Priorities & Positions

Good Jobs

• Invest in education and adult workforce development to prepare kids who grow up here and underemployed adults for the good jobs that exist in our economy.
• Support living wage strategies, unions, and childcare initiatives to help turn underpaying jobs into good jobs with good working conditions.
• Ensure anytime our public dollars go to private corporations (bonds, incentives, contracts) those corporations pay living wages, with benefits, a career ladder, and strategy to hire locally.

Affordable Housing

• Invest in affordable housing, especially deeply affordable housing below 30% and 50% MFI.
• Increase investments in mortgage assistance, down payment assistance, rental assistance, and loan programs for ADUs for low—and moderate-income Austinites.
• Curb the role of institutional and private investors (including private equity, etc.), who buy up to 40% of homes in Travis and Williamson counties.
• Ensure that recent updates to the land use code, which on the whole I believe were needed, work for families that live here and want to live here, not institutional investors.
• Continue to invest in successful permanent supportive housing programs, but strengthen our network of overnight shelters and transitional housing.

Community Safety

• Pay our public safety officers competitively, compared to our peer cities, and with a contract.
• Recruit officers from our diverse Austin community and continue to invest in training and community policing strategies that build a strong, collaborative culture with the community.
• Fully implement the Austin Police Oversight Act, which is supported by nearly 80% of voters.
• Invest in social service programs that keep individuals and families whole and contribute to community safety and vibrancy.

Transportation

• Implement Project Connect on time and on budget
• Expand bus service and invest in fair compensation for our bus drivers and mechanics.
• If I-35 expansion goes forward, get state government and other sources to pay for the $800M in Caps and Stitches. Then Sen. Watson should have done this when he negotiated the deal.
• Support multi-modal transportation, including pedestrian-friendly sidewalks, bike lanes, and public transit.

Standing up to right-wing state attacks

• Stand up to Greg Abbott when our civil rights, local decisions, and local funding are under attack.
• Ensure that the Mayor of Austin represents the progressive values of the city at the state and national level.
• Convene local leaders, organizations, and other local public entities to determine how our community can replace programs and services lost because of state action (e.g. anti-DEI cuts at UT).