These are the criteria we look for in the candidates we endorse, stated plainly, so voters and candidates alike know exactly where we stand.
Endorsements begin with shared commitments. The criteria below lay out what Austin United looks for: fair taxation, open and ethical government, protected neighborhoods, clean water, real climate action, and an economy built for the people who live here. Candidates who share these commitments are invited to take the Austin United 2026 pledge, the first step toward consideration for our endorsement.
Criteria 1
Austin's tax dollars belong to Austin's people. Our candidates support equal and fair taxation and will not hand special favors to the already wealthy. They will oppose Tax Increment Reinvestment Zones, Chapter 380 incentives, and other unnecessary tax breaks for developers and large corporations, including the current Dog's Head Development Agreement TIRZ and any deal like it. They will refuse money from developers, corporations, and billionaire or real-estate PACs, and they will oppose tax breaks for data centers while pushing to make them sustainable.
Criteria 2
Austin's identity is its people, its music, and its small businesses. Our candidates will work to repurpose the $5.6 billion convention center project into a downtown cultural district and to fund arts, culture, and small business across the whole city, not just downtown. They will review city contracts for savings, prioritize local sourcing, and evaluate the tax impact of Project Connect, willing to reduce its funding so transit serves every part of Austin.
Criteria 3
Public business belongs in public. Our candidates will follow city and state ethics rules, never vote in closed session, and never sign nondisclosure agreements for city business. They will post their calendars, bring neighborhood leaders in before meeting developer lobbyists, strengthen public-records practices, restore real council debate and convenient meeting times, prioritize independent audits, respect the boards and commissions process, and never waive public notice or hearing requirements.
Criteria 4
Austin's neighborhoods are a large part of what makes the city work. Our candidates will help stabilize their character as Austin grows, give residents and their associations a strong voice in the decisions that affect them, protect neighborhoods from rapid gentrification, and support more neighborhood and small-area planning. Developers should not decide how a neighborhood grows without community input.
Criteria 5
Austin's charter guarantees residents the rights of initiative, referendum, and recall. Our candidates will oppose charter amendments that weaken those rights or that let the Council act with impunity, and they will protect direct democracy from overreach by special interests.
Criteria 6
Parks belong to the people and should be managed by the Parks Department for public use, not commercialized or outsourced. Our candidates support a moratorium on new private concessions, keeping park revenue in the general fund, clear metrics for water, biodiversity, and public satisfaction, a limited and fully audited model for park philanthropy, and rewilding that prioritizes climate and recreation over concrete.
Criteria 7
Lady Bird Lake, Barton Springs, and the Colorado River are Austin's lifeblood. Our candidates will restore lake and river development setbacks, oppose lakeside paving and commercialization, make conservation and reuse a priority for Austin Water, require disclosure from large water users, and oppose water, energy, sewer, and tax subsidies for data centers and other large commercial projects. They will work with neighboring counties to protect regional water and open space.
Criteria 8
Austin should lead on climate action, justice, and resilience. Our candidates will require a climate, energy, and water impact analysis on major spending and large developments, oppose projects that worsen the urban heat island or flooding, require new development to manage its own rainfall, keep flood control off parkland and on the developers responsible for it, prioritize flood and wildfire mitigation, and refuse incentives for large data centers.
Criteria 10
Economic development should answer to the people who live here. Our candidates will spearhead a new economic strategy that serves the needs of residents, not the needs of billionaires, huge corporations, or the military.
Criteria 11
Every worker deserves a living wage, real benefits, and strong safety standards. Our candidates support unions and will work to expand union coverage to more Austinites.
Criteria 12
Our candidates will put people, social services, public health including mental health, and public safety ahead of corporate interests. They will focus budget dollars on those priorities and invest evenly across every council district, calling out the practice of over-investing in some areas while ignoring others.
Criteria 13
Our candidates will support public education by every means available, making sure the city does all it can to protect neighborhood schools and school property, including parks. If schools close, they will work to keep that public property public.
If these criteria are yours, take the pledge. Signing is the first step toward consideration for the Austin United PAC endorsement. Your responses come straight to us and stay confidential.
