Randi Shade held a press conference yesterday affirming her commitment to a run-off in Place 3, and promising “to review her positions on important, key issues facing the City of Austin and stark differences between Randi and her opponent,” Kathie Tovo. The Hustle brings you reaction from both camps.
While the Hustle was unable to make the presser, the Shade campaign’s release afterward has Shade emphasizing three differences. On Water Treatment Plant No. 4, she writes Tovo “won’t say if she would vote to stop construction if she were elected. That’s a clear choice for the voters to make.”
Shade also calls public safety her top priority, alleging Tovo has “said very clearly that she believes we spend too much money on public safety.” She also says Tovo “speaks with a forked tongue” on development issues, opposing denser development like the Park PUD, which, Shade argues, will provide the tax base and central city development that will keep neighborhood schools open. Whether Shade’s attempt to turn potential liabilities among certain voters into strength with others will pay dividends remains to be seen, but she’s doubling down on the hot-button issues: on WTP4, she writes, “I have an excellent track record on environmental issues, but to some folks who claim to represent the entire environmental community my vote to proceed with this important infrastructure investment trumps all else. This vocal minority of citizens does not represent the entire environmental community, nor does it represent the best interests of our community as a whole.”
“I heard some of the distinctions she drew yesterday, and I think most of them were frankly inaccurate,” Tovo tells the Hustle. “My idea of ‘complete communities’ definitely includes having safe and secure neighborhoods, so a big part of that is making sure we have police and EMS and firefighters out on the street. I certainly don’t support any cuts to those,” she says. And on development issues, Tovo notes “Just talking about density doesn’t get us there. Just talking about tall buildings doesn’t get us there, it’s really about the kind of buildings we’re developing, and what kind of services we have near them”; she goes on to propose tools like density bonuses tied to community benefits as a solution to development woes.
As for Water Treatment Plant No. 4, Tovo wouldn’t say whether she would act to stop the plant if elected. “I did say, and I stand by it, that had I been on council, I wouldn’t have voted for it. To me it’s a different question now, because the project is under construction, and there has been a substantial investment of taxpayer dollars. So any decision would have to be considered in light of the financial implication, the economic implications – I don’t have access to all of the information at this point. My priorities are going to make sure we have an ample secure water supply, and that any decision [I make] protect that investment.” Tovo also renewed her previous calls to look for cost-savings and efficiencies in plant construction.
“I’ve got a really broad base of support,” Tovo said, asked to define her own differences with Shade. “While there certainly are members of the development community on there, that’s not my primary backing.”
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This article appears in May 20 • 2011.