I'm Creative, and I Vote!

Will Lee, Brigid, and Clay care as much about real creativity as about real estate? (by John Anderson)

Do you know which current and aspiring city officials truly get what creativity means to Austin's future and which ones just pay it lip service with a few tossed-off references to Willie, Stevie Ray, and how they want to keep Austin weird, too? You can find out Monday, April 30, at a Mayoral and Council Candidate Forum for the Creative Sector.

The Austin Creative Alliance, Austin Music People, the Austin Film Society, and Texas Accountants and Lawyers for the Arts of Central Texas are sponsoring the event, which starts at 6pm, though you'll have a chance to lubricate yourself and chat up fellow creatives in a half-hour happy hour at 5:30pm.

With a new economic impact study about creativity in Austin on the table, this is a great time to see who's up to speed on the crucial role the arts and other creative industries play in the city's fiscal health and who has a vision for enhancing all our creative energy and activity through public policy. Have a burning question about affordable housing for artists, code compliance for live/work spaces, sound ordinances, or incentives for film that you want to see addressed? Submit it in advance at www.facebook.com/events/164979496958188.

Mayoral candidates speak from 6-6:30pm. Council candidates speak from 6:30-7:30pm. The forum, which is free and open to the public, will take place at the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center, 600 River.