about sector police coverage. In one neighboring sector there were supposed to be eight police cars on the road, there was one! In the sector we were working there was only one third the number of the police cars on the road than called for. We need more police officers! These men and women work non-stop during their shift. We rolled from one incident to another, traffic accidents, speeders, highway breakdowns, breaking and entering, and felony theft were all part of my one-night experience. Our police are under manned, underfunded, BUT unafraid. They serve with pride and professionalism. These men and women in blue deserve our support AND appreciation.

How do you believe city resources should be used to address homelessness? What do you see as the most effective policy options to get people services and housing?

How safe do you believe Austin is today? Do you think any funding, staffing or operational changes are needed in the city’s public safety departments?

Changes I will continue to champion: Fund more district representatives—the officers who help neighborhoods with specific safety and crime issues; fill police vacancies: improve cadet curriculum, increase the number of cadet academies; build trust and accountability by supporting the Officer of Police Oversight; maintain four person staffing and operational control for firefighters; with EMS, continue to champion AustinCAREs, which placed mental health professionals in the 911 Call Center to respond to mental health crises.

How do you believe city resources should be used to address homelessness? What do you see as the most effective policy options to get people services and housing?

I will accelerate immediate shelter and permanent housing for unhoused people. As council senior policy advisor, I launched Housing-focused Encampment Assistance Link and helped The Other Ones Foundation expedite permitting for utilities at the Esperanza Community. City resources should be used to facilitate work by our partner agencies that prepares people for, and matches them to housing and matches them to the appropriate permanent housing. The most effective options provide support services for the transition to permanent housing.

What challenges or needs related to the overall city budget and property tax rate do you anticipate facing during your term? What fiscal strategies would you bring to the table to address those?

How safe do you believe Austin is today? Do you think any funding, staffing or operational changes are needed in the city’s public safety departments?

There is opportunity for improvement. As Austin grows and changes, so must our public safety services to better provide for residents. So far in 2022, crimes against property and crimes against persons are both down relative to 2021, according to the latest crime report. That being said, we can always strive to be a safer city. We need to expand our efforts to recruit and retain diverse and culturally competent public safety staff, ensure that people are paid their worth and also hold leadership accountable. We must also alter certain procedures to encourage protection, de-escalation and community service over strict policing. We need to acknowledge that EMS provides healthcare as a core component of their services and fund appropriately. Continuing education on implicit bias is also key to safer communities. To achieve more quality public safety services we must have greater transparency, accountability and community partnership.

How do you believe city resources should be used to address homelessness? What do you see as the most effective policy options to get people services and housing?

I am a proponent of the Housing First model. It is critical that people experiencing homelessness are able to have permanent housing along with support services. More housing is the solution to the unhoused. How would we get more housing? Through establishment of win/win partnerships with local businesses which has been shown to work. We would also need to partner with proven nonprofits. To make lasting change, we must increase the pace of units for the unhoused and vulnerable and prioritize supportive services along with housing. We should better support and coordinate organizations providing services to those experiencing homelessness and, importantly, work to intervene sooner for those who are housing insecure, so they do not go from homes to the streets. Due to an unforeseen circumstance someone can quickly find themselves on the verge of homelessness. For a person working paycheck to paycheck, damage to their car that they can’t afford to repair can prevent them from getting to work or performing their job if it involves driving. There are many examples of sudden hardships that can upend a person’s already tight budget. We need Emergency Aid. We do have community organizations that have aid, but often it is for current clients and waiting lists are long so those groups do not necessarily help someone in an emergency. The average costs for housing and transportation in Austin make up approximately 47% of household income and as a city we need to scale our resources to include more for homelessness prevention. Although homelessness is a city-wide issue, it is a topic that comes up frequently in D5 due to the camps in our area parks and preserves. What is unique for District 5 is that Sunrise Navigation Center, a nonprofit that serves thousands of people experiencing homelessness each month is in South Austin and they offer a few resources currently not available elsewhere in Austin. They are the only operation where the unhoused can store medication and they also have Texas’ first free Narcan vending machine. They are addressing homelessness in innovative ways, such as through their hotline that will fully launch in October. Austin can strategically replicate some of the things they are doing to relieve pressures from that facility. When I speak to community members they want to be able to do something and now they can submit an Outreach Request Form to a mobile team when they see someone who is experiencing homelessness and may need additional care and support. We need to better communicate these opportunities to the public.

How safe do you believe Austin is today? Do you think any funding, staffing or operational changes are needed in the city’s public safety departments?

While door-knocking throughout the district, I’ve learned that many residents are feeling increasingly unsafe. I believe that we have generally become too hostile towards the police force instead of only maligning individual bad actors. If we, as a city, can’t curb our hostility towards the police force, we won’t be able to attract strong and ethical candidates to apply for training. Moreover, I believe we should work on decriminalizing nonviolent offenses. It spreads the police force too thin and decreases public trust.

How do you believe city resources should be used to address homelessness? What do you see as the most effective policy options to get people services and housing?

Allowing street camping increases violence and deprives cities of a valuable tool to encourage homeless people to engage with treatment. We must institute pay-for-performance contracts, reform mental health admission criteria, and provide affordable shelter and service alternatives. This will improve communities, and help the homeless get back on their feet. Housing First has failed everywhere it has been tried and we must avoid going down that route. For instance, since 2011, San Francisco has built more than enough "permanent housing" for every single chronically homeless individual in the city. Yet instead of “ending homelessness,” as promised, homelessness increased substantially and the city has become an international byword for the homelessness crisis.

The questionnaire was not returned by the deadline.