Local Issues

Affordability

Although the City is prevented by state law from addressing fundamental economic issues like tax fairness, the City has a variety of tools to promote affordability that will keep money in the pockets of Austin residents.

  • Austin needs to use every tool at its disposal to help the nurses, teachers, electricians, and other workers who make Austin great actually live in the city itself. 

    I support Austin’s continuing investments in deeply affordable housing, through publicly subsidized projects. I support land use reform that lowers the cost of construction and allows for smaller homes to be built in more parts of the City. I also want Austin to continue to innovate in developing housing solutions, including by using publicly-owned land to build affordable housing and by partnering with local, state, and federal agencies.

  • We can reduce car expenses for working Austin residents by providing accessible, high-quality public transportation. We must work with CapMetro to improve the quality of current services while engaging in advocacy to protect the voter-approved Project Connect, which will greatly expand the availability of bus and light rail transit options.

  • Austin renters often face exorbitant electric bills due to inadequate insulation, low quality appliances, and other issues at multifamily properties. I support Austin Energy’s program to subsidize the “weatherization” of apartment complexes, especially for low-income and middle-income renters, as a way to both conserve energy and reduce utility costs.

Arts, Music & Culture

Arts, music and cultural opportunities are a key part of what makes Austin a wonderful place to live and visit. 

People come here because of the music – they even buy homes because there's a beloved local venue they want to be near to. We need to make sure those venues aren't priced out of existence.

I support robust funding for arts, music, and culture, from both general fund sources and the Hotel Occupancy Tax. And we must find more ways to make living in Austin sustainable for our artists, including by improving the availability of affordable housing and healthcare.

Community Engagement

My office will take a proactive approach to meeting with constituents of all kinds. The needs of renters, shift workers, people with disabilities, and non-English speakers are often left out of major decisions at City Hall.

My goal is to use my Council office as a hub for organizing. I would appoint dedicated staff members to facilitate our work of building broad and diverse coalitions to address the multiple crises facing our City. 

Mobility

  • Project Connect is our city’s essential investment in public transit, which we must protect and extend so that it serves people across the city, not just in the urban core. 


    I will work to ensure the Crestview Station and Airport priority extensions are completed as soon as possible. Crestview Station, right here in District 7, will allow for significant increases in ridership, thus helping the system achieve its ridership goals and facilitate additional funding and expansion.

  • Improving pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure is essential across District 7. As this district transitions from suburban sprawl to increased density, we must reform major arteries like Burnet, Lamar, Braker and Kramer to make them more hospitable to foot traffic and cyclists. 

Reproductive Justice

Until we win back abortion rights in Texas, progressive communities like Austin need to do everything we can to support reproductive choice. I will support existing initiatives to deprioritize any criminal enforcement of “abortion crimes” and to provide support for Austin residents who are forced to travel out of state to access reproductive care.

Austin Energy

  • Owning our own utilities gives the City leverage to invest in renewable energy, take care of utility workers, and adopt a progressive rate structure. We must protect local control and avoid any privatization of Austin Energy infrastructure. 

  • Through our Austin Energy generation plan, the City can ensure its long-term generation and transmission needs while also staying true to local values of environmental sustainability. I support efforts to maximize investments in renewable energy and battery storage while winding down the Fayette Coal Plant and avoiding construction of any new fossil fuel power plants.

Homelessness

  • I support continuing Austin’s substantial investments in housing solutions for people experiencing homelessness, including permanent supportive housing, rapid rehousing, and temporary shelters as a last resort. I will advocate for programs including mental health support, treatment for substance abuse, rental assistance, and other programs that will help people regain access to housing or avoid losing housing  in the first place.  

  • It is crucial to acknowledge that the magnitude and urgency of the housing crisis is beyond the scope of the City’s resources. Austin is not alone among major American cities that are experiencing major challenges impacting affordability and homelessness. I will work to join Austin’s civic leaders with those of other major American cities to lobby Congress for a major federal investment in housing for all.

Public Safety

From talking with hundreds of D7 residents, I've heard three messages about public safety:

1) We want officers to come when we call. 

2) We want officers to respect civil rights.

3) We need to think about all the aspects of public safety, which includes public health, housing, social services — and make sure we're investing in all of those programs.

  • I will prioritize improving response times when Austin residents call 911. For calls for police services, we must reform the way officers are assigned calls to ensure that Austin residents receive a prompt response. We must also separate out calls for mental health support and other services that do not require police response.

  • I co-authored the Austin Police Oversight Act, which was overwhelmingly approved by voters in 2023. As a civil rights lawyer, I represent Equity Action, which authored the APOA, to ensure the City fully implements its goals for transparency, oversight, and accountability.  

  • Public safety is inclusive of our safety net of social services that help Austin residents live safe and healthy lives. We can reduce unnecessary deaths by improving roadways and bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure. We can reduce crime and public disorder by providing shelter and emergency interventions to prevent homelessness. We can improve access to public health and mental health programs via Central Health and Integral Care. We can make our communities safer, and more climate resilient, by increasing our tree canopy. I will support a broad array of programs to help keep our communities safe.

Water

Central Texas is facing an unprecedented water crisis that our City must address in a serious and systematic fashion. I support full implementation of Water Forward, our City’s strategic 100 year plan that includes detailed strategies for water conservation, water storage, and increasing our water supply. As part of our planning, our City should take advantage of our water rights at Fayette Coal Plant, which uses 5 billion gallons of water annually and could help our City to meet its long-term water needs.