Ron Davis (www.rondaviscampaign.com)
Professional: Travis Co. commissioner Precinct 1; owner of office and computer equipment supply store; Veterans Administration computer analyst
Community: Neighborhood and environmental activist – fought to keep an Austin Community College campus in East Austin; battled gasoline storage tank farm; founded East Austin Strategy Team, an environmental justice organization
Celia Israel (www.celiaisrael.com)
Professional: owner, Mission Resources consulting firm; legislative director, Texas Association of Mexican-American Chambers of Commerce; General Service Commission’s HUB program; aide to former Gov. Ann Richards
Community: AISD Community Safety Task Force; Office of the Police Monitor Citizens Review Panel; city of Austin Environmental Board; Capital Area Food Bank; YWCA; Austin Women’s Political Caucus; GenAustin
Arthur Sampson (www.arthursampson.com)
Professional: Construction manager/inspection, city of Austin; small-business owner providing refurbished low-income housing; Texas peace officer
Community: Owner/operator of Northeast Austin community park; Windsor Park NA; Black Austin Democrats; Austin Tejano Democrats
Kathy Bedford Smith
Professional: Judicial services manager and probation officer, Travis County Juvenile Probation Department; helped develop county’s first Adult Diversion Drug Court and Juvenile Drug Court
Community: Coordinator, “Do the Write Thing” to reduce juvenile violence; AISD Safe & Drug Free Community Advisory Board; former member National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice; member, Mount Sinai Baptist Church
This article appears in February 13 • 2004.