Rich DePalma officially announced on Tuesday that he’ll join the race for City Council in District 8. The Southwest Austin advocate boasts an extensive history of environmentalism, having founded the Friends of Dick Nichols Park in 2007, worked to secure funding as a member of the Parks Foundation, and served on the Parks and Recreation Board since 2015. (He’s currently the board’s vice chair.) “The environment has been something that has been the backbone to who I am,” he said. DePalma slots into the ever-crowding race alongside D8 incumbent Ellen Troxclair, fellow environmentalist Paige Ellis, and progressive attorney Bobby Levinski, whose body of work includes representation for Save Our Springs.
This article appears in April 6 • 2018.