>> With the 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 runoff elections.
Tonight: Beyond the rhetoric.
We ask the remaining candidates
what makes them the right person
to lead their
district and our city.
[ Music ].
>> Support for Civic
Summit comes from Google,
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>> Hello, and thanks for
joining us for Civic Summit,
city council runoff
conversation District 8,
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 will
focus on leadership and it will
be sort of like a job interview.
We want to know what skills and
qualities each candidate would
bring to City Hall.
My guests this half hour
are running in District 8.
Ed Scruggs and Ellen Troxclair,
and we invite all of you to
tweet along with us.
Please use the hashtag.
#CivicSummitD8.
District 8 is in
southwest Austin.
It runs mostly west of MOPAC,
starting south of Rollingwood.
It's centered around
the Y at Oak Hill.
It extends south to
the Hays county line.
Some parts of the district
are in Hays county.
On my left is Ed Scruggs.
Ed has lived in
Austin for 23 years.
13 of those years spent
in southwest Austin.
He is the founder of the circle
C area democrats and calls
himself a neighborhood activist.
Running against him
is Ellen Troxclair.
Ellen is a realtor and
small business owner.
She began her career working
in public policy at the state
capitol.
And thanks so much to both of
you for being here tonight.
So the first question for you,
which was shared with both of
you beforehand, I want to hear
what you have learned about
yourself over these past four
months of campaigning that will
help you govern, and Ed, we'll
start with you for that one.
>> That will help me govern, I
would say I have more stamina
than I could ever imagine, and
that this is my true calling,
I think working with people in
the community, talking to them,
listening to them,
and acting with them.
I always knew that that
was a big part of my life,
but now it's a part
of my life to stay.
The drive and energy, it
just feeds upon itself.
I can't get enough of it because
I'm so eager to help folks in
the community.
I'm thinking of election
night last Tuesday.
I was on my feet for 20
hours, and it was exhausting,
but it was the best 20
hours I've ever had.
I think it's changed
my life for the better,
and I look forward to governing.
>> And Ellen?
>> Well, I think if you had
asked me or told me seven or
eight months ago that I would
ever run for public office,
I would have not believed you,
because that's never been a
personal political ambition of
mine to be an elected official,
although I've enjoyed being
involved in the community and
multiple other organizations, so
that has been a surprise to me
in and of itself that here I am
several months later and being,
you know, coming in first
place at the election.
And, you know, I
got in this race,
I ultimately got motivated to
get in this race because I have
always felt -- I have always
looked forward to raising my
family in Austin, and my husband
and I got to the point where a
lot of our conversations started
to revolve around the fact,
the question of whether or not
we're going to be able to afford
to do that, and so that's what
ultimately motivated me to get
into the race.
And I was so amazed and happy
to find out how many people in
southwest Austin
felt the same way,
and joined our campaign and
looked forward to having a
taxpayer advocate
on city council.
So that would be the biggest
shock to or surprise or things
that I've learned about myself,
and I look forward to bringing
that voice for taxpayers
to city council.
>> All right.
So I want to run you two
through a hypothetical.
>> Okay.
>> And get questions about that,
so here is the hypothetical.
So there's pressure on the
council as a whole to increase
the budget for public safety
because of an increase in crime
in two of the ten districts.
Now, your district has not
directly been affected,
but you're feeling pressure from
neighborhood groups to lobby for
increased evening patrol.
So the questions: How would you
work with APD to decide which
districts get more officers?
And then if that means
delivering to your district what
might be unwanted news, maybe
news that they don't want to
receive, how would you go about
communicating that choice back
to your constituents?
And Ellen, we'll start
with you for this one.
>> Okay.
Great question.
Well, I think a common theme
the throughout this campaign has
been a need for
better communication,
whether it's better
communication between city
council members
and constituents,
or between city council members
and the different interest
groups, or very important
organizations like our police
and firemen who serve
our city so well.
So the first step is
reaching out to them,
sitting down and having
that conversation with them,
learning all of the facts, and
working together to make an
informed decision,
and, you know,
although we want to do what's
best for the city as a whole,
it is my job to be an
advocate for southwest Austin.
So I'm absolutely going to
represent that district's needs
while having those
conversations with an open mind,
and then communicating
that effectively with my
constituents, always
having an open door policy,
always letting them know what
the decision -- what decisions
are being made and the logic
behind those decisions.
>> And Ed?
>> Well, it's a great question
because it brings up the public
safety aspect and the budget
aspect, they're linked.
Public safety is about 70%
of the general fund budget,
so that's a great question.
I think part of the way we
handled this is we -- first we
get a handle on what the
-- what is in the budget,
where we're having police
coverage for example,
and rightfully so, it's going to
be focused in the higher crime
areas.
And I can think of the
Rundberg area in north Austin,
for example.
Those folks need help up
there and they deserve it.
Now, if they needed more help,
if what we were doing there
wasn't working we have
an obligation to ask why.
Are we focusing on
community policing?
Are there tactics that we
can use that will help?
Is it just a manpower problem or
are there other things that we
can do?
Down in my district,
in District 8,
the people have an interest
in public safety of course.
We've had a rise in property
crimes, car thefts, break-ins,
vandalism, and some people may
not think that that is a big
problem, but trust me, it is.
I've had my back window of my
van shot out twice within a
six-week period, before
the holiday once,
and it cost
thousands of dollars.
So a lot of damage does occur.
I think working with APD to
focus on property crimes and
burglaries, they need more
resources in that area
obviously, and to develop a
long-term plan and tailor police
coverage to the needs of each
district, if we're doing that,
the absolute manpower
aspect won't matter as much,
because if we're doing
everything we can with the
manpower allowed --
allotted in the districts,
then we'll be able
to meet needs,
and I think working with
APD, we can do that.
>> All right.
The numbers tell us we know that
there are many Austinites who
don't vote in city elections, so
I'm curious to hear how each of
you would explain to a non-voter
why they should care about what
happens at City Hall.
>> And Ed, if you
want to take that one.
>> I've met many of those
nonvoters during the campaign,
and one of the great things
about 10-1 and the great things
about this campaign is folks on
the southwest were not engaged
with city politics on average.
They were upset perhaps because
there were things they didn't
like, but they're so far removed
from the core of the city that
they can live their lives and
just not think much about city
government, so when we are
going door to door and knocking,
I found myself often educating
folks and answering their
questions about
how the city works.
Folks didn't know for
example, that E.M.S.
was separate from fire, or
what the police coverage was,
or what the crime rates were.
So I think this process is going
to bring people together and
engage them.
Now, we might have to bring some
of them kicking and screaming,
because this is Texas and
it's a non-voting state,
and we have a culture,
unfortunately,
that we need to press hard and
improve our civic engagement.
This is one way
that we can do that.
One other factor I think is
establishing district offices,
so we're accessible
to our people,
that they don't have to come all
the way downtown and fight the
traffic and the
hours, et cetera.
And that would be a budget
conscious way using existing
facilities that
have extra space.
No new construction.
But just have some regular
hours where folks can come in,
contact us, maybe
meet a staff member,
and just share their concerns.
So we bring the
government to them.
I think we have an obligation
to do that as well.
>> And Ellen?
>> Well, I have been honored to
be a part of this new district
system that I think in and of
itself has had a huge impact in
our civic engagement
in southwest Austin.
I'll tell you one of the most
amazing people throughout this
campaign was a woman who one
of my volunteers called while
they're making phone calls to
tell people about our campaign,
and she told my volunteer that
she had never voted before.
She was 100% blind, and she
had never made it to the polls.
And after talking to my
volunteer about the city council
election and why
it's so important,
she asked her mom to drive her
to the poll and to take her to
vote for the first time.
And we ran into her actually
as she was walking in to vote,
and she said, "I'm coming to
vote for the first time in my
life because I wanted to make
sure and cast my vote for you",
and that had such a incredible
impact on me because I felt like
already we're making such a
difference by just being out
there and being a representative
for southwest Austin.
I think past that, you know, a
reason that we haven't been so
engaged in the first place
is because we have felt very
overlooked by the
current city council.
A lot of southwest Austinites
feel like we have the highest
rate of homeownership, we're
footing the bill for a lot of
city services and we're
not seeing a return on that
investment in the form of road
infrastructure and public safety
resources.
So I think in order
to change that,
they have to know that
somebody is listening.
They have to know that somebody
is being held accountable.
They have to know that when they
write an e-mail or when they
make a phone call, there's
someone on the other end who is
going to give them a response
and is going to take their
thoughts into consideration,
and that's the kind of public
servant that I want to be.
>> So kind of a question related
to 10-1 in the new council
setup, so as this district
representation takes hold in
Austin, this will be the first
council elected under this
system.
People may start to identify
even more with the district in
the region where they are, and
you were saying that seemed
especially true in
District 8, perhaps.
So I'm curious to hear from you
what you see as maybe some risk,
but also maybe some
opportunities associated with
people maybe thinking of
themselves more as being part of
a district rather
than part of a city.
Ellen, if you want to
take that one first.
>> I will.
I think the biggest opportunity
is I think it will motivate them
to get engaged.
I think that they will feel like
while under the current city
council, a lot of our smaller
neighborhood issues have been
overlooked.
They're going to have someone
who lives in that neighborhood
who understands what they're
going through and who is going
to be able to have a phone
conversation with them,
have a meeting in the
district with them,
I think the risks of the system
-- and that's something that
we've talked about throughout
the campaign -- is you don't
want to make it all about you at
the expense of the entire city
as a whole.
And in order to overcome that,
I think you start with the --
although each district
has very unique needs,
we share some very
important common themes,
like cost of living, like
property taxes, like traffic,
and it doesn't matter what
part of the city you live in,
those things are affecting
your constituents,
so I think it will be important
for every city council member
regardless of what district
they are from to start with the
issues that we really have
commonalities and kind of branch
out from there.
>> And Ed?
>> Well, I think there's an up
side and a down side of course,
but I think the positives
far outweigh the negatives.
District 8 needs an identity.
We've said Oak Hill or southwest
Austin for so long, well,
what does that mean?
And it turns out it's actually a
very diverse area starting from
Zilker Park all the way down
MOPAC to the south end and so
there are different
neighborhoods with different
needs.
West Creek for example, or a
Scenic Brook is very different
from a Circle C or a
Villages of the Western Oaks,
so there are identities within
the district that also need to
be tended to, as
a matter of fact.
But I think the issue
of commonalities,
the city is really at a critical
point, a historic point,
the affordability issue strikes
everyone across the city in
different ways.
Everyone has that in common.
In our district, the primary
factor is property taxes,
which hit people very hard.
We have highest rate of
homeownership in the city as a
percentage.
But everyone can relate to that
feeling of what am I going to
do?
Am I going to be
able to stay here?
It happens even in our district.
So we have that.
Transportation is
a common issue.
Everyone has to get from point A
to point B and sometimes point C
and it's taking longer, so
we have many common issues,
and what I also try to impress
upon people is you may not think
some of these issues
affect us, but they do.
School district for example.
AISD and their budget problems
and educational problems.
Primary factor, 52% I believe of
the property tax bill comes from
AISD, and that is a problem
that affects everyone.
The district almost overlays
through the entire city limits.
So we have
districtwide, citywide,
regionwide issues that any
councilmember needs to focus on
and should be able to explain to
the folks in their district why
this is important to us
because we all pay for that.
>> So I don't have to tell you
all of this was a very busy fall
election season.
A lot of forums,
a lot of debates.
Y'all spent a lot
of time together.
This is obviously not the first
time you've been on the stage
together.
>> Sure, uh-huh.
>> I'm curious to hear from each
of you what you've learned from
your opponent
during this process.
Ed, if you want to --
>> I'll be very truthful.
I've learned the value of
endless energy and passion.
She doesn't stop
and keeps moving,
and I think that's
important, in any candidate,
and I try to
emulate that myself.
I think that was one thing that
we both had in common is that we
were -- had very energetic
campaigns out there in the
community.
But also, too, from
our other candidates.
We had an excellent
field of five candidates,
and from my unbiased opinion, I
thought we had one of the best
fields in the city.
Every one of us, we were
very qualified and we brought
something different
to the table.
We had different issues of
expertise, transportation,
management styles, experience,
and so these forums that we
attended were actually
learning opportunities.
I learned a great deal.
And actually we would have
forums where we would have
combined forums with other
districts which those were my
favorite, because you got a
little sampling of all across
the city, and we talked
about those commonalities.
Those commonalities would come
out in those discussions but the
approaches to handle
them were very different,
so it was very enlightening.
>> And Ellen?
>> Yeah.
Well, I do think that we had one
of the strongest fields in the
entire city.
Every candidate in this race
brought a true strength and a
true unique perspective, and we
heard multiple times I wish you
guys were all running for
different things so that we
could vote for you all, and that
was very flattering and it's a
great thing for southwest
Austinites to have that kind of
choice that -- to choose
from, and I have enjoyed this
experience with Ed immensely.
We have spent, like you said,
many -- many days and nights
together, and I think we have
grown to have a mutual respect
for each other, even though we
may differ in our approaches to
the role of city government,
I think that at the end of the
day, Austinites want us to all
be able to work together for the
betterment of our city, and
I hope we can continue this
relationship farther
past this election,
because I think we both
have unique things to offer.
>> So District 8 has a number
of large and sometimes vocal
homeowners associations, and I'm
curious if you can describe your
conversations with those groups
during the campaign and how you
would work to keep them sort of
included and engaged if you're
elected.
Ellen, if you want to
take that one first.
>> Yeah.
Yeah, I mean that's one of the
great things about southwest
Austin is we have a very
family-centered district.
We do have the highest
rate of homeownership,
and the homeowner's
associations, you know,
truly care about maintaining
their quality of life,
and we've gone to countless
homeowners association meetings
and also had forums there, and
I think they were excited to see
-- I mean I don't -- I think
that was probably the first time
they've ever had city council candidates speaking at homeowner
association meetings.
So they're excited to finally
know who to call when they have
an issue.
They have very,
like I said earlier,
specific neighborhood needs.
One neighborhood is
concerned with sidewalks.
One neighborhood is concerned
with having brush cleared from
their greenbelt.
One neighborhood is concerned
with having their pot holes
filled.
And those are things that
they feel like they've been
overlooked in the current
city government structure,
and that's the kind of -- so
in order to keep them engaged,
I think you have to
continue to be accessible.
They have my cell phone number.
They have my personal
e-mail address.
They're always going to know how
to get ahold of me and how to
let me know the needs they're
facing in their communities.
>> Ed?
>> I think one of the things
that I've been able to draw upon
is I had experience as a
director and president of Circle
C HOA, back seven,
eight years ago,
and that was a critical
time for that neighborhood.
We were reforming the HOA,
and taking it over from the
developer, and transferring
the homeowner control,
and that's a very large
homeowners association.
And there's a big difference
between a homeowners association
and a neighborhood association,
or an apartment association,
and it's important to
understand that difference.
Homeowners associations can be
great partners for the city,
if that relationship
is handled well.
The homeowners associations are
often willing to take on some of
the duties, maintenance
duties, for example,
that the city may not want, and
so they can help us save money
and the residents can be happy.
They're very good partners in
terms usually of making strides
in water conservation.
The residents are great at
crime prevention programs and so
forth.
So they're very engaged
within their community,
so that's important,
but it's also important,
we have situations where you
might have a Circle C or a
Western Oaks butting up just
across the highway from a Maple
Run, which is a working class
community where they don't have
mandatory HOA dues.
And that's a very different
situation over there where folks
are voluntarily paying
into the system.
And then when the families age
and the parents age and move
out, sometimes those
neighborhood associations have
no money at all, and so they
require a complete different
level of engagement, but because
we're all there in the same
region, our kids go
to the same schools,
we all drive on the same
roads, and so it's important to
understand how the different
types of neighborhoods in the
district relate, and I think
I have that experience.
>> All right.
So I want you to each
imagine it's rush hour,
you're in north Austin,
but you have to get home,
so you know you're going to be
in the car for awhile heading
from north to south
during rush hour.
If you could put three
people in that car with you,
who would you put and what
would you talk about with them?
Ed, if you want to
take that one first.
>> Hmmm.
Well, I'm assuming it would
be a very long conversation.
So I'd have to entertain myself.
I'm a political junky, so Chuck
Todd, for example, from MSNBC,
we could talk about elections
and the minutia of voting
patterns and so forth.
Jimmy Fallon, we might play
a few games in the car.
And Bruce Springstein, because
I'm sure that that would be --
he'd just unleash some pearls of
wisdom that have had a positive
influence on my life from
the time I was about 14.
So that would be a pretty
entertaining conversation and
I'd learn a few
things along the way.
>> And Ellen?
>> All right.
So anyone past or present, I
would say I would love to be
stuck in a car with Margaret
Thatcher and pick her brain.
I think she was
an amazing woman,
and broke a lot of barriers, so
I would be interested to have a
long conversation with her.
I would say to take
his lead on a musician,
maybe someone like Ryan Adams
who my husband and I recently
saw at ACL Live and he was just
an amazing musician and would
love to learn more about him.
And I think third I would
have to say my husband,
because we haven't gotten
to spend a whole lot of time
together over the past
several months and I miss him.
[ Laughter ].
>> Well, our time has
gone by very quickly,
faster than that ride from
north Austin to south Austin.
So we've come to
the end of our time.
I do have one last
question for you.
>> Sure.
>> At the end of your term, what
is the biggest mark you would
like to have left
on the district?
And Ellen, if you want
to take that one first.
>> I think the biggest mark
from a policy standpoint,
I'm really passionate about
giving Austinites some relief
when it comes to affordability.
I want to see a 20% city
homestead exemption passed.
I want to see us getting
a handle on our budget and
reducing the tax rate so that
people can afford to raise
families in this city.
And from a personal perspective,
I want to know that I -- I
accomplished my goal of
being a servant leader,
of never forgetting that
my bosses are the 80,000
constituents that
live in District 8.
I work for them, and not
the other way around,
and that I have always
approached this job from the
perspective of how can
I serve them the best.
>> And Ed?
>> I think two things.
They may not sound like
they're relate but they are.
Affordability.
The viability of homeownership.
The district does have
economic diversity right now.
We have some
working class areas.
We have upper middle class
and higher income areas,
but that diversity
is depleting rapidly,
and the property tax issue
is a main driver of that.
I also favor a 20% homestead
exemption and other things that
we can do.
We have to do something.
It's a crisis.
So keeping people in
their homes,
but ultimately at
the end of the day,
we need to survive this storm
of growth that we're enduring.
We're on the front
lines in southwest.
And we need to preserve
our quality of life.
It doesn't do any good to
preserve the viability of
homeownership if your quality
of life is depleting.
We have beautiful open spaces.
It is in my view the most
beautiful area in the city,
and in Central Texas, and
that's a charge to keep.
So we have -- we have balance
that we have to walk to keep
people in their homes, and also
protect the quality of life that
we have, and that's going to
be the major challenge over the
next decade, I think.
>> Well, that is all the
time we have for tonight.
Thanks to both of you, Ed
Scruggs, and Ellen Troxclair.
>> Thank you.
>> All of the runoff
conversations and our
conversation with the
newly-elected candidates for
Districts 2, 5 and 9 will
be available on YouTube.
Early voting in the runoff
election starts December 1.
Election day is December 16th.
For KLRU, Leadership Austin, the
Annette Strauss Institute for
Civic Life, and KUT,
I'm Jennifer Stayton.
Thank you so much for watching.
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>> Support for Civic
Summit comes from Google,
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