(Community Matters) Contrary to disinformation from Kathie Tovo’s campaign – Not Only Developers Are Supporting Randi – Steven Tomlinson and I are queer, married Democrats – he’s VP of NUNA, I’m a nonprofit manager, former UT lecturer and former high-tech exec. We’re as far from Republicans and from developers as you can get. AND, we support Randi Shade.
She’s fair and balanced – a life long Democrat who went to work for Ann Richards establishing AmeriCorp in Texas. She’s also a business woman who started a high tech firm after graduating from Harvard business school – the firm help raise money for nonprofits. Randi and her wife, Kayla are Clarksville neighborhood activists, have donated thousands of dollars to various D candidates and progressive causes.
Why would RECA be supporting Randi? Because she is fair and balanced. While she’s a progressive, she also understands we need growth and jobs to maintain quality of life and affordability.
It’s interesting to hear Kathie talk about the importance of affordability when her closest supporters dismiss the implications of rising utility rates which middle class families can hardly afford (in fact aggressively lobbying for increases in unaffordable electric rates). Sure, I want more green energy sources too. I just want to balance that against monthly electric rates some seniors and poor families can’t even afford now.
And many of her supporters are perfectly willing to impose overly restrictive conditions on neighbors, ignoring the impact on homeowners and the value & uses of their property. Austin’s live music industry is very threatened by the group of neighborhood elitists who would shut down long time, favored live music venues.
A key Tovo supporter who represents the sentiments of some of her closest supporters is on city council video stating that he’d rather see higher unemployment in Austin than growth in jobs and companies. These aren’t bad people, their end objectives and ideas are laudable, they just don’t seem to care about affordability or private homeowners’ rights. I don’t know Kathie personally and I’m sure she’s a nice woman; I know she gives a lot to the community through her work for schools and on the planning commission. However, Austin can’t afford the elitist policies promoted by her closest supporters. We need jobs, public safety, infrastructure – and a sound environment and unique local culture
Community Matters 