Issue: Economic Opportunity
Q
Council has passed 2 resolutions supporting an annual increase of about 2-3% for social service contracts in order to ensure that service agencies can keep up with rising costs of doing business and maintain service capacity. Would you direct the City Manager to include this annual increase in the budget for contracts meeting their performance targets? (Y/N/Explain)
Asked by Austin Chamber of Commerce
Q
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?
Asked by Austin Chamber of Commerce
Q
Do you support a budget at the effective tax rate so home and business owners continue to benefit from the “growth dividend” and pay the same amount in property taxes as in the previous fiscal year? How do we balance this strategy with meeting the needs of people struggling to access services due to a lack of service capacity? How do you prioritize additional funding? Where would you look for efficiencies? (Y/N; Explain)
Asked by Austin Chamber of Commerce
Q
Do you agree that Austin desperately needs a united front of officeholders, local businesses and voters to “make growth pay for itself?” (Note: An example is the passage of full water impact fees implemented on new developments in 2013. See the huge benefits below. Mind you, these benefits would have disappeared had the “Pilot Knob fiasco” been allowed to stand.) $300 million collections years 1-10 (already raised $150M in first 5 years) $45 million less debt service Fiscal Year 2018 15% lower customer bills Rate your support on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the most support and 1 being the least.
Asked by IndyAustin
Q
Will you refrain from supporting any economic development projects that do not adhere to a 90% local hiring requirement, unless they are related to addressing a security threat to the Austin area? (Note: 2014 Candidates Steve Adler and Greg Casar approved this idea in ChangeAustin.org’s candidate questionnaire. To our knowledge, neither have attempted to fulfill this promise.) Rate your support on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the most support and 1 being the least.
Asked by IndyAustin