Yearly Archives: 2016
Oped: Affordability in Austin is about more than just the tax rate
Your City Council just passed a budget that balances our critical needs with affordability. We cut your electric bills and your property tax rate, and next year we will have the lowest rate of increase in combined taxes and fees in many years. This budget bends the cost curve. We have more work to do, but we are finally headed in the right direction.
On property taxes, this council created and then this year raised the homestead exemption. For the second year in a row, we raised the senior and disabled property tax exemption, and next year the median senior or disabled homeowner will pay less in Austin property taxes than four years ago — even with rising home values. We’re taking an increasingly smaller bite out of a bigger pie.
So, we cut your tax rate, increase the homestead and senior exemption and lower utility rates — does Austin feel more affordable?
Johnson-Jordan Dinner remarks – The Taco Truck Speech
Saturday, Sep. 17, 2016
Friends, fellow Democrats, I am glad to be with you here tonight. Looking out at all of you, I see those who represent the hard-working people of Texas. I see people who fight in the trenches for social justice, for reproductive freedoms, for workers rights, for economic equality.
So when Donald Trump accuses Democrats of being the elites, of representing wealthy insiders. I can’t imagine what he’s talking about.
Please excuse what I’m wearing. I’m not trying to put on airs (or do a parody of my now friend Mike Martinez’s campaign video). The thing is, I just came from a function for the ballet. This, obviously, is why I’m wearing a tux. I mean, It’s after six. I’m not a farmer.[1]
But seriously, the issues facing this country could not be more important, the situation could not be more dire. You are in the trenches and you deserve great oration. You deserve the likes of Churchill, Ecclesiastes, Lincoln, Grapes of Wrath, Pericle’s Funeral Oration, Hebrews, and, of course, St. Crispin’s Day Speech… and even 30 Rock…
But today, I speak from the heart. I want to put things plainly and simply. This is no time for to be dramatic. It’s important for me to put this in my own words.
HOW GLOBALLY RECOGNIZED COMPANIES ARE GIVING BACK, RIGHT HERE IN AUSTIN
Corporations located in Austin care about Austin. That is why the Mayor’s Office convenes the Corporate Engagement Council, to foster conversations on how we can better serve Austin as a community. The Corporate Engagement Council is a public-private association that discusses corporate giving, shares and develops best practices in the industry, and engages businesses in important conversations the City is having. Continue reading
DOT NAMES AUSTIN “MAYORS’ CHALLENGE LADDERS OF OPPORTUNITY” WINNER: Austin honored for pilot project in Rundberg area
Today, U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx named Austin one of the winners of the Mayors’ Challenge for Safer People, Safer Streets. Austin, which won for its Smart Trips Austin program in the Rundberg neighborhood, is the Mayors’ Challenge Ladders of Opportunity (Large City) Award Winner.
“This award is designed to support a community that creates opportunities through bike and pedestrian efforts. Let me say this, because I found the statistic alarming when I read it, that fewer than 50% of low-income neighborhoods have adequate sidewalks and crosswalks around the country,” said Sec. Anthony Foxx at the 2016 Safer People, Safer Street Summit in Washington, D.C., this morning. “I’m pleased to announce Austin as winner of the Ladders of Opportunity Award. The City of Austin has launched a new program in a low-income, predominantly minority community that highlights the health and safety benefits of walking and biking. They have also installed more than 30 new pedestrian signals and beacons to make crossing safer for those with disabilities.”
“We piloted our Smart Trips Austin program in the Rundberg neighborhood, because of our commitment to improving equity,” said Mayor Steve Adler. “By helping people learn to take trips by walking, biking, and transit, in a way that works for their lives, we gave them a leg up on getting to work or school safely and more affordably – with a health and fitness bonus too.” Continue reading