Austin United

Austin United 2026 candidate pledge

Mark where you stand on each item, tell us a little about your campaign, and sign. Your responses come straight to Austin United and stay confidential.

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The pledge

Mark whether you agree or disagree with each item, grouped by section. Blunt is fine, we would rather know where you stand. If you disagree with any item, a short note on why is welcome.

No welfare for billionaires and giant corporations
  1. I support the Texas Constitution's requirement of equal and fair taxation, and I will not vote to give special tax favors to the already wealthy.
  2. I will oppose Tax Increment Reinvestment Zones (TIRZ), Chapter 380 economic incentives, and other unnecessary tax breaks for developers and large corporations.
  3. I will not take campaign funds, during or after my race, from developers active in Austin, corporations, or billionaires, and I will not be influenced by corporate or real-estate-funded PACs.
  4. I will oppose the current Dog's Head Development Agreement TIRZ, and I will not support similar agreements unfairly weighted toward business interests.
  5. I will oppose all tax breaks for data centers in the City of Austin, and I will support actions to require the sustainability of data centers.
Local business, arts, culture, and current residents
  1. I will take action to repurpose the $5.6 billion convention center project into a downtown cultural district that supports Austin arts, music, and culture.
  2. I support repurposing the $5.6 billion convention center budget to fund local music, arts, culture, and small businesses all around Austin, not just downtown.
  3. I will review all City of Austin contracts for savings.
  4. Wherever possible, I will support local sourcing with small local businesses.
  5. I will evaluate the tax impact of Project Connect, I am willing to reduce its funding if necessary, and I will work to ensure Austin has a transit system that benefits the whole city, not just some areas.
Transparency, ethics, and honest public engagement
  1. I will follow City of Austin and State of Texas ethics rules.
  2. I will not vote in a closed meeting (executive session).
  3. I will not sign a nondisclosure agreement for any city business, and I support a city ordinance prohibiting all city employees from signing such agreements.
  4. I will post my meeting calendar online so everyone can see how I spend my time as a councilmember and who I meet with.
  5. I will not meet with developer lobbyists without first proactively notifying and inviting neighborhood leaders to consult on larger or controversial projects in their communities.
  6. I will sponsor an ordinance directing our public information office to post most public information online and to ensure prompt, complete responses to public information requests.
  7. I will encourage citizen comments at council meetings and restore council voting-session dialogue, with questions for speakers and staff and amendments or postponements where appropriate.
  8. I will work to ensure City Council meeting schedules are convenient for residents who wish to participate.
  9. I will support, track, and prioritize independent audits, both internal and external, that provide accountability and transparency.
  10. I will work to restore the boards and commissions process as a meaningful forum, and I will not vote on major policy decisions without considering their recommendations.
  11. I will not vote to waive or reduce public notification and public hearing requirements.
Austin's neighborhoods
  1. I will help stabilize the character of Austin's neighborhoods, give residents and their associations a strong role in decisions that affect them, protect neighborhoods from rapid gentrification, and support more neighborhood and small-area planning.
Voter rights and direct democracy
  1. I oppose City Council charter amendments that reduce Austin voter rights to initiative, referendum, and recall, or that further empower the Council to act with impunity.
  2. I will protect residents' rights of direct democracy from overreach by special interests.
Public parks for the public
  1. I will move to adopt a moratorium on new private concessions in our parks, and I will ensure park revenue goes to the general fund rather than to outside groups.
  2. I support creating metrics to ensure the water, biodiversity, and public satisfaction of our parks are increasing, not decreasing.
  3. I support a limited, streamlined, fully audited, and transparent model for private philanthropy for parks.
  4. I support rewilding our parks and directing the Parks Department to prioritize climate mitigation and recreation over concrete-intensive capital projects.
Protecting our water
  1. I will move to restore Lady Bird Lake and Colorado River development setbacks, oppose expanded lakeside paving and commercialization, and implement a comprehensive plan to keep the lake clean.
  2. I will make water conservation and reuse a priority of Austin Water, require full public disclosure of large water users, and oppose water, energy, sewer, and tax subsidies for data centers and other large commercial projects.
  3. I will engage Travis, Hays, Williamson, and Bastrop counties to cooperate on water and open-space protection, including a regional parks and conservation district.
Climate leadership
  1. I will require a climate, energy, and water impact analysis on all major spending and large development projects, including a water-, carbon-, and heat-island-neutral alternative.
  2. I will oppose major development projects that increase, rather than decrease, urban heat island effects or urban flooding.
  3. I will require new development to manage its rainfall onsite, and I oppose taking urban parkland for flood-control projects that should be the developer's responsibility.
  4. I will prioritize flood mitigation, wildfire mitigation, and disaster recovery.
  5. I will oppose large data centers and will never vote for incentives for them.
An economy for Austin residents
  1. I will spearhead a new economic strategic plan that serves the needs of residents, not the needs of billionaires, huge corporations, or the military.
Workers, wages, and safety
  1. I support a living wage, healthy benefits, and strict safety standards for workers.
  2. I support unions and will work to expand union coverage to more Austinites.
People before corporate interests
  1. I will put people, social services, public health including mental health, and public safety ahead of corporate interests.
  2. I will make Austinites safer and healthier by maximizing budget dollars on these priorities.
  3. I will support investing tax dollars evenly across all council districts, and I will call out the practice of over-investing in some areas while ignoring others.
Public education
  1. I will support public education by every means available.
  2. I will make sure the City of Austin does all it can to protect neighborhood schools and school property, including parks, and if schools close, I will work to keep that public property public.
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