"Holding Elected Officials & their Policies Accountable"
NEWS
CAP'S ENDORSEMENTS
The City Accountability Project has endorsed three outsanding candidates for the upcoming November 8 election:
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District 5 - Aaron Velazquez Webman
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District 8 - Richard Smith
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District 9 - Linda Guerrero
These endorsements were made after carefully evaluating the full field of candidates, and included questionnaire responses and interviews. The CAP Advisory Board then voted to endorse in the above three races.
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One thing all three candidates have in common - and that made their candidacies appealing - was that all three candidates are political outsiders. They aren't part of the "establishment" or "Austin political machine". They can be counted on to not be beholden to special interests and to listen to their constituents. They'll examine issues and projects thoughtfully and vote based on their merits. Or as Mark Jones, a Rice University political science professor put it in a 2020 Statesman article referring to a governing body where all members share the same political leanings: “It is less likely co-partisans are going to serve as watchdogs on things such as corruption, fraud, mismanagement or simply poor decisions."
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As we head into the next three weeks - and any potential runoffs - the City Accountability Project will continue to educate and advocate across Austin for both specific issues as well as broader goals of more local government accountability and transparency.
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Our mission: influence the council races to change the course of tribal politics that govern Austin today.
Over the last six-plus months, CAP has made significant progress in bringing rationality to a big financial issue the City faces: our $1.5 billion proposed Convention Center expansion. We have successfully advocated to multiple City Boards and Commissions, elected officials, civic leaders, and many candidates running this fall.
The next stage of our plan is to take that and other financial issues straight to voters in the council races we made endorsements in. CAP intends to campaign smart and hard in the competitive races to educate voters and support candidates who share our priorities: accountability, transparency, public input, and spending on vital City needs that solve problems – NOT financial boondoggles supported by special interests.
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With our education and advocacy, we can change the faces of the incoming council members and elect financially-sensible voices who listen to constituents. We will keep you informed about how these races unfold.