[Music].

>> With a new form of government
taking shape at City Hall,

and every seat up for grabs,
Austin voters elected two new

City Council Members on
November 4th and sent 16 Council

candidates plus two vying
for Austin mayor to run-off

elections.

Tonight, Beyond the Rhetoric, we
sit down with the newly-elected

Council Members to hear how they
will lead their districts and

our city.

[Music].

>> Support for Civic
Summit comes from Google,

a global technology leader
focused on improving the ways

people connect with information
and also by Texas Mutual

Insurance, providing workers'
compensation for Texas

employers.

[Music].

>> Hello.

And thanks for joining
us for Civic Summit,

Council Member-elect
conversation.

A joint production of KLRU,
Leadership Austin, KUT,

and the Annette Strauss
Institute for Civic Life.

I'm Jennifer Stayton with KUT
90.5, Austin's NPR station.

Our discussion, tonight, is
going to focus on leadership.

We want to know what skills
and qualities our three

newly-elected Council Members
will bring with them to City

Hall.

And we invite all of you
to Tweet along with us.

Please use the #civicsummit.

My guests this half hour,
won their districts outright,

avoiding a run off.

Delia Garza of District 2,
Ann Kitchen of District 5,

which is in South Austin, and
Kathie Toe -- co -- Tovo of

District 9, which is
downtown and central Austin.

Kathie Tovo is an incumbent City
Council Member who was facing a

run off with current
councilman, Chris Riley.

Councilman Riley has
since conceded that race,

leaving Kathie Tovo the winner.

Thanks to all of you for
being here this evening.

Now, the first question
we're going to start with,

which you all received
ahead of time,

I want to hear what you've
learned about yourself over the

past months of campaigning
that will help you govern.

And Delia, we'll start with you.

>> Okay.

I thought long and hard
about this question.

One of the most challenging jobs
I've ever had was as an Austin

firefighter, and I feel like I
learned the most about myself

there.

I did learn that I can
survive on very little sleep,

[Laughter].

horrible diet, and
little exercise.

And -- but what I
learned, in general,

was that this job is more --
is mostly about listening to

people.

You go in here thinking that you
have your message straight and

you're going to have these stump
speeches and it's -- you walk

into a meeting and you sit down
and you shut your mouth and you

listen.

And so I think that will help
me on the Council and that --

that's what this is about.

It's about listening to your
constituents and Austinites and

then coming up with ideas to
help solve their problems.

>> Ann.

>> Well, thank you -- thank
you so much for having us.

I mean, this is so exciting.

I -- when I decided
to run -- you know,

I've been in office before and I
decided to run because I really

wanted to make a difference.

And so what I learned from
talking to people all over the

district is the depth of passion
and hope that people have for

this 10-1 system, and that's
very exciting because we're not

going to make
changes on our own.

We're going to make changes
with -- with the people in our

district, together, with all
the people across the city.

And so one of the things that
was so heartening to me about

the whole campaign process was
how engaged people were, how,

you know, how
passionate they are,

and how much they want to see
change and be part of that.

>> Kathie.

>> Well, I -- I would agree with
some of the comments that my new

colleagues made as well.

When I ran in 2011, I had
a -- a pretty short race,

all things considering;
and this was a much larger,

much longer one.

It was, really, a nine-month
race and it was coupled with

serving on Council and
it was a lot to balance;

and -- and I was reminded,
during the campaign,

of just how important it is
to reach out and ask for help,

whether it was asking
my family for more help,

from asking my 7 and 8
year old to, you know,

pick up some of the family
tasks that needed to get done,

to really reaching out to
members of the community and

asking them to volunteer.

It's -- it is something
I -- I do, of course,

all the time as
a Council Member,

reach out to members of the
community and ask them for input

about policies we're considering
and working with my colleagues

to shape policies.

But a campaign
demands tremendous,

tremendous energy from so many
people across the community and

it was really important to be
reminded of just how important

it is to have a broad base of
support and to have people who

are passionate and as committed
to working on city issues as I

am because it takes every single
one of them to look -- to run a

successful campaign, and really,
to shape the policies of our

city.

>> So Delia, one thing that
you said in your answer,

we've heard from several folks
who have been on campaigns the

past few months, which is that
lack of sleep, being very tired.

That it -- it's a big
commitment to campaign.

It takes a lot of
time and energy.

I know when you
get to governing,

it's not quite --
quite as intense,

but it's still very
time consuming.

Takes a lot of energy.

So given that and what you know
about what it's like to campaign

and to serve, I want to hear
from each of you why you want to

do this?

And Ann, let's start
with you for this one.

>> Well, I'm excited about it
because I think it's a huge

opportunity for the whole city.

You know, I -- my whole life
has been about making -- making

things better for people and
helping people improve their

lives, and I think we just have
a great opportunity with the

10-1 system to do that.

You know, and so -- and -- so
that's -- that fuels my energy.

You know?

And -- and like my
colleagues have said,

one of the things you do have
to learn is how to take care of

yourself because if you
don't take care of yourself,

you can't do the job for people.

So that's another aspect of it.

>> Kathie.

>> Well, I've loved nearly every
minute of serving on Council.

It's just been an amazing
privilege and an honor and I --

I love this community
and feel that, you know,

we're facing a lot of great
opportunities but also some real

challenges, and
when I ran in 2011,

I was very committed to working
on issues of affordability,

affordable housing, education,
and those are still really

pressing challenges, and I felt
really compelled to step up and

run for reelection because we
still have a great deal of work

to do in all of those
areas; and I think,

with a new transition
and with a new Council,

we'll have lots of -- lots
of ability to collaborate and

really get more areas of the
community involved in some of

those pressing questions.

>> Delia.

>> I was on the Charter Vision
Committee with Ann and became

very passionate about 10-1 after
my service on that committee,

and just talking to people in
my neighborhood and the -- the

often expressed they didn't feel
like they had a voice when I was

cam -- when I worked for 10-1
trying to get that -- the

Proposition 3 passed.

The one thing I would say that
would resonate -- because you

have like two seconds
at someone's door.

I mean, they won't -- they're
reluctant to open the door to

begin with, and
then when they do,

you want to get that one
statement in there -- and I

would say, not a single City
Council Member lives south of

the river and that would
-- and jaws would drop,

and so when -- thankfully,
when 10-1 passed,

I thought this was a
wonderful opportunity.

I've been to -- I've been in
public service my whole life and

I love being an advocate and
I thought south -- Southeast

Austin needs a strong voice and
this is a wonderful opportunity,

not only to get
South Austin a voice,

but to get more minorities
on the City Council,

where Hispanics are 36% of
the city and the old system,

I really -- there were so many
barriers to -- if you weren't

independently wealthy or had
the right connections in the

at-large system, there
were so many barriers.

And so once 10-1
passed, I thought,

this is -- this is a system that
I can, hopefully, succeed in,

and I -- I do -- I absolutely
believe I couldn't have done it

in an at-large system.

Some people say, oh,
you could have done it.

But that's why I wanted to be a
voice and I wanted to make sure

we had more diversity
on the City Council.

>> So on the stage tonight, we
have a -- about a third of the

new City Council, which means,
at least a third of the Council

is going to be women.

It could wind up being more.

We won't know that
until December 16th,

possibly into the
morning of the 17th.

And I'm just interested to
hear from the three of you all,

how do you think that makeup of
the Council might impact your

approach to governing, your
working with your colleagues

knowing that, you know, there
are going to be at least three

women, if not more, and you know
you're going to have a mayor

who's a man.

So I'm just interested to hear
kind of what your thoughts about

those dynamics; and Kathie,
if you want to start that.

>> Well, it will be an
interesting -- it will be an

interesting thing to see in
the history of the Austin City

Council.

There have only been 16
women to serve on the 16th.

And so, you know, in one
election, we will have four,

at least.

Four female Council Members, and
so I think it's a real testament

to the changes that are before
us and I don't think we know,

yet, how it might shape the
dynamics of the policies,

but it is -- it is
really important.

When I go -- I try to go talk
to as many classes as invite me.

And one of -- I remember talking
to a young -- a group of young

-- middle school young women and
they were amazed when they heard

that there were only 16 women
who had ever served on the

Council and only one woman
had ever served as mayor,

their -- their jaws dropped.

They -- it was so inconceivable
to them growing up in the

society that -- that there
wouldn't have been more women

leaders.

And so it's -- I think it is a
very important that Austin have

a Council that reflects -- is
more reflective of our society.

>> Delia.

>> I think it's a wonderful
thing to have more women that's

-- you know, there's so many
glass ceilings that need to be

broken and this is one of them.

We should be 50% of everything,
but I -- I -- I had all male

opponents and Ann had
all male opponents.

I don't -- I don't know how
much that affected too much,

but there -- I think -- I don't
want to do any man bashing,

here, [Laughter].

but I think women are -- are
more willing to collaborate and

compromise, and I think it's
a wonderful thing that -- for

young girls to see women
up there, women leaders.

There's never been a Hispanic
city -- female Hispanic City

Council Member, and so, I mean,
I'm very humbled by having that.

There were so many people that
came before me that blazed this

trail and so I'm excited about
the little Latinos growing up

and seeing somebody that looks
like them on the City Council.

>> Ann.

>> Well -- well, you know, I've
-- I've been fighting for women

in elected office
for a long time.

First, with the women's
political caucus, and then,

I was co-founder
of Annie's List,

and I -- I believe -- and
also from my experience at the

capitol, I really think
that women approach things

differently; and of course,
that's a generalization and it's

not true of all
men, but in general,

I would say that the women
are more collaborative,

women are focused on solutions,
women tend to be less -- less --

less focused on status, and
so I think -- and that the new

Council, it's got
to be collaborative.

This is going to be very
challenging with all of us,

you know, almost all of us
being new, not all of us,

but almost all of us being new,
it's going to be very important

that we take a collaborative
approach to bring the whole city

together.

>> So this will be new
Council, new arrangement,

the 10-1 system, and what that
means is that some of you will

draw two-year Council
terms, and I think,

most people would say that
that two-year term might be a

disadvantage just because it's
such a short period of time,

but I'm wondering if you can
think of any positives to having

just the two-year term and --
I think we're at Delia who's

first?

>> Yeah.

That's right.

I think a positive, if
you're on the two-year term,

is you're really going to start
to work really hard [Laughter].

fast, frankly.

Not that I wasn't going
to do that anyway.

But -- especially as -- as a
new -- I'm not an incumbent.

I need to get out there and -- I
-- I can't think of another positive honestly.

[Laughter].

>> Ann.

>> Well, you know, I --
I -- I think, you know,

a positive is that they'll
have -- it'll have that kind of

conversation that you have in an
election sooner with the public.

Now, all of us are -- are
-- are going to create those

conversations with
our districts.

That's one of the
beauties of the 10-1,

but when you do an election,
it's really holding you more

accountable; and so from
the public's perspective,

I think that that
can be an advantage.

>> Kathie.

>> Well, I think that's
an interesting point,

from the public's perspective.

You know, two years is a
very short period of time,

especially when you look at how
-- how soon a campaign really

needs to begin to be successful.

That would really mean the coun
-- the Council Members who have

two-year terms or draw two-year
terms are beginning to think

about running for reelection in
about a year, and so, you know,

that's -- that's challenging.

I guess one positive is that
if they save their yard signs, they will have --

[Laughter].

-- you'll spend less money in their reelection campaign.

>> So I'm imagining that you
all met a lot of people when you

were campaigning for
your seats, and then,

I'd like each of you to -- to
share a story about maybe a

person that you met on the
campaign who really made an

impression on you or really had
a story that was compelling to

you or really struck
you in some way.

Ann, if you want to
start with that one.

>> Well, I have, you
know, lots of stories,

but -- but one of them that
really sticks with me is,

is a woman that I
talked to, actually,

at the polls on election day.

And she had ridden her bike
over there and was cold and wet,

you know?

But the story she had to tell me
was about what had happened with

her.

She had been working in, really,
a job that was not great,

you know, in terms of its wages
and then she got laid off.

And so she was having to deal
with all these kinds of issues.

She lost her car so she
was riding her bike.

She had to worry about where
she was going to get food from,

from day one to day -- you
know, from one day to the next.

And it just -- it really, really
struck me because it's -- it's,

you know, it's something I'm
very well aware of and -- and

affordability is
very important to me,

my -- my background
in social service,

but talking with her really
put a fine point on it.

You know, we have -- you know,
we have got to do everything we

can to make sure that everybody
in our city has a fair chance to

-- to live.

So I really appreciated her
sharing her story with me.

>> And Kathie.

>> Well, the story that jumped
into my mind when I was knocking

on doors in one of the
central city neighborhoods,

I heard lots of concerns
along -- along these lines,

but I talked to one woman
who had a teenage daughter.

She was a single mother -- is a
single mother and she said she

had bought her house
probably 15 years ago.

She is a professional
and she said, you know,

I look at my finances and I look
at our increases in property

taxes from month to month and I
know I can't stay here more than

another year or two and there
aren't any other options within

the central city where I can --
where I can live and be able to

afford my taxes, and it was a
-- it was the kind of concern I

heard, really, at everyone's
door about the escalating costs,

whether I was talking to renters
who were talking about the --

the ways their rents had
increased so dramatically over

the last few years or property
owners who are struggling with

their taxes; but that woman was
so clear about how it was -- how

it was going to impact the next
year or two of her -- of her

family and their ability
to stay in Austin.

>> Delia.

>> I -- I had similar
experiences with the similar

stories of
affordability, basically,

and District 2 has retired
teachers, retired firefighters,

and they live in these fringes
of the city because the other

parts of the city have
become too expensive.

So those are the stories and --
and it's not something that I

didn't know, but hearing it from
people and putting a face to it

and seeing that.

I mean, when I bought
my home ten years ago,

I had to decide -- it's
when I was a firefighter,

decide whether to get a second
job or to get a roommate and so

-- and that's just me
as a single person.

So I can see the -- the issues
that working families are

facing; and these are people who
have committed their careers to

investing in this community and
they can no longer afford -- two

retired teachers living -- a
couple that was their concern is

that -- I -- you know, I
was a teacher for 20 years.

My partner was a
teacher for 20 years,

and now we're in this situation
where we might not be able to

live in Austin, Texas, anymore,
this -- this beautiful community

that we -- we chose
to be our home.

And so that was a -- and it's
good to hear that it's across

the city, the same -- the
same theme, basically,

of working families
wanting to stay in Austin,

but not being able to.

>> So we -- we've been
learning about you all,

tonight and during the campaign,
and learning about some of these

issues that -- that are
across all the districts,

and I want to hear a little
bit about your districts, now.

If -- if you were going to
create a walking tour on a

district and sort of take
-- take us on a tour, name,

you know, a couple of places
that would be kind of must-see

stops on that walking
tour of your districts.

Kathie, if you want to
take that one, first.

>> Gosh, well, District 9 is
-- is really an interesting one

because it is in the central
city and there are some spots

that are just very -- are very
different from one another.

You have Austin's Master
Plan Community of Miller,

and so that would certainly
be on my -- on my tour.

You have downtown, which is one
of our most dense areas and the

economic center of the city.

The university area, and then we
have -- and then -- the central

city -- the District 9 is
really bracketed by older,

more traditional
neighborhoods south and north,

and so if we were limited in
-- in our ability to go on our

tour, I would probably pick one
-- one older neighborhood north,

maybe Hyde Park and then one
older neighborhood south,

Bouldin Creek, so that you
could see the downtown,

our Master Plan
Community of Miller,

west campus and then an older
neighborhood on either side of

the district.

But it is -- you get a
sense of how diverse it is.

We have lots of students,
seniors, families with children,

older professionals
without children,

so it's a very -- it's a very
broad mix of households and

housing types.

>> Delia.

>> Well, I -- a tour
would start at my house.

[Laughter].

And we'd go west, down Stassney
and then you would -- I think

I'd go down Emerald Forest and pass by Odom Elementary,

and then across William Cannon.

Dittmar Rec Center is in the --
a gorgeous rec center is in the

district.

You'd go south on Palace Parkway
and then Slaughter -- everything

north of Slaughter, and then you
go to the southeast side and the

-- the most known neighborhood
there is Dove Springs area.

The Dove -- Dove Springs Rec
Center is a gorgeous rec center

and I'm -- I'm very privileged
to serve on the Advisory Board

there.

They have such
wonderful programs.

I've seen how these free
programs help the families in

that area participate in things
that they probably couldn't

participate if they had
to pay for such programs.

And then there's the
industrial area in Burleson,

south of -- south of Ben White,

big industrial area,
which I think is ripe for

economic development.

And so those are the main areas
of -- of -- that I would hit on

the tour.

>> Ann.

>> Well, I describe District 5
as a long narrow -- sometimes I

talk about it as a boot because
it -- it goes along south Lamar

and South Manchaca all the
way south of Slaughter.

So I would say, you know, that
it -- there's lot of wonderful

places in District 5.

So Onion Creek would be
in the central place,

to visit the neighborhoods
in Onion Creek and then along

Slaughter and up -- you know,
going north along Manchaca,

the neighborhoods between
Stassney and -- and Slaughter,

between William
Cannon and Slaughter,

lots of old neighborhoods.

People have been there
for -- for awhile.

Very, you know -- I was privileged to go to a July 4th picnic there.

And anyway, it's --
it's a wonderful area.

And then of course, you head
north of -- of Ben White

[Laughter].

which is a --
along -- along Manchaca.

And -- and then north and stop
at the Broken Spoke, of course.

And then head up
to the lake area.

So it's a -- it's a --
it's a great neighborhood.

It's a great district
in South Austin,

and one of the nice things
that's been happening as part of

all of this is the neighbors
have been getting to know them

-- to know each other.

The folks in the north
part, the middle part,

and the south part
of the district.

So I -- I'm planning
on continuing that,

encouraging that.

>> So when you all were out
in your districts campaigning,

I want to hear from each of you,
what surprised you the most when

you were out on the campaign
trail in this campaign?

Delia, we'll start with you.

>> What surprised me the most
was continually educating voters

on the 10-1 system.

Many people did not know
what district they lived in.

They were a little familiar
with the new districts but they

didn't know what district
that they lived in,

and I -- there was a
Statesman story about that,

that -- that I was interview for
and I think the response from

the city was that, well,
we have 78 candidates,

we'll let 78 candidates
educate the people,

and I just -- I thought
that was a poor decision.

I think there should have been
more help in educating the

public on this -- I mean
this is a historic change.

So that was -- that was the
most surprising is that a lot of

people did not know -- towards
the very end I start -- and --

but there again, you're knocking
on the same doors, a lot.

So I'm sure they were,
oh, it's her again.

[Laughter].

But then they knew they
were in District 2.

But that was surprising
in the beginning.

>> Ann.

>> Well, you know, what struck
me the most was how engaged

people were -- were.

How engaged people
are, you know,

and their -- their hope for
change and their passion about

change.

I mean, the voter turnout
in District 5 was very high,

and a lot of the precincts, and
people really wanted to be part

of this; and so it really struck
me as I talked to people all

across the district, how they
wanted to -- they wanted to talk

about what needed to happen for
South Austin and that people in

South Austin had -- had
felt like they had not been

represented, and this was an
opportunity to change that.

So that really struck me
throughout the whole entire

campaign.

>> And Kathie.

>> I would say the same.

Really, the level of
engagement was very,

very high and that was a
really welcome surprise.

You know, I campaigned in 2011
and -- and did some -- you know,

as much as I was able
to in two months,

some door-to-door knocking,
and people, certainly,

were interested in the issues,
but it was nothing compared to

this cycle.

People -- neighborhood
associations held forums and

debates and smaller
organizations did as well.

And just throughout
the neighborhoods,

it was really clear that people
were so excited and engaged,

not just with the -- with the
race and the candidates who were

running, but also the
issues themselves,

and it was -- and it -- and it
-- it is a really unusual time

because you did have groups
forming around the district and

so -- individuals from the
Cherry Wood Neighborhood

Association were talking to
the Hyde Park Neighborhood

Association and Bouldin
Creek Neighborhood,

and so you had people from --
from across the area who maybe

hadn't met together as a group,
talking about local issues and

what is important to them and
finding that they had a lot of

similarities even though their
neighborhoods might look very

different and be in different
geographic areas of -- of

District 9.

And so I -- I believe it really
signifies a whole new level of

public engagement
going forward, too.

A lot of those
alliances will hold,

and that level of engagement
will -- will remain strong,

I believe, and we'll have even
more public participation down

at City Hall, which
is a very good thing.

>> Well, we thank you for your
participation, here, tonight.

We've come to the end
of our time, already,

but we have a final question.

We're short on time
so one sentence each.

At the end of your term, what is
the biggest mark that you would

like to leave on your district?

Ann, we'll start with you,
one sentence from each.

>> I would like -- the biggest
accomplishment would be that the

people of South Austin feel like
they're represented and that

they have hope and
engagement with their city.

>> Kathie.

>> I would like to see that
we've really made progress on

some of the big issues that
we've been talking about as a

community:
affordability education,

environmental sustainability,
that we've really made

measurable steps in
all of those areas.

>> And Delia.

>> And I would love to be able
to say that not a single working

class family has to leave Austin
again so that would be a big

accomplishment.

>> Well, we are out
of time for tonight,

but thanks to all of you,
Delia Garza, Ann Kitchen,

and Kathie Tovo.

All of the run-off
conversations,

including the conversation with
candidates for Austin mayor will

be available on
YouTube and KLRU.TV.

For KLRU, Leadership Austin, the
Annette Strauss Institute for

Civic Life and KUT,
I'm Jennifer Stayton,

thanks so much for watching.

[Music].

[Applause].

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