30 Oct District 7 City Council Candidates: Similarities, Differences, and Big Ideas

With a sizable home ownership rate, a largely suburban feel, and a significant population of families, District 7 is dealing with a lot of challenges associated with growth and development. As more people have moved into the area looking for the Austin experience that lured in the families before them, traffic has only gotten worse and concerns have been raised over failing environmental protections.

In fact, in their questionnaire responses, candidates Leslie Pool, Melissa Zone, and Jimmy Paver all called attention to these problems as some of the top environmental issues in the district. Pool, in particular, spent a lot of ink on the topic, writing that in the face of Austin’s rapid growth, “we must protect what we most value about Austin and carefully guide its development.” CodeNEXT could be one way of guaranteeing smart development practices, Pool continued, but only if it succeeds in protecting the things that everyone loves about Austin while accommodating increases in density. “It will require a council that is responsive to residents, not development interests,” she wrote.

Zone added to this sentiment, writing that, “the city needs to return to a policy of excluding critical environmental features from the land area available for development.”

Paver too, highlighted the importance of balancing a healthy environment with a growing economy. “When it comes to the environment, whatever we do can’t be undone,” he said. “In terms of development we need to be prudent and think of the long-term effects of any plans.”

“Smart” Growth

Although almost all of the candidates brought up the need to institute smart development policies, their opinions of what exactly those policies would entail differed significantly. Boyt, Paver, Zone, and Pool all said that smart development plans should include a compact and connected philosophy, as laid out in the Imagine Austin comprehensive plan. By steering new population growth into dense activity centers linked by transit, Zone said, cars will be removed from the road, the air will be cleaner, and communities with be healthier.

On the other end of the spectrum, Zack Ingraham and Pete Salazar raised concerns over the effects that a new compact and connected plan could have over Austin’s existing neighborhoods and communities. Salazar said that neighborhood plans need to be implemented first, before CodeNEXT can even come into play.

Transportation and Prop 1

The debate over compact and connected is closely related to transportation, which is another area that has seen disagreement amongst the candidates from District 7. Boyt is the only candidate who has come out in strong support of Proposition 1 and he has made that support a centerpiece of his campaign. Through his work with the Alliance for Public Transportation, Boyt was directly involved in developing the current rail proposal. “We need high capacity transit,” Boyt wrote. “We need transit that will support land use consistent with the vision of a compact and connected city set forth in the Imagine Austin comprehensive plan.”  

However, Pool, Zone, Salazar, Paver, and Ingraham all see things a little differently. Each of them wrote that they are actively against Prop 1, mostly because of problems with the route and the high price tag associated with the urban rail line. “I support and want urban rail,” Zone wrote in her questionnaire response,” but I believe the current alignment will not help the people who need rail.” She said that, “we need to think about everyone, not just the people who will be moving here in 10 years.”

Water Conservation

As the home to both Shoal and Walnut creeks, water conservation and quality have also been raised as major issues in the District 7 City Council race. Zone even identified the preservation and restoration of the ecological health of the creeks as her number one environmental priority within the district. To clean the streams, she said that the city’s Watershed Protection Department regulations for storm water runoff and groundwater availability need to be strengthened.

Pool also called attention to stream health, writing that the TCEQ has determined that Walnut Creek has unsafe levels of bacteria. She suggested creek setbacks and protection of riparian zones to bring the waterways back to their former glory.

Closely connected to stream health is the issue of water conservation, which was strongly advocated for by nearly all of the candidates in District 7. In his survey responses, Paver called for a “conservation culture” that would incentivize personal efforts to use less water. Zone took this idea a step further, writing that regulations need to be passed that encourage large developers to build the infrastructure necessary to allow their residents to use water responsibly. She said that the city needs to create policies that encourage more private investment in innovative storm water infrastructure like the Riata Wet Pond, which combines outdoor amenities with systems to treat rainfall runoff and protect water quality. Zone also suggested that the city expand in-place water conservation and innovation. She said that she would like to see more development of projects that operate solely from on-site sources and management of all wastewater and stormwater on site. “Technology is now available to take buildings off the water grid without raising the cost of high quality water,” she said.

Boyt also advocated for a focus on water conservation, while at the same time calling for increased cooperation with the Capital Area Council of Governments so that a comprehensive regional plan can be developed to manage surface and ground water resources. “Prudently managing our limited water resources is a critical issue,” Boyt wrote.

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

From Boyt: Austin should partner with Travis County on a county-wide emergency response plan for dealing with the dangers of climate climate, like drought and wildfire.

From Zone: Austin Energy should simplify their incentive programs by offering results-based rebates based on kilowatt hours reduced, without relating incentives to specific structural upgrades or equipment replacements.

From Zone: The city should adopt transportation impact fees so that new developments pay for additional infrastructure demands and the burden on existing tax payers is lessened.

From Pool: Austin Energy should pilot a program that would discount the cost of installing solar panels for small and local businesses, so that more panels can be built over parking lots.

From Pool: Austin Energy should analyze electric use and demand data to identify high use/demand homes and encourage them to install energy efficiency improvements.