San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
U.S. House hopeful’s platform is ‘good work’
If it’s possible for a personality to be encapsulated in a single image, there’s one I have in mind for Greg Casar.
The young, bearded social justice advocate stands in the parking lot of an Austin Burger King.
He wields a bullhorn and rouses fast-food workers who have joined a nationwide walkout to protest their low pay and poor working conditions.
An Austin police officer gets in Casar’s face, ordering him to vacate the property immediately. Casar seems completely unfazed.
It’s not quite a look of defiance. It’s more like an expression of absolute commitment to his cause, a commitment that doesn’t allow for peripheral distractions.
This expression, showcased in an Austin American-Statesman photo of the August 2013 fastfood strike, is one that has become familiar to Casar’s supporters as well as his detractors in the intervening eight years.
During that time, Casar has won three terms on the Austin City Council and established himself as the progressive conscience of that city’s municipal government.
At the moment, he has his sights set on Congress, specifically U.S. District 35, which runs along the Interstate 35 corridor from San Antonio to Austin.
Casar, 32, was in San Antonio this past week, building support outside his home base and announcing a spate of endorsements from local labor unions, including Communications Workers of America District 6, Southwest Laborers District Council, San Antonio Building and Construction Trades Council and UNITE HERE Local 23.
Casar’s path to the Democratic primary won’t be easy. From Austin, he’ll face veteran state Rep. Eddie Rodriguez. From San Antonio, he’ll encounter former Southeast Side Councilwoman Rebecca Viagran.
Neither opponent, however, can match the grassroots passion that Casar routinely summons. Neither opponent can bring as much fire as he does whenever he makes the case for his candidacy.
The child of Mexican immigrants, Casar grew up in Houston, where he ran crosscountry for his Jesuit high school. He attended the University of Virginia and knocked on doors for Barack Obama’s groundbreaking 2008 presidential campaign.
After moving to Austin, Casar entered electoral politics in the most organic possible way. He first established himself as an advocate for immigrant workers in Austin and frequently took his case to City Hall.
“We were organizing just to make sure people got paid,” he told me during his recent visit to San Antonio.
“There were a lot of people who worked jobs, and they got promised they were going to get paid at the end of their construction job or after they’ve cleaned certain houses or cut lawns. And they just didn’t get paid at all by companies. My work was to push back against that.”
He also championed the cause of construction workers who put in long hours without so much as a moment for a water break.
These causes, which Casar defines as “common decency issues,” are what drew him into politics.
In 2014, after Austin did away with its antiquated and undemocratic
at-large council system and moved to single-member districts, Casar made a successful bid in his north/central district. He became the youngest person ever elected to the Austin City Council.
His first big project on the council concerned the North Lamar Community Mobile Home Park, a 69-unit property purchased by out-of-state owners who hiked the rents and ushered in exorbitant new fees. The owners started sending eviction notices to any residents who questioned the higher costs.
The desperate residents turned to Casar, who helped organize a neighborhood group and brought in legal assistance. With Casar’s help, the residents ultimately formed a cooperative and bought the park from its owners.
Casar also pushed forward the first paid sick leave ordinance in the South, a measure that set the stage for a similar ordinance in San Antonio (both of which have been stymied by legal challenges).
Over the past seven years, he also has been an unrelenting voice on the issues of homelessness, police accountability, home displacement and worker rights.
Casar rejects the common narrative that Democrats must choose between progressive ideals and practical compromise.
For one thing, he questions the notion that the compromisers are producing much in the way of tangible results.
“Right now, we’re seeing corporate politicians, regardless of party, being the ones blocking things from happening,” he said. “A lot of the most progressive members are the ones saying, ‘Let’s pass policy. Let’s do good work.’ ”
He defines himself, and likeminded politicians, as progressives who deliver.
“For me, a good idea is only good if we can turn it into policies,” Casar said.
“Being progressive means we actually make housing more affordable for people, we actually deliver health care for people. So that’s what I’ve been committed to doing.”