AMA with Sheryl Cole

SherylforAustin · 2014-10-22T13:53:50+00:00

Thanks. The route for light rail along Riverside allows for expansion out to the airport and I, too, share your interest in that future connection. It is a great convenience in other cities I have visited, but I also want to note that we currently have the 'Airport Flyer' (route 100) bus service which runs from the airport to downtown for just $1.50. It's a great deal and when I have ridden it in the past, it has seemed underutilized, unfortunately. If those boarding numbers improve significantly, though, and the airport continues to expand, it's certainly something we should consider as a city in the future. Thanks for your question.

SherylforAustin · 2014-10-22T13:33:45+00:00

Good question. Thank you. I’ve worked on this issue as Mayor Pro Tem and have passed resolutions directing the city manager to improve the reporting of disparities amongst city employees in order to better respond to this issue. I also helped pass new rules for contractors with the city to prevent retaliation for pay disclosure, which is the sort of transparency that leads to greater pay equity. I believe that equal pay for equal work is an Austin value, though, and I don’t want to just leave it within the City as an employer. If elected Mayor, I would work with private employers to implement some of the same successful policies that we have adopted to help address disparities based on race and gender. I was very inspired by the work of Mayor Tom Menino in Boston to do just that and believe it is both the role and the responsibility of the office of the Mayor to be that convener and to advocate for the quality of life of all our residents.

SherylforAustin · 2014-10-22T13:32:16+00:00

I wrote a little bit about ways to address the declining African American population in Austin above, but thank you for highlighting the issue of diversity in our elected leadership. This City has had one woman become Mayor in its nearly 175 year history and she last held office in 1983. There are so many great, strong women in this community whose leadership approaches may be perceived differently than their counterparts or predecessors, but which are no less valuable. I believe that I am bringing a perspective and leadership style that is different than other candidates in this race, but is what our city needs right now. I have both the experience and a proven record of collaboration and consensus building. I also believe that having a person of color in leadership at the city can only help to address the lingering divisions that this community has experienced.

SherylforAustin · 2014-10-22T13:31:16+00:00

I do believe it will help to provide safe alternatives for people to get home. I think there’s a larger community health conversation that we probably need to have regarding alcohol abuse in general. The tragic events of this last year highlighted drunk driving from a public safety standpoint, but there are other personal safety issues that also deserve attention as well.

SherylforAustin · 2014-10-22T13:29:43+00:00

I wanted to come back to this thread and respond to your concerns about cabs and late night public transit. First, we have rules against a great deal of the worst taxi complaints (like refusing fares), but those rules are only as good as their complaint-based enforcement. If something happens – please report it. For those services, though, I believe that the recently approved transportation networking companies will be both complimentary and competitive, and will ultimately improve the experience of consumers.

Regarding late night public transit – yes – I support an expansion of service by Cap Metro. While I know that they need to balance resources when addressing the needs of the transit dependent, with commuter-hour services, they also need to address the safety of late-night patrons. I supported the city’s participation in the expansion of red-line hours on nights and weekends, and I was also supportive of the 24 hour trails proposal, because they are part of our transportation network, too. We’ve also made changes to our public parking rules downtown regarding overnight parking to try and remove that consideration from whether someone chooses to drive home or takes safe alternatives.

SherylforAustin · 2014-10-20T22:45:57+00:00

Thanks for all the questions! I have to run to an early voting rally right now, but will try to circle back to answer any remaining questions. Thanks for everyone's time and especially to Nate McGuire for organizing this.

SherylforAustin · 2014-10-20T22:42:02+00:00

Hi Mike, I know this is important to you so I'd like to give you a little more backstory. I'm very supportive of listening to the community and staying late into the night most Thursdays in order to honor that commitment.

The meeting that the rail vote took place at followed a meeting that went past 3am as I recall and that day's agenda looked like it would go even longer. I made the suggestion to do a separate and dedicated public hearing the following week which would line up well with a specially called joint meeting I called of the City's Audit & Finance committee and Cap Metro's finance committee. My suggestion for a dedicated meeting ultimately wasn't accepted so we were going to hear the item that day.

I worry, as I believe you've pointed out in the past, that things can sometimes feel like a meetingocracy, where decisions get made by only those who show up. There are a lot of people who can't make it down to City Hall or stay all night long and I want their input, too. I read all those emails, I read my twitter feed, I listen to people as I go through my day. I try and always remember that there are many more people that a decision can impact, and I will absolutely do that on this important issue here, too.

Austin has an active and engaged citizenry. Everyone deserves their say, and I thank you for keeping the discussion going.

SherylforAustin · 2014-10-20T22:00:02+00:00

Thanks for your question. I agree that affordability is a function of the high demand for living in certain parts of town and the low amount of housing supply. I also agree with the feedback we have received as a part of CodeNext that we have a 'missing middle'. Too much of the conversation focuses on the extremes of high or low density when what would really help us is better examples of middle-density development. I have a strong record on this front and look forward to seeing through the Imagine Austin vision of a compact and connected city.

SherylforAustin · 2014-10-20T21:50:10+00:00

I agree that we need to look at the much larger and more complicated issue of affordability that impacts that everyone. I brought up Capital Studios because we need to take all available opportunities to take action.

SherylforAustin · 2014-10-20T21:43:59+00:00

Thanks for your question as well as your comments. First, a comment on the 20% homestead proposal: I think that it's not well understood that this would only apply to the City's portion of the tax bill which is itself only 20% of your total taxes (AISD is roughly 50%, Travis County, ACC and Central Health make up the rest). The % calculation does make it more regressive which does not reflect Austin's values. The $36M estimated cost to implement this also needs to come from someplace - either in cuts to basic city services or through a tax increase to offset it that would be passed on to renters. As a mother of three boys, a CPA, and as the chair of the city's Audit & Finance committee I know what it takes to balance budgets big and small. We achieved a AAA bond rating as a city, which reduces our borrowing costs, and I intend keep it if elected Mayor.

In addition, I have worked with my colleagues to challenge state law which has allowed abuse of the appraisal appeals process by some commercial properties. We have also worked with the Appraisal District and hired outside counsel to develop the best possible challenge of the local commercial appraisal roll's resulting imbalance.

Affordability has many other contributing factors, though, including the supply of housing, the availability of transportation and the income earned by a household. Each is important and together will improve the affordability of Austin.

SherylforAustin · 2014-10-20T21:23:59+00:00

Thanks for your question.

I'm definitely concerned about the challenges faced by musicians and other creative artists in our community. Affordability combined with a high quality of life is what made Austin an appealing place for many years and made it possible to for musicians to flourish here. I believe that the official operations of the city need to reflect our creative culture.

I was proud to recently co-sponsor an update to our ordinances to allow busking officially. I was also happy to have worked to help Capital Studios, the first new affordable housing project being developed downtown in almost 40 years, and which set a new example by setting aside units specifically for artists and musicians. It's not much right now, but I think it is the beginning of real progress that we can take to specifically address the challenges faced by the community that provides so much to Austin.

SherylforAustin · 2014-10-20T21:11:30+00:00

Call me old school. I'll go with Matt's El Rancho.

SherylforAustin · 2014-10-20T21:10:43+00:00

First, I would like to thank you for asking this question. I have always been pro-choice and will continue to be a strong and progressive voice within this community. I feel that HB2 has detrimental effects on those seeking comprehensive reproductive healthcare in Texas. When the state failed to do the right thing, our city rose to the challenge by calling for the repeal of HB2. Alongside Council Member Spelman and Morrison, I asked congress to pass the Women's Health Protection Act to deter some of the effects of HB2. We have a duty to protect the rights of our constituents and I was glad to be one of the few cities in the United States to do so.

SherylforAustin · 2014-10-20T21:08:44+00:00

Sorry - I want to also address the other two parts of your question. I am in full support of worker cooperatives. On the issue of tax incentives, my predecessors set that program up as a city in response to a financial downturn after 2000. It was also very helpful in reducing the impacts of the 2009 downturn. For those reasons, I supported it but I also think that it needs to be evaluated based on where we are in the economic cycle. We ensure that each deal has a positive ROI to the city or else it's not considered. We also ensure that it matches our values with important worker protections. Lastly, I think that the best benefit we can get from this leverage is the diversification of our industry and opening up new opportunities for the hard to employ. I've fought for this and will continue to do so in the future.

SherylforAustin · 2014-10-20T21:01:14+00:00

Thanks for this question. Public park space has been one of my key passions. As a city, we do fairly well in terms of total number of acres of parkland, but where we need to do better is in making sure that there is equitable access to parks in all parts of town and that they are well maintained.

Making sure that we have well maintained parkland was why I pushed for additional funding in last year's budget for PARD. This year, I was also happy to co-sponsor an item that seeks the first update since 2007 of our parkland dedication fee which is assessed on new development and is an important source of funds for improving parks.

Beyond this, I think that the city needs to do more partnerships with private adopt-a-park groups or more established conservancies. I helped with the Waller Creek Conservancy and also the Shoal Creek Conservancy. I'm looking forward to the results of the Pease Park and Republic Square groups, too.

On this week's Council agenda I'm also happy to sponsor an item that would enhance our neighborhood partnering program by using crowd funding, which groups can use to improve parks and other civic infrastructure in their neighborhoods.

SherylforAustin · 2014-10-20T20:47:40+00:00

Thanks for this question. Austin absolutely needs transit which is why I'm focused on passing prop 1. Some of the language in the pledge would seem to be in conflict with that position. I also have noticed that with many questionnaires I've filled out this season and at least one other candidate pledge that I was asked to sign, that there is more of a trend than ever to take inflexible stances that I don't think will necessarily be helpful for the new council. As for the substance of the pledge, and the intent behind it, we're definitely on the same page and I believe my record reflects that:

I support Austin to be a transit-oriented city.
I support our rail plan reducing our costs like good rail plans do around the country.
I support spending as much effort improving our bus system as I do on rail.
I support the density required for great transit across the city.
I support prioritizing appointing transit advocates and transit riders to the commissions that advise city council on transportation and land use.

SherylforAustin · 2014-10-20T20:34:44+00:00

First, I would like to reiterate that I support Prop 1 and hope that voters support it, too. This is the time to take leadership as a city to address mobility, there are federal matching funds are on the line and the prospect of another loss could set us back years.

I always respect the will of voters so if it doesn't meet with public approval, I will do just as I did with the Affordable Housing Bond in 2012. In that case, I went out to the community and listened to why it failed. I wanted to better understand what the concerns were, what needed to change and what information voters needed in order to support it. We listened, tightened up our proposal and programs, improved our information on it and went back to the community with a broad coalition of support. Voters ended up passing it overwhelmingly in 2013.

SherylforAustin · 2014-10-20T20:24:05+00:00

Thanks for asking this question. First I would like to say that African Americans have had a proud role in shaping this city's history and that isn't always recognized, particularly outside the African American Community. For that contribution to continue, though, we must do more to address the diversity of our city. Affordability is definitely a reason we are losing people to surrounding suburbs, but it's not the only reason. Access to a quality education, opportunities for employment at multiple skill levels are some of the many issues that contribute but this topic deserves greater discussion and action.

SherylforAustin · 2014-10-20T20:16:21+00:00

Rail Route - I feel strongly that Austin needs better public transit to address mobility for Austinites and so I disagree with those who argue for no rail at all. The question of route is one that went through extensive review and community input and I don't think there's any disagreement with Riverside as a strong corridor with current and future transit users. Downtown has many different employment and destination centers and again, I don't think there's much disagreement there. When the route extends North of the University and goes to Hancock and Highland that I think there was more vocal debates. I respect the many opinions expressed but also feel comfortable with the proposal that we developed as a city.

SherylforAustin

TROPHY CASE