Readers Poll: Politics [ Arts & Entertainment | Architecture & Lodging | Food & Drink | High-Tech | Kids | Media | Outdoors & Recreation | Politics | Services | Shopping ] Critics' Picks | Readers Poll Winners sorted alphabetically

City Department

Austin Fire Department

This year's award goes to our number one tough guys and gals. Always first on the scene, the folks at AFD continue to prove themselves as city heroes. Hats off also to the folks at Parks & Recreation and our friends in blue who tied for second.

1621 Festival Beach, 477-5784

Community Program

Austin Recycles

Austin recycling has become a phenomenal success thanks to the city's heads-up operation and thousands of beer drinkers who keep them busy. You voters also recognized that Yellow Bikes still roam the streets and that the Community Gardens continue to grow.

Solid Waste Services, 499-2111

Councilmember

Daryl Slusher

photograph by Jana Birchum

We've given our former politics editor some not-so-gentle ribbing since he took office back in 1996, but really, he is our favorite city councilmember, too. Annexation, Prop. 2, and other efforts on behalf of Smart Growth will keep our city the jewel that it is, and Slusher has been a driving force behind these moves. Mayor Watson and Mayor Pro-Tem Gus Garcia follow close behind as our favorite city servants.

Eighth & Colorado, 499-2260

Effort to Control Pollution/ Improve the Environment

S.O.S.

For years now, S.O.S. Alliance has been on the front lines of defense to preserve beautiful Barton Springs and has provided an emotional voice to the endangered salamander.

PO Box 684881, 477-2320

Lobbyist/Consultant

Ann Richards

Can Ann Richards do no wrong? The ex-guv-turned-lobbyist has enormous popular appeal, nay, clout, suggesting that losing her campaign for a second term in office may have been the best career move she ever made. Longtime education juggernaut, the PTA, takes a respectable second place.

Verner Liipfert Bernhard McPherson & Hand, 703-6000

Local Eccentric

TIE: Leslie; Max Nofziger

Leslie photograph by Kenny Braun

The fashion savant of Congress Avenue and community bull Max Nofziger tie for first place. Not five blocks from the pink protuberance we call the Texas Capitol, a middle-aged man named Leslie tinkers with his elaborate shopping cart, a House of Style on wheels, while wearing a G-string bikini. (You know, he's actually quite fit.) Throw in a pair of black pumps, a pink tiara, a salt & pepper beard, and suddenly the day has gone pear-shaped. The man should be thanked. Ex-councilmember Max Nofziger, despite having walked the halls of power as city councilmember for nine years, is still seen as a man outside the mainstream.

Leslie: He's on Congress most days; Max Nofziger: 474-1115

Local Scandal

Salamanders

Those pesky salamanders just can't seem to stay out of trouble. This year, they made the news when cleanings shut down Barton Springs Pool, ostensibly to protect the darlin' critters. The real scandal, though, may be the way developer-friendly lawyers pitted environmentalists against the pinky-sized amphibians. Other scandals of note: Hyde Park's Triangle wrangle (a contender for 1999 as well?) and a youth minister who threatened to tarnish Great Hills Baptist's squeaky-clean reputation.

Barton Springs in Zilker Park

Local Visionary

Kirk Watson

photograph by Todd. V. Wolfson

Reading the cards of our city can be tough, but through Smart Growth initiatives and innovative development tactics, Mayor Watson has helped tame the capitalist storm in order to preserve Austin's charm in the midst of its boom. Far from being just a visionary, Watson has turned ideas into action, using his superb mediation skills and activist sensibilities to make the current council more productive than any other in memory.

City Council, Office of the Mayor, Eighth & Colorado, 499-2250

News Story

Triangle

photograph by Jana Birchum

The ongoing Triangle saga, resurrected from 1997's the Readers Poll as Austin's top news story, may be a little closer to resolution but it certainly ain't over yet (see "Scandal"). The Barton Springs salamander slithers into second, and that nasty haze that had Austin hiding indoors in May-June is another top contender.

Guadalupe, between Lamar & 45th

Nonprofit Group

TIE: AIDS Services of Austin; Goodwill; SafePlace

A three-way tie in this hotly contested category shows that Austin is serious about its nonprofit community. The three top organizations have outwardly different aims but share a common goal of providing a safety net to those who need it, in issues regarding health, welfare, and both (personal safety). Habitat for Humanity was a close runner-up.

ASA: 458-2437; Goodwill: 472-6224; SafePlace: 385-5181

Nonprofit Volunteer

Peg Kramer

Single mom Kramer credits her 13-year-old son for motivating her activism on the UT staff salary issue when he asked, "What are you going to do about this, Mom?" What the firebrand has done since becoming president of the University Staff Association has been to mobilize a previously listless organization around the salary issue, forcing (unsatisfactory so far) administration response and causing elected representatives to question what's going on at the state's wealthiest university. Kramer warns the coming fiscal year could lead to an intensified struggle. Sic 'em, Peg!

University Staff Association, School of Social Work, 1925 San Jacinto, 471-2935

Public Servant

Kirk Watson

Watson tenure so far shows that his man-of-the-people image is substance as well as style - and our readers love him. Funny thing about this year's vote in this category, however: Sandwiched between current and prior winner Kirk Watson and Austin's man in Washington Lloyd Doggett (in third) is Republican Gov. George W. Bush, a darling of conservative Texas Democrats who like to hedge their bets.

City Council, Office of the Mayor, Eighth & Colorado, 499-2250

Rumor

Everyone's Gay, Especially Local Sportscasters

For any of you TV Jocks quaking in your closet, fret not. Just about every one of your professional colleagues was mentioned (except Andy Liscano) in this scathing expose of fifth-grade proportions. Who knew our demographics stretched into such a sophisticated segment of the populace?

State Office

TIE: Governor's Office, Texas Music Office & Texas Film Commission

Along with thousands of hardworking Austin artists, these divisions of our state governor's office are there behind the scenes to represent, promote, and brag to the world that Austin is the creative person's Mecca. Music maestro Casey Monahan and film fan Tom Copeland make quite the tag-team as directors of these concerns. Attorney General Dan Morales' office takes a close second place.

State Insurance Building, 463-9200

Texas Legislator

Glen Maxey

It was a close race, but three-time favorite Maxey, known for his dogged, tenacious work in the underprotected arenas of healthcare and human rights, edged out Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos as Austin's favorite rep. Champion of the downtrodden Elliot Naishtat made a strong third-place showing.

PO Box 2910, Austin, TX 78768, 463-0552