District 10 City Council Candidates: Similarities, Differences, and Bold Ideas

 

Home to open spaces and a more suburban vibe than can be felt in other parts of Austin, District 10 is facing a lot of the same issues District 7 is dealing with, as the neighborhoods try and deal with more and more people moving into the region. Faced with increased development and a lot of traffic, many of the candidates from District 10 have focused their campaigns around striking the best balance between growth and environmental protection.

 

Tina Cannon raised this issue in her questionnaire responses, writing that the district’s open spaces need to be saved from development through collaboration with local residents. She even cited the community’s efforts in blocking the proposed Spanish Oaks redevelopment ( which would have torn down heritage trees and built a large retail/residential space right off MoPac) as a model for future conservation efforts.

 

Mandy Dealey also called attention to the potential impacts of growth, writing that strong environmental protections must be a requirement for development. In particular, she suggested that Planned Unit Developments be required to institute tier 1 environmental protections and that city council not be allowed to waive those requirements. “I don’t think development should trump protecting the environment,” Dealey wrote. “It is possible to have dense development, itself a way to protect the environment, without losing environmental protections.”

 

Wildfires

District 10’s open spaces have also helped to make wildfires threats an issue in this race, especially with the 2011 Steiner Ranch fires still fresh in everyone’s minds. Because of this, Cannon has named wildfire preparedness as a central environmental issue in her campaign, saying that there needs to be a more coordinated response amongst the region’s emergency responders.

 

Water

Water conservation has also emerged as a central concern in District 10. “There are many houses on large lots that have high water demands,” Dealey said, proposing that the city play a stronger role in encouraging homeowners to adopt xeriscaping and other water conservation measures. Meeker also called attention to the importance of personal water conservation, writing in his questionnaire responses that Austin needs to adopt more “Arizona-type programs” to keep yards and landscapes in check with the city’s environmental realities. He also advocated for expanded gray water programs, writing that, “instead of pumping, treating, and sending water away, we need to move towards a system that pumps, treats, and re-uses.” Cannon added to that sentiment, saying that infrastructure for reclaim/reuse water needs to be developed and commercial properties need to be encouraged to use purple pipe in building, chilling stations, and irrigation.

 

Major Disagreements – Climate Change and Renewable Energy

The District 10 candidates seem to differ the most on issues related to climate change and Austin Energy. While Dealey, Meeker, and Cannon have all expressed a strong belief in climate change and a desire to alleviate its effects through renewable energy, Bill Worsham and Margie Burciaga took a much less enthusiastic approach.

 

Renewables that result in the lowest possible energy cost to customers should be incorporated into Austin Energy’s portfolio, Worsham said. However, he noted that delivering low-cost energy should be the primary priority of the utility and said that any policy changes that are driven by environmental or social motivators should be made clear to the public.

 

Similarly, Burciaga expressed her willingness to support renewable goals as long as they do not bust Austin’s affordability standards, although she seemed to doubt the ability to achieve both under city council’s current renewable integration timeline. “Pricing people out of their residence, be it a homestead or rental, just to say we are the greenest city is cruel and not humane at all,” Burciaga said. She also proposed natural gas as a cleaner alternative to coal and suggested that Austin Energy focus on switching to natural gas-fired energy sources in order to achieve some of its carbon reduction goals. This sentiment was paired with an overall doubt that solar can become a significant energy source in Austin, writing that she had seen no, “realistic data on how consumers will begin using solar as a new energy source.”

 

Big Ideas: A collection of the candidates' most unique plans for Austin

From Cannon – Austin Water needs a full fiscal and operational audit in order to set a baseline for the new council to gauge and compare performance metrics of Austin against sister cities with public utilities.

From Meeker – All flat rooftops should be painted white to lessen heat on commercial buildings and reducing cooling costs.

From Dealey – Austin Energy should enter into a joint venture with other entities to develop an affordable way to store energy. A collaborative effort would help to spread the risk.

From Dealey – The City of Austin should bring together experts from the private sector with Austin Energy management to find opportunities to expand energy efficiency programs.

 

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