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One of the best ways to make Austin more affordable is to ensure we have a diverse set of industries which provide local, skilled and the hard-to-employ talent the opportunity to compete for jobs that have a career ladder. The Austin City Council is considering adopting a revised economic incentive policy, expanding the previous one-size-fits-all policy. If the Austin Chamber of Commerce presents a company that meets the criteria for an incentive as set by City Council policy, will you vote to support incentivizing jobs for both small operators and large in our city? How will you monitor success with the provision requiring employment of the hard-to-employ?

Danielle Skidmore

City Council, District 9

In general, yes. Having a data driven, performance based, standard City Council policy sounds like a good start to help make individual discussions about incentives less contentious. As for monitoring success in terms of employing the hard-to-employ: the most successful programs supporting the entry of these people in the workplace, provide a range of opportunities to meet the needs of the individuals and the employers. As an engineer, I love data, but when we’re talking about the human experience, success is going to start with reaching out to the individuals and organizations that are supporting them to really track their changes to quality of life. GoodWill does good work in this regard.

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