Who’ll make upAustin’s new City Council? Why not you?
There is a historic opportunity awaiting the citizens of Austin who choose to take on the challenge. The question we ask is, “Why not you?”
This fall, the Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission finalized the new singlemember City Council district map, to move us from a city with seven council members elected at large to a city with 10 council districts and one at-large representative to serve as mayor. The concept received monumental public support in the fall of 2012, and now we are just weeks away from the opening of the candidate filing season.
The election isn’t until November, but the campaigns already have begun.
As the leaders of the commission, we have met with various interest groups about the redistricting process we went through, and during these discussions, we always get asked the same question: “Who do you think will run in the various districts?” Our response is always, “Why not you?”
Nowwe want to take the opportunity to ask everyone that same question.
There are more than 800,000 residents of our wonderful city, and the diverse interests that they hold are amazing. If only 1 percent of the population considered being a candidate, we would have about 800 candidates. The current numbers don’t reflect anything near this figure – so we ask again, “Why not you?”
Based on the pub- lic testimony we received, there are a lot of concerns about traffic, housing, crime, parks, zoning, schools, and even deer populations.
Additionally, concerns about how city government should be run and what the priorities should be were voiced.
Now is the perfect time to let your voice be heard. We hear over and over from folks, “I don’t want to do it this time around,” or “I’ll give it a shot next time,” or “There are going to be too many people wanting to run.”
To which we reply, “There has never been a chance like this in Austin and may never be again, so why not join the inaugural single-member council? “
Only one of the ten districts has incumbents this time around — so “why not you?”
A grass-roots approach is what will be needed to reach the relatively concentrated 80,000 residents who reside within each district. A candidate can take full advantage of small population pock- ets such as neighborhood associations, communities of interest and businesses, which allow one to explain their viewpoints and philosophy in a more intimate setting. This is the type of outreach that will immediately let you know if your concerns and issues resonate with your neighbors. You can find out your standing in the community and see if there might be traction with the district’s voters. If so, you have a campaign. Expressing interest now only has the cost in time and energy of meeting one’s neighbors.
Get out there and become a part of Austin’s history! We strongly encourage you to seriously consider becoming a candidate. Everyone has an excuse not to, so put aside the excuses and take up the challenge to make this the best city in the world.
We ask again ... “Why not you?”