Update: Six candidates enter Austin City Council District 7 race

Editor's note: This story was updated after an additional candidate indicated their intent to run.

Six candidates, including a former congressional candidate, a high-profile lawyer and civil rights advocate, have thrown their hat in the ring for the Austin City Council District 7 seat set for election in November in what is shaping up to be the most crowded City Council election this year.

The seat, which represents part of North Austin, is held by Leslie Pool, whose term will expire in January 2025. Pool has held the seat since 2015. City Council members are term-limited, and Pool told the American-Statesman that she will not petition to get her name on the 2024 ballot.

There is still plenty of time for additional candidates to file to run for the seat, and the American-Statesman will continue to monitor this election as well as others, but these are the candidates who have indicated their interest in the District 7 seat so far and where they stand on key city policy issues:

Edwin Bautista

The 26-year-old Texas native graduated in August with a master's degree from the University of Texas and works at the nonprofit Texas Housers, a low-income housing information policy and advocacy group.

Bautista told the American-Statesman, "Although I'm a political newcomer, I'm no political novice."

He has volunteered for groups such as MoveOutATX and the tenant-focused West Campus Neighborhood Association, according to his campaign website, and he was on the city's College Student Commission in 2021.

"I think I bring a fresh perspective and a lived experience that is contemporary with Austin," Bautista said.

He currently lives in the Allandale neighborhood, according to his website.

One of the biggest issues the City Council is currently debating is affordable housing. The policy that has come to the forefront is to amend the city's land development code to promote density and different kinds of developments, and much of that effort has been spearheaded by Pool.

As far as changes the city is looking to make now, Bautista said, "I think it's a small step in the right direction."

Bautista said that though he generally supports the proposed changes, he thinks anti-displacement measures need to be outlined in the policy.

"I would like the council to make that more of a priority and understand how we can better protect our communities while ... also making it easier to create housing," he said.

Bautista would like to promote more government transparency and community engagement and would support the creation of an emerging technologies commission.

"I think that this emerging technology commission is a great way to initiate this community conversation around these very important emerging technologies that have really real implications on ... how the future of Austin is developed," Bautista said.

Related: Here's how the City Council voted on purchasing the Salvation Army property and more

Gary Bledsoe

Gary Bledsoe is a well-established lawyer, civil rights advocate, member of the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas board of directors and president of the Texas NAACP. He launched his bid for Austin’s District 7 City Council seat this summer, becoming the sixth candidate to vie for the position.

Bledsoe, 71, is running for the open City Council seat “to be part of the solution and make our city the best we can make it,” he told the Statesman in an interview. He said he has lived in what is now District 7 in since 1983.

“As the state moves really far to the right, we know that the solutions are going to have to come from the local communities,” Bledsoe said. “We're going to have to get together and solve our problems, because we can't expect others to do that.”

If elected, Bledsoe said some of his main priorities would be promoting government transparency and addressing affordability and displacement. He said he would advocate for a "roundtable" to gather people who may have different interests to discuss city issues and decisions.

Additionally, Bledsoe feels the current City Council has rushed some major pieces of policy, like the HOME initiative, to get federal funding. The city's timeline to pass the HOME initiative and other recently approved land development code changes was largely based on getting federal funding for Project Connect, city Planning Department Director Lauren Middleton-Pratt told the Planning Commission during an April 23 meeting.

"It's not that it wasn't the right thing to do, but you don't rush it because you're going to get a grant," Bledsoe said. "That's not a good idea."

He said, on a District 7-specific level, he would like to educate people about the HOME initiative and "how it will impact the neighborhood, how we can use it effectively."

Other priorities for Bledsoe would be ensuring there is a "workable and effective climate equity plan" and making sure there is "an effective Police Department to address crime."

Bledsoe, if elected to the District 7 City Council seat, would "be the first African American elected to the Austin City Council who didn't live east of I-35," he said in a written statement to the Statesman. "This is a next generation fight to break up what many still point to as a segregated system in which African Americans in Austin are suitable only to represent District 1."

Notably, inside Bledsoe's campaign team is Julie Oliver, a former congressional candidate and co-founder of Ground Game Texas, the nonprofit that helped get the initiative that decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana on several ballots across Texas, including in Austin. Oliver co-founded Ground Game Texas with another candidate for the District 7 seat, Mike Siegel.

Oliver was replaced as executive director of the nonprofit earlier this year. She did not respond to the Statesman's request for comment on her working for Bledsoe's campaign despite her long history working with Siegel by the publication's deadline on July 11, the date this story was updated with information regarding Bledsoe's candidacy.

Pierre Nguy?n

Pierre Nguy?n, 35, is a member of the city's Public Safety Commission and Asian American Quality of Life Commission, a firefighter and an EMT in Travis County, a U.S. Coast Guard reservist and a worker at the nonprofit American YouthWorks, a group that "connects young people with the tools and resources that we all need to reach career goals and achieve academic success," according to its website.

Nguy?n, who said he lives in the Walnut Creek neighborhood, told the American-Statesman he is running for the council seat because he wants "to be able to listen to people and be able to have their voices heard, especially those that are in underserved, underrepresented communities."

"We're all a community here in the city of Austin, and we should all be working together and listening to each other and reaching compromises so that we all can live in a safe and prosperous city," Nguy?n said.

As the city continues growing, Nguy?n said, one of the most important things is "building infrastructure that is going to provide growth."

He said he believes there is a reason Pool is heading up the initiative to promote housing density.

District 7 is experiencing "the challenges that downtown is having and the challenges that Rosedale and Hyde Park is having, but we're not experiencing the same level of support from city services," Nguy?n said.

Nguy?n said he would like to address the city's public transportation system.

"I'm a huge advocate for public transit," he said. "Our public transit system is not working."

Related: Austin City Council strikes some parking requirements in effort to increase housing density

Adam Powell

Adam Powell, a 29-year-old Austin-area native, launched his campaign in late November. Powell said he previously worked as a teacher recruiter, a union organizer and is a currently a SAFE Alliance board member and works with the North Shoal Creek Neighborhood Association, where he said he lives.

Powell told the Statesman that he is running for office because he wants to give back to the community.

"I’m running to represent District 7 because of my love for Austin and hope for its future,” Powell said in a news release announcing his candidacy.

According to his campaign website, Powell has also worked with groups like ReThink35 and the Shoal Creek Conservancy and uses social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram to talk about Austin's history.

On housing affordability, Powell told the Statesman he wants to address the issue on all levels — including "subsidized affordable housing all the way through permanent supportive housing to make sure that we're reaching the most vulnerable population and ensuring everyone can exist and live in this community."

Additionally, Powell wants to address concerns about displacement and put in "robust anti-displacement policies."

Powell said on his campaign website that he supports public transit including the construction of Project Connect. He also seeks to address areas that are not accessible to bikers and pedestrians in District 7.

On the environment, Powell told the Statesman, "Every policy that I pursue needs to be environmentally sound the same way that it needs to be equitable."

Todd Shaw

Todd Shaw, 60, announced in early April that he is running for the District 7 City Council seat.

Shaw served for 6 years on the city's planning commission, three of which he was the chair, he said. He worked as an environmental engineer for Austin Energy for more than 30 years and currently works for the University of Texas at Austin as an environmental engineer overseeing several utility projects.

"Todd's decision to run for Council was driven by his observation of how deeply divided Austin hadbecome during the comprehensive changes to the land development code while serving on thePlanning Commission," a press release announcing his candidacy said.

On issues related to the land development code, Shaw told the Statesman in an interview he supported phase one of the HOME initiative as it was making its way through the Planning Commission and on to the City Council.

On his campaign website, Shaw said he would support a complete overhaul of the land development code.

"But this time," he wrote, "it must be done in a way that gains a supermajority of council votes and broad community support."

He also spoke to the incremental changes Austin is making to it's land development code after failed attempts at a total overhaul, saying on his website the individual changes aren't sustainable.

"It exhausts our city’s staff, boards and commissions, and the public," Shaw said on his website. "The new code should prioritize density, particularly missing middle housing, which aligns with our Strategic Mobility Plan and Project Connect."

Some of his other priorities would be climate, homelessness, housing affordability and parkland, according to his website.

"I think I bring that talent and skill as an engineer, environmental engineer, and having knowledge of construction and infrastructure, and that's what kind of sets me apart from the other candidates," Shaw told the Statesman.

Mike Siegel

After two campaigns for Congress, 45-year-old Mike Siegel is making a bid for the City Council. Siegel, who has worked as an attorney for the city and co-founded the nonprofit Ground Game Texas, was the Democratic nominee for Texas' 10th Congressional District in 2018 and 2020 and was edged out both times by incumbent Republican Michael McCaul.

Ground Game Texas, Siegel said, "is a statewide advocacy organization, and we spent the last 2? years basically organizing in cities across Texas on progressive issues, pushing things like marijuana reform."

Turing his sights toward being a local policymaker, Siegel said, "The City Council is a really important position that has a great ability to impact our lives in a positive way at the local level."

Some of the issues the city is facing are affordability and climate change, Siegel said.

On housing affordability, Siegel said, "This is something that we waited too long to address but we have to address now."

Siegel said he is generally in favor of Pool's HOME Initiative, which would allow for smaller single-family homes and more options for intergenerational living..

"I think there's a consensus in the city that we need to do something about housing and affordability, and that includes increasing the housing supply," Siegel said. "At the same time, I have to say that I do have considerable concerns about displacement."

Siegel said local governments need to push for more federal and state money to address housing affordability and homelessness, which is affecting more than 5,000 people in Austin.

"Even if you adopt the most aggressive land use reform, it's not going to solve the crisis, because the scope of the need is far greater than any additional housing that's going to be built as a result of Council Member Pool's measure, for example," Siegel said.

On climate, Siegel said the city of Austin has the opportunity to become a leader in Texas and the South by taking advantage of federal spending programs such as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.

"We are a city of innovation," Siegel said. "We lead in the technology sector, and I think we could really lead in the environmental sector."

Siegel, Shaw, Nguy?n, Powell, Bledsoe and Bautista have all appointed campaign treasurers and filed paperwork with the city. In that paperwork, each candidate indicated the elected position being sought. The first day to file in person for a place on the ballot for the Nov. 5 election is July 22. The last day is Aug. 19.

Ella McCarthy covers local government for the American-Statesman. She will continue her local election coverage as more candidates file for the November 2024 election. To share tips or insight with McCarthy, email her at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Six candidates enter Austin City Council election for District 7