30 Oct District 1 City Council Candidates: Similarities, Differences, Big Ideas

With a large field and a diverse cast of characters, District 1 will definitely be an interesting race to watch. The district itself is located in East Austin, encompasses the historically black Huston-Tillotson University, and was the only district specifically created to provide a voice for Austin’s African American population. Of the nine candidates running, four are black, the most in any single district race. As a region of Austin with high poverty rates and a history that many candidates say has been neglected by the environmental movement, the top eco issues raised by the candidates in District 1 have varied significantly from those raised in other districts.

One of those is illegal dumping, which has been identified as a serious issue in District 1, leaving some candidates to question the effectiveness of Austin’s pay-as-you-throw trash program. In his questionnaire responses, Andrew Bucknall warned that the program might be having unintended consequences, forcing large families that cannot afford the more expensive large trash cans to dump their waste in abandoned or environmentally sensitive areas.

Several candidates also called attention to District 1’s landfills and their potentially negative effects, both on the natural environment and to human health. Ora Houston, in particular, has made this a centerpiece of her campaign, calling on prominent environmental organizations like the Sierra Club to get more involved with this issue and the people of District 1.

Erosion and flooding have also been the focus of several of the District 1 candidates’ environmental platforms. Houston has called for a renewed focus and study of the many flood prone areas in her district, including Boggy Creek by Downs Field on East 12th Street. Bucknall has expressed his support for limiting development in areas on the 100 year floodplain, tying the problem to erosion that is literally eating away at the backyards of many East Austin residents.

Bucknall and Houston are also both advocating for a change to Austin Water’s business model, so that conservation is no longer penalized. “In this district, the more people conserve, the more the rates increase,” Houston said in her Clean Water Action questionnaire, pushing for the utility to make a change. Throughout this year’s budget talks, Austin Water has asked for major rate increases to keep the utility solvent in the face of lower water use by Austin residents. Bucknall also took offense to this, writing in his questionnaire that Austin Water needs to transition from a business model that is sales based to one that is conservation based.

Most Candidates Agree on Rail, SH 45SW

The majority of the candidates in the District are against Proposition 1 and the proposed urban rail line that would run along East Riverside Avenue, up Red River Street, and all the way to the new ACC Highland Campus. Bucknall, Hutchins, Cargill, Jacobson, and Houston have all strongly spoken out against it. In responding to Clean Water Action’s questionnaire, Hutchins took particular issue with the demographics that will be served by the new rail line, writing that it will mostly serve students and tourists. “If we are going to have rail,” Hutchins said, “it has to serve working families first.” Cargill on the other hand, took issue with the high cost of Prop 1, writing that he does not want to pass million of dollars of debt onto Austin’s children and grandchildren.

The only candidate who has come out in clear support of Prop 1 is DeWayne Lofton, who wrote in his response to Clean Water Action’s questionnaire that although the proposed line is not the most ideal route, it is a good place to begin.”By building this “spine,” we will be able to add additional lines in the future,” Lofton said, “but we have to start somewhere due to rising construction costs and land values.”

In his questionnaire responses, Osemene expressed general support for urban rail, but did not say if he specifically supported Prop 1.

Menard did not respond to any questions related to urban rail or Prop 1 and Hindman did not answer a single environmental questionnaire.

Another issue where most of the candidates from District 1 have fallen into agreement is SH 45SW. This controversial highway project is slated to connect MoPac to I-35 in South Austin (as 183 has already done in the north), thereby creating a full circle of highways around the city. It has been criticized by several environmental organizations, most vocally by the Save Our Springs Alliance, for its potential to pollute Barton Springs. Bucknall, Lofton, and Houston have all spoken out against SH 45SW. Bucknall has been particularly vocal, writing that, “building a new highway is just a bandaid on the problem and does not consider the longterm impact of massive impervious cover, water diversion, and non-source point pollution that would runoff into the Edwards Aquifer into our water supply and Barton Springs.” Houston also has a long record of opposing SH 45SW, having voting against its construction when she was a member of the Citizen’s Advisory Task Force of Imagine Austin. The only District 1 candidate who has come out in support of the new highway is Michael Cargill, who wrote in his Clean Water Action questionnaire that he supports SH 45SW, as long as it doesn’t become a  toll road. Hutchins, Hindman, Jacobson, Osemene, and Menard did not make their opinions about SH 45SW public on their questionnaire responses.

Decker: What Nobody is Talking About

In reading through District 1’s questionnaires, there is one particularly egregious gap in the discourse amongst the candidates – Austin Energy’s Decker gas-fired power plant. The entire facility, along with the lake that serves as its water source, is located in District 1 and yet it was hardly mentioned by any of the candidates in their questionnaire responses. Bucknall was the only candidate to address the issue at any kind of length, writing that Austin should decommission both the Decker gas-fired and the Fayette coal-fired plants, and move toward renewables. “We can ensure continued investment through community outreach and education on the negative impacts of fossil fuels,” Bucknall wrote.

Lofton also gave a longer answer to this question, noting that with solar prices as cheap as they are now, there is a financial incentive to retire Decker and replace it with 600 MW of West Texas solar (as was proposed by the Austin Generation Resource Planning Task Force and approved by city council in the Clean Energy Resolution passed on August 28th). However, Lofton did not once mention the potentially negative health impacts from Decker or the effect of the plant on his district. Candidates Cargill and Hutchinson both said that they too supported retiring Decker in favor of West Texas solar, although they offered no explanation or insight into why they made that decision. They merely responded with a simple, “yes.” Menard, Osemene, and Jacobson did not answer a single question about Decker and Houston just asked what it would cost to retire the plant. She wrote that she did not remember hearing about Decker at any of the candidates’ issue briefings and needed more information before she could make an educated answer.

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

From Menard – To improve Austin’s air quality, the city should offer free electric vehicle charging stations for its residents to encourage more of them to drive zero-emission electric cars.

From Menard – Austin Water should embark on a marketing initiative to inform consumers in underserved communities about water rationing and rebate programs that can help them to conserve water. Austin Energy should do the same thing.

From Bucknall – Allow tax incremental finance funds from the homestead preservation districts to provide low interest forgivable loans to install solar on the rooftops of people with low incomes. This would be similar to the Neighborhood Housing Community Development Down Payment Assistance Program.

From Jacobson – Austin should stop adding fluoride to its water supply.

From Houston – Develop an education campaign about composting for the people of District 1.

From Hutchins – Austin should,“utilize 3D printers and research and develop ways to print water and invest more in SpaceX and Planetary Resources to haul ice from space and bring it back to Earth.”