Council should allow for a greater mix of housing supply to be built in more parts of town. The Land Development Code needs to be cleaned up, clear the backlog of site plan and permit applications, allow for greater density along corridors through alleviating compatibility restrictions or through zoning changes. I've been a consistent pro-housing vote on the dais. For people who already own their homes, increasing homestead exemptions can help take the pressure off of the increase in housing valuations from TCAD.

Austin is still a safe city, but the state Legislature's actions to make guns more accessible in Texas is doing real harm to families both inside and outside of Austin. I've been a leader in safe storage education campaign programming and distributing free gun locks. And while our EMS and police departments continue to recruit new talent, we must look at our facility needs for more training space to be able to fully staff our departments.

Balancing competing timelines and space for projects. Each has their own funding source and oversight, but if the different entities are not speaking to each other there will be conflicts. I sit on the tri-party board for Project Connect and the nominating committee for ATP Board appointments, chair the Mobility Committee and serve on the CAMPO TPB. I have established relationships with the decision makers and project planners of all of these projects and want to see these projects succeed in providing the congestion relief and increased safety they were designed for.

I've advocated for Homeland Security and Emergency Management to connect better with elected officials and their constituents. We know our resources and needs better than anyone else and have been able to quickly deploy assistance in times of crisis. While many families are better prepared now to handle the first 72 hours of emergency response, the strategies the city departments use need to be shared with the general public. I stepped up for my constituents during the winter storm and was in each neighborhood until they had water service restored, including apartments, which were offline for weeks. The city departments need to deploy quicker and communicate better in times of crisis.

I'd look at ways to incorporate public comments in a way that we are not taking votes late into the night. We have to be able to listen to residents with undivided attention and find ways to work through our amendments more efficiently. We can restructure how we use our work session time, hear staff briefings, and work on amendments prior to the council meeting itself so that residents know what work is left to be done on the council meeting day.

Affordability begins at City Hall. I would cut property taxes, fees and bureaucratic delays. I would also modify property taxes for first-time homebuyers with a tiered approach that reaches full tax payment at the third year of ownership. Similarly, I would reduce property taxes on the elderly with a tiered reduction in taxes after age 75. The term “affordability” begs the question “affordable for what individuals?” Affordable at a small percentage (20%) below market rate may well be too expensive for most Austin residents. The focus should be on affordable for those making $60,000 or less per year.

Austin is more dangerous than ever, with record homicides and traffic fatalities (due to lack of speed enforcement). Funding, staffing and operational changes are needed in all public safety departments. At least EMS, 911, and APD are dangerously understaffed. The cause of this varies between departments. 911 and APD clearly have morale issues due to council actions. In all cases, City Council must make public safety a priority in funding, staffing, and morale.

Larger transportation initiatives: The I-35 expansion is driven primarily by TxDOT, but council should work with the state to get the best out of the initiative. For example, the “cap and stitch” design is promising. Project Connect must be reconsidered given the now bloated cost. More flexible, less expensive and more user-friendly alternatives are available. Safety improvements I would propose include speed limit enforcement. Mobility improvements I would propose include making bus service reliable, clean and easy to navigate.

As confirmed in a follow-up report, the city of Austin (COA) was unprepared for Winter Storm Uri and failed to adequately communicate to residents in the midst of the storm. As to Uri and other recent weather disasters, I rate COA with a D. The COA COVID[-19] response was mixed. I believe the COA attempt to enact guidelines and regulations over and above the state guidelines and regulations was unnecessary and confusing. COVID is not an Austin-specific health issue. The COA effort to move homeless into shelters during COVID was a good idea, except that those protective shelters will be necessary for the safety, security and support of first responders. As for changes to Austin’s emergency management operations, I recommend: A secondary emergency operations facility should be provided in addition to the CTECC operations center. Redundant energy systems should be provided at the airport. The loss of power for 4.5 to 5 hours at the airport was a self-inflicted disaster that could have easily metastasized into a deadly incident involving multiple individuals.

I support the Austin Neighborhoods Council (ANC) resolution on Good Governance, as follows: 1. Conduct public hearings as required by the city code in § 25-1-151 - Conduct of Public Hearings and require the mayor and council, board and commission members to adopt and abide by Robert's Rules of Order; 2. Require meetings to be run in a fair and neutral manner, and challenges to the chair's rulings to be resolved by a parliamentarian; 3. Require all proposed ordinances for which there is substantial public interest to be heard at a publicly convenient time in order to to maximize public participation; 4. Require equal and fair allocation of time among speakers before council, commissions and boards; 5. Require all substantive proposed ordinances and amendments to be in writing and released sufficiently in advance of council hearings to allow public input; 6. Require council members and participating staff to recuse themselves when close personal friends have major items on the agenda, even if they do not have a financial conflict of interest; 7. Require penalties for violations of ethics and conflicts of interest laws; 8. Update and close loopholes in the city's conflicts of interest laws; 9. Require blind trusts for wealthy council members; and 10. Establish an Independent Ethics Commission and Inspector General with real power to fairly enforce the city's ethics and campaign finance laws.

The questionnaire was not returned by the deadline.

The questionnaire was not returned by the deadline.