Eight candidates vie for Austin's most powerful YIMBYs and NIMBYs of District 9.
Zo Qadri, Joah Spearman, Linda Guerrero, Ben Leffler; Greg Smith, Zena Mitchell, Tom Wald, Kym Olson
On housing, five candidates in the D9 contest to replace retiring Council Member Kathie Tovo – very much a preservationist – could be reasonably described as urbanists and two could be described as neighborhood preservationists . The urbanists would like builders to produce housing more rapidly in more parts of the city – both market-rate and income-restricted.
João Paulo Connolly, organizing director at AJC, started a petition drive to rally public support for the rezoning. Eight current CMs signed ; mayoral candidates Celia Israel and Kirk Watson signed; U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett signed. Spearman, Wald, Leffler, and Qadri also signed; more than that, Connolly says, they each showed passionate zeal in support of Cady Lofts, offering support from their Council campaigns to help get the rezoning approved.
It's understandable that neighbors facing a proposal like Cady Lofts might want to fight to preserve what they like about their neighborhood, and it's true that Cady Lofts may bring a different character to its area – although, again, not that different, since there are plenty of apartment buildings within walking distance of the site, most of whose residents likely don't participate in the affairs of HNA.
"Half of the job of Council is to be a board member," Spearman said, referring to its oversight of Austin Energy, Austin Water, and the Austin Housing Finance Corporation, among other bodies."That extends to the city manager. I have extensive board experience that would be of great value to D9 because it would allow me to bring more transparency and better function from the city manager role.
"As a council member, when you pass a resolution, you kind of have to bird-dog it and follow up with staff to make sure progress is being made on your proposal," Wald said."When you encounter staff, you need to have the tools to connect them with community leaders to solve problems, and I would be ready to do that on day one."
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