The Austin Sierra Club endorses the following City Council candidates in the coming 2008 election:

City Council PLACE 1: (no endorsement)

City Council PLACE 3: Jennifer Kim (incumbent)

City Council PLACE 4: Laura Morrison

City Council Races – Vote for Kim and Morrison

Karin Ascot, Political Chair
Ah – springtime in Austin! The sun shines, the mountain laurels are blooming, the birds are singing, and the local political races are heating up. Sierra Club has endorsed two candidates for City Council, and we encourage you to vote for them come May (if not before, in early voting).

In Place 3 we support incumbent Council Member Jennifer Kim. CM Kim has demonstrated a good understanding of land use planning and transportation as a member of CAMPO. Sprawl development, which every year causes people to drive more miles, and paves more acres of open land for suburbs, is the main cause of many of our worst environmental problems here, including water and air pollution. Having a strong ally on the CAMPO board is invaluable. Kim also understands the need for monitoring and maintenance of water quality controls: many of those in place now do not function as they should, for lack of upkeep. This is a rather uninteresting issue that gets little attention but is absolutely vital to protecting our precious resources, and we are glad that Ms. Kim recognizes its importance. She is also committed to further increasing the city’s water conservation efforts. We have made a good start in this regard, but it is important to do more as global warming and growing populations slowly but surely diminish the quantities and quality of the water we have available to us. CM Kim has also promised to work on a system to alert citizens of actions that could affect them, in order to increase public input on city decision-making. Please vote for Jennifer Kim for Austin City Council Place 3.

In Place 4 we are excited about the candidacy of Laura Morrison, former President of Austin Neighborhoods Council. She has experience working on many different issues in all parts of the city. More than that, she demonstrates outstanding knowledge and understanding of a range of environmental issues that affect us, from energy to water resources to transportation. She is committed to protecting Barton Springs through open space acquisition and steering development away from the aquifer; she is committed to working toward the city’s goal of zero waste; and she promises to open up city government – in part by having open office hours herself – so that citizens have a stronger voice. As an engineer, Morrison will bring technical expertise and a refreshing perspective to the dais. She also has a solid record of working well with people across the political spectrum, and we expect her to be able to get things done that really benefit the public interest. Please vote for Laura Morrison for Austin City Council Place 4!

We made no endorsement in the race for Place 1. Regular readers of this newsletter will know of our frustrations with CM Lee Leffingwell. He has brought forward and passed several ordinances that are intended to improve the environment, but which we fear will do the opposite. The most recent of these was the SOS redevelopment ordinance, intended to improve water quality in the recharge zone by allowing redevelopment of older properties if they add engineered water quality controls. It sounds great, except that developers will be able to vastly increase density (and traffic), and there is no requirement to reduce impervious cover, the best way to protect water quality. For these and other reasons, the ordinance was strongly opposed by Sierra Club and Save Our Springs Alliance. Challengers in the race had good ideas but not strong campaigns; electability is one of the Sierra Club’s criteria for endorsement.

For questions regarding Sierra Club's political activities, email the National political staff at political.desk@sierraclub.org.

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Last updated:  March 23, 2008   Content © 1999-2002 by the Sierra Club.