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Laurin Currie, lawyer, mediator, and a longtime leader of the Balcones Neighborhood Association in Northwest Austin, was the key figure in Balcones and its sister Northwest Hills NA’s fight to stop an Albertson’s superstore from going up on Mesa Drive. Currie promises to use the skills and knowledge demonstrated in that successful battle to the citizens’ benefit on the council — going as far as to use the elaborate Mesa Drive traffic studies created by the NAs as a prop on the campaign trail. As do most candidates, he promises to leaven this wonky base with good old-fashioned horse sense, dialogue, and openess. “While I have opinions, they do not rise to the level of absolute facts or truths,” he says, promising to release all information he receives as a councilmember to the press and public.
Of course, the last time we elected a Northwest Austin neighborhood leader who promised attention to detail and full disclosure, we got Louise Epstein. But Currie says he would be a better choice than the vilified and disgraced Epstein. In a way unfortunately rare among West Side neighborhood activists, Currie understands the connection between his local issues and those facing the city as a whole, especially its less-affluent parts, and has been productive in the growth-and-development reform process begun by the Citizens Planning Committee.
But when listening to Currie on the stump, one senses he is running for city manager rather than council member, with his oft-repeated promises to not make any decisions without hearing the broadest range of input from all parties and exploring every possible alternative. Since Austin is, for all its fascination with politics, easily bored with the processes of government, it’s not surprising that Currie, for all his salutary qualities, has not attracted any of the buzz that’s gone with other grass roots, low-budget candidates like Karen Hadden in Place 5, with their more incandescent calls for social and political change.
Joe Gonzales’ story is quite different — the East Austin activist has fire to spare, but has eschewed the establishment political process to a degree that’s given him a reputation as some sort of a political thug. This comes in part from his El Concilio connections, and that controversial neighborhood alliance’s seeming preference for noisy protest and accusations of racism over attempts to find solutions to the problems it decries, with Capital Metro its most recent target. Gonzales has also held somewhat shadowy roles with other candidates’ campaigns, notably Bruce Todd’s re-election effort.
Gonzales, who has said he is running for office to represent the Little Guy, has generally eschewed the opportunity to set the record straight about himself or his record. In each of his own council campaigns — this is his third — he has showed up at hardly any forums, blown off endorsement meetings, raised no money, and remained basically invisible. Most of his opponents are glad to keep it that way. — MCM
This article appears in April 25 • 1997 and April 25 • 1997 (Cover).