10-1 Ticker... Run-Off Election Updates!
Everyone has an opinion about who you should vote for
Fri., Nov. 28, 2014
Last week mayoral candidate Steve Adler shored up his diversity credentials with announcements featuring Hispanic, African-American, and Asian-American supporters; this week he distributed a mailer flexing his Democratic connections: a photo with Barack Obama's National Finance Committee, signed with thanks to Adler by the president... Adler and opponent Mike Martinez published op-eds in the Statesman, Adler reiterating his "New Way Forward" and Martinez arguing that the 10-1 Council will need experienced leadership...
More Endorsements! D6's Don Zimmerman has won the endorsement of fellow conservative iconoclast and former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul... Zimmerman also claims to be the only candidate who accepts Bitcoin campaign contributions... Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett has thrown his enthusiastic support behind Greg Casar in D4 – he went on a blockwalk with Casar's campaign this past Saturday, despite the rain... Democrats are rolling out the big guns in D8, with Doggett and County Judge-elect Sarah Eckhardt holding a fundraiser at former state Rep. Valinda Bolton's home for run-off contender Ed Scruggs. The supposedly nonpartisan race has become tinged with party politics, not least because his opponent Ellen Troxclair is chief of staff to rampant Tea Partier Rep. Jason Isaac, R-Dripping Springs... Tina Cannon crossed "the invisible party line" to endorse her former opponent Sheri Gallo for D10. In a lengthy post on Facebook explaining her decision, she wrote, "I feel that Sheri's balanced approach, business smarts, budgetary expertise, collaborative nature and true bi-partisanship is what D10 needs to truly reflect our residents"...
D3 contenders Susana Almanza and Sabino "Pio" Renteria squared off at last week's City Council meeting. Almanza was there to decry Springdale Farm (and the Chronicle's coverage of the story, see p.20), while her brother, Renteria, was there to show his support for urban farms... Former D3 candidates are getting behind Steve Adler: Shaun Ireland has endorsed Adler over Martinez, while Fred McGhee penned a lengthy blog post titled "Why the Guy From Rockdale Should be Rejected as Austin Mayor," defending of Adler. In it, McGhee makes the case that "Martinez left the middle class long ago," and is "simply too average" to be trusted as mayor. As for an endorsement of the two remaining candidates in his own race, McGhee appears tepid: "Neither Pio nor Susana need my endorsement and I doubt that they will seek it. Different story with Jose Valera, of course," he wrote on Facebook...
A listener reports that D4 candidate Laura Pressley has been running campaign ads on the "pirate" local radio station, 90.1FM, that features Alex Jones' ravings along with the usual brace of filtered water and gold-bug ads – the unauthorized station is subject to Federal Communications Commission fines, thus far defied by local operators and Pressley supporters Walter Olenick and Rae Nadler-Olenick... Oddest endorsement of the run-off: The Austin Firefighters Association endorsed D8 candidate Ellen Troxclair, who signed the Citizens for Tax Relief Now! pledge committing her to never raise property taxes above the effective rate – virtually guaranteeing annual pay cuts for public employees, including firefighters... Of 17 initial candidates who signed the CTRN pledge, only Pressley, Troxclair, and D6 candidate Don Zimmerman survive...
Accusations made Monday by D7 run-off candidate Jeb Boyt charged that opponent Leslie Pool claims homestead tax exemptions on two different Austin properties. "At a time when all candidates are talking about affordability and tax fairness on the campaign trail, Pool has been skirting the law to cut her tax payments," Boyt noted in a press release – and reiterated that afternoon during a Chronicle endorsement meeting. Questioned on the exemptions, Pool offered Tuesday that the second house, on Fleetwood Drive in South Austin, is owned by her domestic partner Will Grover, who moved into Pool's house in North Austin in 2008. "He started renting his house and forgot to remove the homestead exemption," she said. "After that, I loaned him money to pay off the mortgage. That happened in 2012. Will is currently paying me back with interest. He's in the process of correcting" the homestead exemption. Pool estimates that the tax exemptions since he moved out have totaled around $400 per year, and that "he will pay whatever it is in full."
Early voting starts Dec. 1. Click here for voting info and Chronicle endorsements.
An aid for Leslie Pool wrote in Wednesday to explain that the $400 figure she mentioned Tuesday was actually per year and that Grover actually began renting his house in 2008 – not 2011, as she noted Tuesday.
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