28 Aug Austin Environmental Democrats Endorsement Meeting: District 1

Last week’s District 1 Austin Environmental Democrats Endorsement Meeting was a long one, which included a lively question and answer session between AED members and the candidates on a wide variety of topics, from solar power to urban rail. In the end, none of the candidates received enough votes to get the club’s endorsement, but Ora Houston walked away with more votes than anyone else. 

The following is a recording of the endorsement meeting, beginning with a 3 minute presentation from each of the four candidates and ending with a question and answer session. The candidates in attendance, in the order that they speak, are Andrew Bucknall, Ora Houston, DeWayne Lofton, and Valerie Menard. 

And if you don’t have time to listen to all of the candidates speak, I've summed up some of the key points they made for you below: 

Andrew Bucknall: 

• Bucknall pointed out that his love for the environment runs deep, saying that some of his earliest memories are at Barton Springs and Deep Eddy pools.
• He said that the biggest environmental Issues in district one are brownfield remediation, flooding, and erosion.
• Bucknall also listed some of his environmental goals for the rest of the city at large, which included moving towards a more sustainable energy system and away from fossil fuels, and protecting Austin’s water. 
• He then closed his opening remarks by saying, “I’m Andrew Bucknall, I’m an Austin Environmental Democrat and I ask for your support so I can stand up for you, for our environment and for our future.”

Ora Houston:

• Houston kicked off her remarks by saying that she is a longtime resident of Austin. 
• She then talked about her desire to open up the political system, saying that, “the reason I’m running is because the way the system worked in the past, the people I care about did not have the opportunity to participate in or make decisions about the quality of their lives. With 10-1, they now have that opportunity.”
• Its about education, Houston said, so that more people can participate in the political process.
• “The environmental community has been kind of sketchy with us in District 1,” Houston said. “I mean you’re there sometimes and then you’re not, and so we’ve got a challenge of how to work together to do environmental conservation and education, all over this city…”
• She identified landfills as the most critical issue in District 1. We have the largest residential landfill in Travis County, she said, and it’s not clean. “So the issues for me and the residents who live around that landfill is how do we make sure that the public safety and health of the people are always monitored and always the number one priority,” Houston said.
• She also identified flooding and erosion as big issues in her district, noting that erosion is particularly bad behind cemeteries where creeks flow by. If it isn’t taken care of soon, she said, there are going to be body parts floating down the creek.
• “So these are things that the environmental community can help our district with,” she said, “and so far we are not having much success with drawing people into that.”

DeWayne Lofton:

• Lofton started off by saying that he has lived in District 1 his entire life.
• He continued on to say that he served on the 2006 Bond Advisory Committee and served on the open space subcommittee. As part of that subcommittee, Lofton said that he set out a list of priorities for Austin (to be included in the bond package). These included buying land to protect the aquifer and to ensure that future generations have access to open territory. 
• “Austin is building at such a fast pace that if we don’t start preserving our open spaces,” Lofton said, “we’re going to wind up looking like New York where we only have about a quarter of a mile of green space and everything else is tar or black top.” 
• He said that open space and the environment are things that Austinites treasure. 
• District 1 has a serious problem with illegal dumping, Lofton said. As president of his neighborhood association, Lofton said that he often gets complaints about the nearby illegal dumping of everything from construction materials to residential trash. 
• “Fighting illegal dumping is an environmental issue because some of that construction material is old cans of paint, laquer, all kinds of stuff and that’s all seeping out into the ground and going into our water,” Lofton said.
• He also mentioned that he is a reserve officer with the Travis County Sheriff’s Office  and that he has actually filed charges against people who are illegally dumping.
• “I think I have a history of protecting this community from an environmental standpoint,” Lofton concluded. “I’ll make a pledge to you guys that I will always be a friend to the environment…”

Valerie Manard:

• Menard introduced herself by saying that she is originally from San Antonio but moved to Austin in 1982. She said that she has lived in University Hills (her neighborhood) for 20 years. 
• Menard identified erosion as a major issue in her district. She said that while she has been canvassing for the election, people have taken her into their backyards and shown her the erosion. “They are basically losing their backyards,” Menard said.
• She also said that Austin needs an equitable distribution of city services, tying the issue back to environmental justice.  
• Menard also said that her district is under threat from development. “We don’t want to see development happening without any kind of regulation, we want some environmental standards, we want parks, we want things that the whole city wants,” she said.
• Menard also mentioned that she is the president for the Center for Mexican American Cultural Arts (the nonprofit that helped build the Mexican American Cultural Center)  and was on the Arts Commission for 6 years. 
• When she was on the Arts Commission, dispersing funds from a $10.9 million bond, Menard said that she faced crowds that were angry, she went to loud meetings. she listened to everyone’s opinion. This, she said, gave her the experience needed to be a public servant. 

Question and Answer Session:

The Q&A session began with several questions echoing a fear that has been frequently raised throughout the 10-1 rollout – district politics. The candidates were asked if they would be willing to consider the needs of the city at large, as well as those in District 1. 

The resounding answer from each of the candidates was yes, there is definitely a need to serve both the city and their district. However, they stressed that the beauty of 10-1 is that it allows more people to be involved in the process of determining the city’s priorities. 

“We can’t break off into turf warfare and that is the fear that a lot of people have about this new system – is that everybody is only going to be concerned about their one district,” Lofton said, explaining that he didn’t think that it would ever come to that.  

“I think all of us realize that yes, we are going to have to bring something home to our district,” he said, “but we also have to make sure that we work to make sure that Austin continues to thrive.”

Besides, the issues that effect one district often times effect several others as well, Lofton said, thereby naturally encouraging cooperation. 

Houston pointed out that environmental issues, in particular, fall into this category. 

“Environment is critical to the quality of life of everybody in this city,” she said, “not just west Austin, but folks in East Austin…” 

Bucknall added to this sentiment, pointing out that environmental issues often intersect with other issues, like affordability and transportation. 

“I really think it’s hard to just do something for District 1 and just something for the environment, so to me, all of these things start to intersect,” Bucknall said, adding that the real challenge and opportunity will be to educate others and to get a whole new group of people involved in the political process. 

This new involvement will bring new issues to the main stage, Menard added, suggesting that in addition to council showing support for things like Barton Springs Pool, other city parks and landmarks will receive renewed attention, now that 10-1 is increasing representation in city hall. 

She predicted that this new landscape will be a “win-win,” likening it to her experience in trying to get a bond to build the Mexican American Cultural Center. The first time the bond was on the ballot, it failed, Menard said. 

“That’s because it sat by itself on the ballot,” she added. 

So, in order to get it passed, they had to join forces with several other projects and go on the ballot as part of a larger libraries and parks bond package. This, Menard said, is what is going to happen more often with 10-1. 

You’re going to have people saying, yes, let’s support Barton Springs Pool, she said, “and what else?” 

Vision for a transportation system? 

When asked about their vision for a new transportation system in Austin, only one candidate expressed support for Project Connect and the proposed urban rail line. Saying that, “we have to start somewhere,” DeWayne Lofton explained that although the new line would not come through District 1, he thought that it was still a good thing for Austin. 

The new line would increase connectivity downtown, he explained, laying the groundwork for a future line that could bring in people from outside of the city’s center. That way, once people arrive downtown, they will already have a great way to move around the city’s core. 

Admittedly, Lofton said that he would have liked to have seen a different rail route, particularly one that increased east to west connectivity, but he said that the current proposal would be a good start nonetheless. 

Bucknall countered that idea, saying that it is wiser to utilize smaller scale transportation improvements that connect Austin’s many modes of transportation together (pedestrian sidewalks, bike lanes, buses), than to invest in, “a big rail system which encumbers our bond indebtedness for the next 10 years.”

“I think that’s kind of risky,” Bucknall said, “and it puts a lot of eggs in one basket.” 

This sentiment was echoed amongst Houston and Menard as well, who both emphasized the potential impact of better bus transportation in their district. 

“People don’t want to pay anymore property taxes,” Menard said. “That’s it. I think people are drawing the line with that.” 

So, instead of spending a lot of money on a  large rail project, Menard suggested that the city should invest in improving its bus system. The people in her district want buses, Menard said, but the buses don’t even come to them. 

Houston also expressed her support for a less capital intensive bus system, suggesting that the city bring in smaller buses to accommodate people in less crowded areas. 

“Think of how many little buses you could get for how much we’re going to pay on the whole rail,” Houston said.