Guess Who?
Dear Editor,
I appreciate your recommendation to VOTE NO on Proposition I, but I’d take it a step further [“Chronicle Endorsements for the November 3 Midterm Elections,” News, Oct. 16]. Of course, we all want audits, but that is not what this proposition is about. If this “wolf in sheep’s clothing” passes, it will be just in time for Gov. Greg Abbott to weaponize it against his favorite target: our beloved Austin. I expect it to become his top argument to “privatize” Austin Energy. Instead of the profits going into subsidizing our parks, libraries, and other quality-of-life enrichments that we enjoy, the profits will go to PRIVATE owners. Guess which Austin billionaire would just love to own Austin Energy, setting rates to expand his wealth and making profit-based decisions about the rates for his data centers and other personal gambits?
Debra Danburg
Let’s Go to the Tape
Dear Editor,
I heard Zo Qadri say at an environmental forum on August 22 that he had voted against the Dog’s Head development agreement. I was intrigued because I had been in Council chambers on May 21, 2026, when he voted for the development agreement. So I looked up the minutes of the Council for the record. May 21, [there were] three votes on Dog’s Head: 1) Development agreement (Item 38); 2) Interlocal agreement with Travis County (Item 39); 3) Annexation of Dog’s Head (Item 60). Zo voted yes on all three.
July 23, 2026, there were seven votes on Dog’s Head: 1) Agreement with Travis County to fund and participate in a TIRZ (Item 14); 2) Approve the preliminary project and financing plan for the TIRZ (Item 15); 3) Vacating 2.9026 acres for Dog’s Head (Item 75); 4) Vacating 5.3307 acres for Dog’s Head (Item 76); 5) Annexing right-of-way land at Dog’s Head (Item 106); 6) Creating the TIRZ for Dog’s Head (Item 111); and 7) Amending the development agreement to slightly lower the entitlements in the Dog’s Head Agreement (Item 142).
Of the 10 votes on Dog’s Head, Zo Qadri only voted against Item 111 – creating the TIRZ (after voting for it twice on the same day in Items 14 & 15) – and Item 142 – the amendments to the development agreement to reduce some of the previous entitlements. Zo voted against making the agreement slightly less generous to the developers. Flip-flop.
B.E. McArthur
Who Do You Trust?
Dear Editor,
I thank the Chronicle for opposing Prop. I on the upcoming city ballot [“Chronicle Endorsements for the November 3 Midterm Elections,” News, Oct. 16]. Since we all want our tax dollars spent efficiently, one would think this shouldn’t be a partisan issue. Yet, as with most initiatives that come from the Republicans, we know what they really mean by Prop. I – spare the rich, screw the poor. So that’s why I’m disappointed to notice that many Democrats are way too comfortable with (yet another) ballot initiative from the people who brought you (re)criminalizing homelessness and a greatly watered down “alternative” to a police oversight proposal that was already on the ballot.
I slightly disagree with your reporter Brant Bingamon’s description of the opposition, which he says is partly about “profit” potentially made by the auditing company [“City Leaders, Organizations Rally Against Save Austin Now’s Proposition I,” News, Oct. 16]. The Prop. I ballot language says the auditor is required to identify “savings” that “exceed” their “cost.” It says nothing about profit.
Prop. I requires any auditing company to find the money to pay for their services in our budget. This would essentially hard-boil a major conflict of interest into our City Charter and is the main reason I believe Prop. I is so harmful. And when the proposal comes from people who have made it clear that spending on bettering the quality of life for all Austinites is something they have no interest in, we already know they have a very different definition of “savings.”
Like most of us, I don’t have the time to dive into the minutiae of every complex issue on every ballot, so often I rely on those I think know more than me and whose opinions I trust. Admittedly, this sometimes hasn’t worked. But if you’re a Democrat, before voting on Prop. I, ask yourself: Who do you put more trust in, Greg Casar or Matt Mackowiak?
Guy LeBlanc
Seriously?
Dear Editor,
By endorsing Austin incumbents José Velásquez and, especially, attorney Ryan Alter [“Chronicle Endorsements for the November 3 Midterm Elections,” News, Oct. 16], the Chronicle somehow ignored that with the Dog’s Head deal both incumbents voted [for] over $1.5 billion in tax rebates and 45 years of erased environmental protection ordinances for mega-developer Endeavor and its partner Amazon’s robot factory, a deal kept secret by City Hall NDAs; this after they pushed Prop Q to raise taxes on the rest of us; voted 99.8% of the time for developers, even when it reduced scarce affordable housing in West Austin and replaced West Campus housing with zoning for the Austin-invading Nerd Reich’s Ayn Rand Center; repeatedly violated the Texas Open Meetings Act, as determined by three different Travis County judges; violated the city ethics ordinance by failing to keep records of meetings with lobbyists; and almost never even asked questions in City Council meetings (and, as you allude to but don’t explain in your charter amendment endorsements, make almost every decision in the back room before ever hearing a single word from public hearing speakers). Then there was the Zilker Park pave-and-privatize plan they and [Zo] Qadri supported before Mayor [Kirk] Watson spared the entire Council from political suicide by shelving the plan.
But, hey, somehow we want four more years of this rank “leadership,” and in Alter’s case, in part because challenger and citizen and parks leader David Weinberg didn’t present well “in the room.” Seriously?
At least you got it right by endorsing Rich Heyman against incumbent Zo Qadri, who has been equally captured by City Hall lobbyists and the special interests bankrolling all of the incumbents’ campaigns. Thank you on this one!!!
Bill Bunch
Treehugger and 37-year South Austin voter
GOTV
Dear Editor,
Friends, we still have in this country the greatest achievement in a democracy: the vote. Realizing that the future of Austin, Texas, and the United States is in our hands is a mighty responsibility, so please exercise your right and vote. Do it for America’s future and be a proud citizen.
Art Klempner
Just Want to Say
Dear Editor,
I just want to say I will not let the government nor any other group come between me and my family and friends, no matter their viewpoints. This evil that is separating families, any families, must stop. It will not just be immigrant families but also us American families.
I don’t like labels. I don’t understand why people believe lies from a stranger more than from the person they have known for months, years, or their whole life.
Personally, I never was an alcoholic, I never did drugs but smoked pot twice in my 20s before dangerous substances were added. I am not gay, nor bi. I just try to do what is right, for me and others.
I have learned that knowing people from many different cultures and languages is a good thing. America was built from this, we should be welcoming again.
Have faith. I don’t mean a particular religion but understand how you know your greatest goodness, love, hope, compassion, forgiveness, caring, and sharing.
As an adult I have lived in Texas longer than any other state. I still care about Texas and hope it changes direction for the well-being of all its people, especially in healthcare, education, and affordable living.
Irene A. Muzet RN
This article appears in October 23 • 2026.