City Council race:
City Council candidates also differ in approach to decision-making.
One of the sharpest differences between the two candidates running in Northeast Austin’s District 1 might be their approach to decision-making.
He says she’s a flip-flopper. She says she’s willing to listen and negotiate.
Of all the differences between DeWayne Lofton and Ora Houston — the two candidates running to represent Northeast Austin’s District 1 on the City Council — one of the sharpest might be their approach to decision-making. Lofton, president of the Pecan Springs-Springdale Hills Neighborhood Association, said he stakes out clear stances that don’t waver. Houston, a longtime activist, said she’s interested in hearing from those on all sides of an issue.
Take their reactions to a proposal to build two highend golf courses by Lake Walter E. Long in East Austin.
Lofton said that, from the beginning, he’s seen the proposed development as a catalyst for bringing retail, jobs and medical clinics to a corner of the city that’s long been neglected. Houston’s publicly stated views on the golf courses have evolved.
At the Sept. 23 city Parks
and Recreation Board meeting, Houston recalled being shocked when she heard of the proposed golf courses at a Colony Park neighborhood meeting. “I just don’t think this is the place to put a golf course, especially a high-end golf course,” she told the parks board, building on concerns raised earlier in the meeting by a Colony Park neighborhood leader.
Asked whether she supported the development during a Nov. 21 interview with KAZI radio talk show host Richard Smith, Houston responded that she worried the decision about the golf courses was being pushed through without enough time for community input.
Houston told the American-Statesman this week that she hadn’t taken a public stance for or against the project, but noted that now Colony Park neighbors are backing the golf courses — and “if they’re comfortable with the development, I’m supporting them.”
“If she’s now saying she supports it, that’s only because she sees that there’s a groundswell of support in the community for it, and she’s afraid of potentially losing some votes for being on the wrong side of the issue,” retorted Lofton, 48.
Houston, 70, said she has always been on the community’s side.
“What I support is that the process be fair and equitable, and that the people in Colony Park are able to do what they want to do with the parkland that’s in their neighborhood,” Houston said.
In the November elec- tion, Houston won every precinct that surrounds the location of the proposed golf courses at Walter E. Long Metropolitan Park. She finished the nine-person race with 49 percent of the vote, just shy of the majority needed to avoid the Dec. 16 runoff. Lofton, who received 14 percent, didn’t win any precinct.
Lofton, who since the general election has amped up his criticism of Houston, teed up a few other issues besides the golf courses.
On the settlement that resolved federal discrimination allegations against the city over how firefighters were hired, Houston indicated on a questionnaire from the Austin Firefighter Association that she opposed the settlement, then said in the November interview on KAZI radio that she supported it. (She later apologized on Twitter and wrote she was “on record” opposing the settlement.)
The settlement awards $780,000 in back pay to unsuccessful Austin Fire Department applicants who are African-American and Hispanic, and sets aside 30 slots for such candidates at future fire cadet academies. Lofton said it “blows his mind” that Houston, who he pointed out is an African-American woman, has been against the settlement.
Houston told the Statesman she needed more information: She had data from firefighters but wanted to know the U.S. Justice Department’s side of the story.
Lofton also said Houston opposes growth instead of planning for what’s coming.
“Her position on growth is, ‘I don’t want any growth coming into this district, because growth means more gentrification, so I’m going to be against growth,’” Lofton said, later adding, “If you’re an anti-growth council member, and you’re representing a district targeted to grow, that’s just not a good mix.”
Houston said she’s a proponent for “smart growth” that includes community input — the opposite of what happened when the city decided East Austin would become part of the urban core without thinking about the impact new development would have on property values, she said. She’s supported by community members and developers alike, Houston said. She also said her advocacy efforts over the years show she has worked to give a voice to the voiceless. Both say they’d fight
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