Following his entry into the District 8 Austin City Council race this week, vice chair of the Austin Parks and Recreation Board Richard DePalma said he wants to lead on environmental issues and enhancing transportation options for Southwest Austin residents. An 11-year resident of Southwest Austin and fifth-generation Texan, DePalma enters a race crowded with candidates vying for incumbent Council Member Ellen Troxclair’s four-year seat on Austin City Council. Besides Troxclair, DePalma will face Bobby Levinski, a Save Our Springs Alliance attorney and former city council staffer; Page Ellis, marketing and public involvement specialist at environmental consulting firm ACI Consulting; and Shane Sexton, a Concordia University police officer. DePalma told Community Impact Newspaper that when it came to city spending on resources, District 8 was seen as “good enough,” however he pointed that there are no recreation or senior centers, and two pools in the district that stretches roughly 12 miles south down the Mopac Expressway from the Colorado River. “[We need to elevate] that voice that we count, that we matter, that we pay taxes, that we need resources,” DePalma said. According to a press release sent out by his campaign, DePalma has nearly 20 years of experience working with government entities on issues such as energy conservation and water resource management. Along with his work as vice chair of the city’s parks and recreation board, DePalma is board president of TreeFolks, former vice president of Oak Hill Association of Neighborhoods and the co-founder of Friends of Dick Nichols Park. DePalma said he is an environmental candidate, but hopes all of his opponents are environmental candidates. DePalma said District 8’s most pressing need is transportation and a diversity of transportation options. He said his campaign will focus on understanding the specific transportation needs of the district and how best to prioritize them on the path toward solutions. My view is straightforward,” DePalma said in a press release. “Work with council, not against them, to improve what makes Southwest Austin special. It really is solutions over politics.”