In ballot order, mayoral candidates include community organizer Carmen Llanes Pulido, construction manager Jeffery L. Bowen, organizer Doug Greco, incumbent Mayor Kirk Watson, and educator and former City Council member Kathie Tovo.
The winner in the Nov. 5 election will serve a full four years in office; Watson was elected in 2022 for an abbreviated two-year term.
The candidate forum was sponsored by the city, the Ethics Review Commission and the League of Women Voters Austin Area, and is one of a series of panels with council contenders taking place before early voting starts Oct. 21. Elections for City Council districts 2, 4, 6, 7 and 10 are also on the ballot.
Candidates discussed topics like homelessness, local development, policing and climate in addition to the local economy, the impact of I-35's expansion and Austin Water. Recordings of all forums are available on ATXN and YouTube.
Read Community Impact Q&As with Austin's mayoral candidates here.
What they're saying
Llanes Pulido said she's running based on support of community members who want to see Austin grow equitably and sustainably.
“I’ve been very concerned about the lack of transparency over the last two years, and the ways it has threatened some of our most precious resources, our ability to vote on things like our utility, and our ability to have conversations that are not divisive," she said.
Bowen highlighted his career background, and said recent discontent with City Hall and a lack of transparency on things like city spending led to his campaign.
“I have major concerns when it comes to our infrastructure. I have concerns over our budget," he said. "We need to audit our entire budget and see what’s going on within the city so that we know where our money is going.”
Greco said he hopes to tackle Austin's affordability "crisis" by investing in the city's workforce and middle class, while also standing up to conservative state officials and protect residents' rights.
“I’ll work with state leaders, but I won’t work for them," he said. "I would not have stood with the governor to bring DPS into our neighborhoods. We need a mayor who’s going to stand up, not look for fights, but when the fights come to us, ready to take them on.”
As sitting mayor, Watson noted his record this term and said he aims to continue pushing an "affordability first" agenda and improvements to city services.
"When I came into office, one of the things that people were telling me and we knew to be true was that City Hall wasn’t moving fast enough and was way too inefficient," he said. "I think as a general rule right now, people will tell you they think we’ve made significant progress in that regard. We shook up City Hall and made some real difference.”
Tovo pointed to her past experience on the council dais and said her policy ideas are centered on Austin's working families and setting a vision for major city challenges.
“We need a mayor who puts people first, one who is committed to open and transparent government, and really wants to hear from you, both here in City Hall chambers but also out in the community," she said.
Public safety
When discussing safety in Austin, candidates zeroed in on the current debate over the pending labor agreement between the city and the Austin Police Association.
Austin has been out of contract with its police force since last year, and all candidates agreed a new deal is in the city's best interest. However, some questioned the tentative plan's cost and whether it fully honors new voter-approved oversight policies.
Watson noted recent progress on staffing and response times in the city's 911 call center, and said he hopes to adopt a new contract after review of the oversight process played out in the community and in court through recent months. Tovo also said Austin needs a new police contract, but that the proposal on the table has transparency and cost issues.
Bowen said Austin needs more police officers on the streets, and that a new contract offering improved pay would be a major benefit for the city. Greco also said officers must be paid competitively, but that a new deal shouldn't be rushed and uphold transparency measures. And Llanes Pulido said more resident opinions should be heard before adoption, and to avoid creating pro- and anti-police divisions in the community through transparency.
Climate
All candidates said they'd back some investments in city climate initiatives, to varying degrees. Most also said they aim to see the city close or end its involvement in the Fayette coal plant in La Grange—a longtime civic goal with an uncertain outlook.
Bowen said closure this decade is likely unrealistic, especially as Austin Energy doesn't have replacement power generation options online yet. He advocated for different shorter-term strategies like investing in more solar infrastructure at city facilities. Separately, Greco said he'd aim to crack down on energy subsidies for larger utility users like semiconductor and technology companies.
Homelessness
Llanes Pulido said the city should take more input from the unhoused community for major spending decisions, and direct more money toward homelessness prevention and less on activities like camping enforcement.
Bowen said Austin's recent strategy of converting hotels into housing for the homeless hasn't been effective, and that city programs should be further scrutinized as residents are "fed up" with a lack of recent progress.
Greco said the city should center its approach on adding more permanent supportive housing. And Watson pointed to the millions of dollars dedicated to homelessness in the new city budget, the launch of a stand-alone office, and the need for more time to see current initiatives play out.
Tovo criticized the current council's handling of the Marshalling Yard facility, a city warehouse that's been converted into a 300-bed shelter that officials are hoping to maintain indefinitely, and said more comprehensive planning is needed.
Responsible development
Candidates also weighed in on local development and the controversial two-part Housing Options for Middle-income Empowerment, or HOME, initiative approved by City Council. The new policies permit more housing types in neighborhoods, and received significant opposition and support in the community.
Watson pointed to HOME as a major policy achievement of the recent term that responded to Austin's "housing and affordability emergency" by allowing for more supply in town while potentially reducing high home construction costs.
Llanes Pulido criticized HOME for likely encouraging residential demolitions while not creating affordable housing as promoted under the plan. Bowen said the program came with too much misinformation, and that the city should be more transparent on its costs and impacts to the average homeowner.
Greco said Austin's land-use rules do need updating, but that there should be more protections for the working class—and more of a focus on institutional investors entering the housing market. And Tovo said HOME represented irresponsible planning that doesn't address climate concerns or serve residents, especially in gentrifying areas, while benefiting investors.
