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(Kamala Harris)
Sen. Kamala Harris, Democratic vice presidential candidate, will make a campaign stop in Texas on Friday—the last day of early voting in the state—according to an email sent to Democratic lawmakers.
<p>Harris will be the highest profile representative of Joe Biden's campaign to come to Texas. It is still unclear where in Texas Harris will visit for the campaign.<br/></p><p>Harris had planned a trip earlier this month that <a href="https://www.statesman.com/news/20201014/kamala-harris-cancels-texas-trip-after-spokeswoman-tests-positive-for-covid-19" target="_blank">she had to cancel</a> due to her communications director testing positive for COVID-19.</p><p>Although Biden himself has yet to visit the state, the former vice president's campaign has <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/10/06/texas-biden-presidential-campaign/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">spent over $6 million on TV ads</a> to run through Election Day in Texas alone, according to the Texas Tribune.</p><p>Texas voters have been coming out in droves, poised to break records with <a href="https://austonia.com/early-voting-travis-county-numbers" target="_self">43% of Travis County</a> already casting their ballots as of Thursday.</p>According to the latest poll from the <a href="https://www.uttyler.edu/politicalscience/files/oct2020-rv-codebook-dmn-uttyler-poll.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dallas Morning News and UT Tyler</a> made using a random sample of 1,012 registered voters, Biden leads President Donald Trump in Texas by 3 points at 48% to 45%.
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(Bob Daemmrich)
More than 43% of registered Travis County residents voted early in person or had their mail-in ballots received between Oct. 13 and Thursday, with eight more days to go before the early voting period ends on Oct. 30.
<p>Texas Gov. Greg Abbott extended the early voting period by six days in July, due to the pandemic.</p><p>A record-breaking 97% of eligible Travis County residents are registered to vote this election, according to the Travis County Tax Assessor-Collector and Voter Registrar.</p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><iframe frameborder="0" height="371" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQPCgZ2llVxj8zUeaUWJwqww5sBVUXIpHTgT6Ir4ihbSaBAq-TA1lcpQbps7ZRuhRs8u0egrmeqFhNm/pubchart?oid=1949030000&format=interactive" width="600"></iframe></div><p>So far, the highest turnout this early voting period was last Friday, when nearly 41,265 people turned out to vote in person.</p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><iframe frameborder="0" height="371" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQPCgZ2llVxj8zUeaUWJwqww5sBVUXIpHTgT6Ir4ihbSaBAq-TA1lcpQbps7ZRuhRs8u0egrmeqFhNm/pubchart?oid=1791081779&format=interactive" width="600"></iframe></div><p>The bulk—nearly 86%—of early votes cast this election have been in-person. The remainder are mostly mail-in ballots, which Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir said are mostly requested by residents 65 years of age and older.</p><p>A very small number of early votes—434, or less than 1%—have come through limited ballots, which are intended for registered voters who have moved recently and are not registered in their new county of residence in time for the election.</p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><iframe frameborder="0" height="371" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQPCgZ2llVxj8zUeaUWJwqww5sBVUXIpHTgT6Ir4ihbSaBAq-TA1lcpQbps7ZRuhRs8u0egrmeqFhNm/pubchart?oid=974654508&format=interactive" width="600"></iframe></div><p>As of Thursday evening, 370,970 people had voted early—either in person or by sending in their mail-in ballot—in Travis County. During the first 10 days of early voting in the 2016 presidential election, 297,357 people had voted; in 2012, 177,071 had.</p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><iframe frameborder="0" height="371" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQPCgZ2llVxj8zUeaUWJwqww5sBVUXIpHTgT6Ir4ihbSaBAq-TA1lcpQbps7ZRuhRs8u0egrmeqFhNm/pubchart?oid=1310653569&format=interactive" width="600"></iframe></div><p>During the 2016 presidential election, 40.8% of registered Travis County voters cast their ballots in the first 10 days of the early voting period and 51% voted early overall, according to the Travis County Clerk's office. In 2012, 27.9% of registered Travis County voters cast their ballots in the first 10 days of the early voting period and just under 38% did overall.</p>
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(Michael Vadon/Phil Roeder)
Despite all odds, there will be a final presidential debate Thursday before Election Day on Nov. 3. The debate will start at 8 p.m. where the candidates will be asked to respond to six topics: COVID-19, race issues, climate change, American families, national security and leadership.
<p>The last debate on Sept. 29 was an untethered, wacky look at incumbent Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, chock-full of insults, yelling over each other and interrupting the moderator. So the internet did what it does best: made it into a meme.</p><p>Here's how to have fun while watching the next debate.</p>
Play a drinking or bingo game
<p>This Washingtonian <a href="https://www.washingtonian.com/2020/09/28/washingtonians-2020-presidential-debate-drinking-game-night-one/" target="_blank">game will have you drinking</a> anytime Trump makes a false claim about COVID-19 or complains about voter fraud, Biden starts a sentence with the word "look" or "folks," and either candidate says "United States of America" or takes a direct jab at their opponent. While the game recommends shotgunning a beer before the start of the debate, anyone who watched the last one will know that isn't necessary. In fact, if you're not careful, you might want to tap out after the first half hour. As a bonus rule, you are supposed to chug your drink anytime you've lost track of what either candidate is talking about.</p><p>So yeah, you're liable to get sloshed.</p>If you're not drinking, you can also <a href="https://www.washingtonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/debate-bingo-printable.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">download a bingo card</a> with similar phrases and play along that way.For a more interactive experience
<p><a href="https://www.porchdrinking.com/articles/2020/09/29/2020-presidential-debate-drinking-game/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Porch Drinking's debate game</a> is much more elaborate than the Washingtonian's and certainly more distracting. This game will have you take a sip every time Trump says "fake news," "yuge" or "anything creepy about women" and Biden says "mask," "malarkey" or "anything creepy about women."</p><p>The fun comes in with the specifics of this game, like drinking while reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in your head if neither candidate is wearing a flag on their lapel; putting a mask on someone if one of the candidates mentions a COVID-19 keyword and leaving it on until the next one is said; washing your hands for 20 seconds every time hydroxychloroquine is mentioned ond having a friend hand you a drink every time a candidate mentions socialism. </p><p>The beauty is in this game's completely random actions to perform, many of which don't even include booze.</p>If you’re watching the debate with your kids
<p>Though people under 18 cannot vote in the election, a lot of young people have opinions about and a stake in the election. Talking about the election with kids could inspire them to take interest and make informed decisions in the long run. <a href="https://ourwhitehouse.org/presidential-debates-watch-the-debates-with-your-kids-and-teens/" target="_blank">Our White House</a> recommends, if your kids are old enough, having a political discussion. To start, the organization recommends parents and kids write down a list of issues they want to the hear the candidates talk about before the debate before talking through them together. </p><p>The Washington Post also offers a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/kidspost/presidential-election-2020-meet-the-candidates/2020/09/28/3ee0fde2-eefc-11ea-99a1-71343d03bc29_story.html" target="_blank">kid's guide to meeting the candidates</a>, so kids can truly make up their own minds.<br></p>Your kids may not be able to vote officially, but they can make a choice in <a href="https://www.nickhelps.com/#/kpp" target="_blank">Nickolodeon's Kids Pick the President</a> poll. Voting starts Oct. 28 and you can view results on Nov. 5.From Your Site Articles
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(F. Clinton Broden/Broden & Mickelsen)
Daniel Perry, the active-duty Army sergeant who says he shot armed Black Lives Matter protester Garrett Foster in self-defense while driving for Uber, took a lie detector test for the incident that happened in July .
<p>Perry claimed Foster, who was carrying an AK-47 rifle, raised the assault weapon "in direct threat to (his) life" in a July 31 statement. However, the Austin Police Department said witnesses have described several different versions of the incident.</p><p><span></span>"In order to put this issue to rest, Sgt. Foster recently took a polygraph test," Foster's lawyer, Clint Broden, said in a press release issued on Thursday.</p><p>The test posed two questions, both of which asked whether Perry lied about seeing the AK raised before shooting Foster.</p><p>Perry answered "no" to both and the polygraph examiner found "no deception indicated," per the release.</p><p>Although lie detector tests are commonly used by law enforcement, many dispute their value.<br/><span></span></p><p>"Most psychologists and other scientists agree that there is little basis for the validity of polygraph tests,"<a href="https://www.apa.org/research/action/polygraph" target="_blank"> according to the American Psychological Association</a>. </p><p>In <a href="https://www.nap.edu/read/10420/chapter/2" target="_blank">a nearly 400-page report</a>, published in 2003, the National Research Council concurred, writing: "Almost a century of research into scientific psychology and physiology provides little basis for the expectation that a polygraph test could have extremely high accuracy."</p><p>APD said the investigation is ongoing in an email to Austonia on Thursday. The department last provided an update regarding Foster's death on Aug. 26, when it <a href="https://www.austintexas.gov/news/apd-seeking-assistance-potential-witnesses-garrett-foster-investigation-0" target="_blank">asked for witnesses to come forward</a> with any information about the incident.</p><p>Perry is stationed in Killeen and only allowed to travel 100 miles from base. Broden said he was in Austin the night of Foster's death because it "was the closest location that had <a href="https://austonia.com/army-sgt-daniel-perry-who-claims-he-shot-blm-protestor-garrett-foster-was-driving-for-uber" target="_self">significant ridesharing customers</a>."</p><p>After shooting Foster, Perry said he drove away and then called the police, <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-protesters-clash-with-police-in-the-wake-of-garrett-fosters-death" target="_blank">who later released him with no charges</a>. </p><p>Foster <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-protests-garrett-foster" target="_self">regularly attended Black Lives Matter protests</a> in Austin with his fiancée Whitney Mitchell, a quadruple-amputee. </p><p>On the night of his death, Foster attended one organized by the Mike Ramos Brigade, which has referred to Foster as a "comrade" and "one of our own" in social media posts.</p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="dda777ff18ccce32de33f3b32ce65604" id="3c3b7"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1287250590100262912"><div style="margin:1em 0">Tonight a racist vigilante murdered a comrade that has consistently shown up for Black lives for the last two month… https://t.co/Mmraf4m7xA</div> — Mike Ramos Brigade (@Mike Ramos Brigade)<a href="https://twitter.com/mike_r_brigade/statuses/1287250590100262912">1595739431.0</a></blockquote></div><p>The group's members have not identified themselves, but APD <a href="https://austonia.com/city/austin-antifa-looting" target="_self">confirmed in June</a> that there is crossover between the brigade and a local antifa group called Defend Our Hoodz, which organized a rent strike and May Day protests <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-may-day" target="_self">earlier this year</a>. The mother of MIke Ramos has <a href="https://www.fox7austin.com/news/mother-of-mike-ramos-denounces-group-using-her-sons-name" target="_blank">denounced</a> the group's use of her son's name. Her son was shot and killed by APD officers in April.</p><p><span></span>Like Perry, Foster served in the military, but he left to care for Mitchell when she became sick with an unknown illness, which led to her amputations, <a href="https://www.dallasnews.com/news/texas/2020/07/26/man-fatally-shot-at-protest-in-austin/" target="_blank">according to the Dallas Morning News</a>.</p><p>On the night he was shot, Foster spoke about why he was carrying an AK-47 with Hiram Gilberto Garcia, who has been broadcasting live footage from the Austin protests.</p><p>"They don't let us march in the streets anymore, so I got to practice some of our rights," Foster said. </p>
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Texas joins Trump administration's lawsuit against Google, arguing the tech company has a monopoly
20 October
(REUTERS/Mike Blake)
By Stacy Fernandez
Texas joined the Trump administration's lawsuit against Google, accusing the tech giant of monopolizing the search engine market and controlling how online ads are bought and sold, according to the suit filed Tuesday morning.
<p>Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement that the multi-billion dollar company engaged in anti-competitive and exclusionary practices that eliminate competition for internet searches and search advertising.</p><p>"Google's anticompetitive business strategies have disrupted the competitive process, reduced consumer choice, and stifled innovation," Paxton said. "Our action today is intended to restore competition and allow rivals and next generation search engines to challenge Google so that the marketplace, not a monopolist, will decide how search services and search ads are offered."</p><p>Kent Walker, Google's senior vice president of global affairs and chief legal officer, called the federal lawsuit "deeply flawed."</p><p>"People use Google because they choose to, not because they're forced to, or because they can't find alternatives," Walker said in a <a href="https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/public-policy/response-doj" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">statement</a>. "This lawsuit would do nothing to help consumers. To the contrary, it would artificially prop up lower-quality search alternatives, raise phone prices, and make it harder for people to get the search services they want to use."</p><p>The lawsuit is a joint effort between the U.S. Department of Justice and the attorneys general of 10 other red states: Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana and South Carolina.</p><p>The suit calls Google a "monopoly gatekeeper for the internet" and claims that in addition to restricting competition on traditional search services and search advertising on computers and mobile devices, it blocked other companies from being part of robust emerging search platforms including voice assistants, smart speakers and cars.</p><p>Walker called the claim "demonstrably wrong."</p><p>"People find information in lots of ways: They look for news on Twitter, flights on Kayak and Expedia, restaurants on OpenTable, recommendations on Instagram and Pinterest," Walker said. "And when searching to buy something, around <a href="https://seekingalpha.com/news/3617671-amazon-first-stop-for-60-of-all-online-shoppers" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">60 percent</a> of Americans start on Amazon. Every day, Americans choose to use all these services and thousands more."</p><p>In addition to hurting competitors, Paxton claimed Google's conduct hurt consumers by reducing their choices when it comes to privacy, data protection, use of consumer data and "ultimately diminishing the quality of search services."</p><p>This isn't the first time Paxton has gone against the prominent tech company. Last year, the Texas attorney general <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2019/10/08/ken-paxton-google-investigation-web/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">launched a landmark investigation</a> into Google's multi-decade dominance along with 50 other attorneys general and experts that included Google's former rivals.</p><p>The investigation was the first major U.S. antitrust action against Google in about a decade. Paxton said the federal government repeatedly failed to take action against Google and Silicon Valley.</p>
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(Radiant Plumbing and Air Conditioning)
While the last thing some people want to see is another political ad, a local plumbing company is adding some laughter to the political (and plumbing) discourse with its latest commercial.
<p><a href="https://radiantplumbing.com/" target="_blank">Radiant Plumbing and Air Conditioning</a> released a new "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJMEre-zeOY" target="_blank">Napoleon Dynamite" inspired commercial</a> about the 2020 election. The ad states that a vote for radiant is a vote for toilets that flush and endless hot water for all.</p><p>The 30-second clip features five Radiant employees portraying the roles of Napoleon Dynamite, Pedro, Uncle Rico, Deb and Kip. There's also a guest appearance from an inflatable llama playing the iconic role of Tina.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
<span class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4892768b773e048b5e1f546a078e0851" style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="auto" type="lazy-iframe" scrolling="no" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fJMEre-zeOY?rel=0" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" width="100%"></iframe></span>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">2020, Gosh!</small>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJMEre-zeOY" target="_blank">www.youtube.com</a>
</small>
</p><p><br/></p><p>This is one of 27 non-traditional commercials by the plumbing and air conditioning company. Founder and co-owner Brad Casebier said that Radiant aims to make a comedic commercial every month, completely in-house. </p><p>Spray painted props, bad accents and employees in costumes are an 'integral' part of company culture, he said. Marketing Director Odalis Suarez says that employees are usually happy to volunteer their time.</p><p>"We try to give everyone on our team the opportunity to be in a commercial if they want to," Suarez said. "People are always thrilled when we ask if they want to be part of (it)."</p><p>From the inflatable llama to the customized "Vote for Radiant" t-shirt, prop collection was the most time-consuming part of the commercial creation. All in all, the ad was executed in less than a month, a timeframe that's considerably shorter than most, Suarez said.</p><p>The last commercial by Radiant was based on 80s blockbuster "The Terminator." It gained the most traction of any of their commercials so far with over 100,000 views in one month.</p><p><span></span>Radiant has been providing air conditioning, heating and drain cleaning services in the greater Austin area for over 20 years. Despite the online attention the creative commercials get, Casebier thinks the commercials drum up little to no additional business. He says that's not the point—the goal of the monthly ads isn't to highlight the company.</p><p>"Nobody really wants to hear about plumbing and air conditioning," he said. "We made the decision a long time ago that no one actually cares, so our goal is to just entertain people and hope that they remember us when they actually need us."</p><p>Their latest commercial will run on local television until the beginning of November when it will be replaced by another Radiant ad currently in the works. </p><p>"We enjoy our part in keeping Austin a little bit weird," Casebier said. "That's our contribution right there–we embrace our place in Austin weirdness."</p>
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(Bob Daemmrich/Austonia)
Travis County residents stand in line to vote on Tuesday, Oct. 13.
Nearly 200,000 Travis County residents have voted early in person since the polls opened on Oct. 13. With 12 days left before the early voting period ends on Oct. 30, and photos circulating on social media of long lines, Austonia has ranked the 37 local polling places by popularity.
<p><br/></p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><iframe frameborder="0" height="680" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQhzGsHb9NoAcb6jAqfrHF8ZgpkJ8J0s47wqw-uY6FXWogeaRCclucK7fBGyrE3lAM5hKZoBHkRMolb/pubchart?oid=66413591&format=interactive" width="387"></iframe></div><p>The first four days of early voting saw successively higher turnout—growing from 35,873 on Tuesday to 41,265 on Friday—with a dropoff over the weekend, according to the Travis County Clerk's Office.<br/></p><p>As of lunchtime Monday, more than 13,000 people had voted early.</p><p>Six days into the early voting period for the 2016 general election, 180,433 Travis County residents had voted early in person.<br/></p><p>Voter turnout this election is already breaking local records. </p><p>The Travis County Clerk's Office reported 41,265 people voted early in person on Friday, a new local record.</p><p>Additionally, Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir said last week that her office had already received more than 78,000 mail-in ballot applications and expects that number to grow to around 100,000 by the Oct. 29 deadline. In comparison, her office sent out only 27,000 mail-in ballots ahead of the 2016 general election.</p><p>As of Sunday, DeBeauvoir's office had received 35,696 mail-in ballots for tallying.</p><p>In other record-setting news, more than 850,000 Travis County residents—of 97% of eligible voters—registered by the state's Oct. 5 deadline, according to the Travis County Tax Assessor-Collector and Voter Registrar Bruce Elfant. </p><p>Around 78% of voting age Texans were registered to vote during the 2016 general election, <a href="https://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/historical/70-92.shtml" target="_blank">according to the Texas Secretary of State's office</a>. Of those, nearly 60% of registered voters turned out.</p><p>Polling places are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays. </p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><iframe height="480" src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=17x85RnH1fkaaaH7GW091vVUYKsYOwKsq" width="640"></iframe></div><p>The following six sites will be open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 28; Thursday, Oct. 29; and Friday, Oct. 30:<br/></p><ul class="ee-ul"><li>Ben Hur Shrine Center</li><li>Millennium Youth Complex</li><li>PfISD Rock Gym</li><li>South Park Meadows, Suite 400</li><li>South Park Meadows, Suite 500</li><li>Austin Central Library</li></ul><p>Residents can find wait time estimates for each location <a href="https://countyclerk.traviscountytx.gov/elections/wait-time-map.html" target="_blank">here</a>, whether they are registered to vote <a href="https://www.votetravis.com/vexpress/display.do" target="_blank">here</a>, voter identification requirements in Texas <a href="https://countyclerk.traviscountytx.gov/elections/new-voter-id-requirements-for-texas-voters.html" target="_blank">here</a>, their personal ballot <a href="https://countyclerk.traviscountytx.gov/elections/current-election/what-s-on-the-ballot.html" target="_blank">here</a> and some races to watch <a href="https://austonia.com/travis-county-early-voting-2020" target="_self">here</a>.</p><p>Many local businesses are also encouraging voting by offering specials—<a href="https://austonia.com/early-voting-rewards/paprika-atx-one-free-carnitas-taco" target="_self">from a free slice of pizza to a discounted pint</a>—to those who bring in their "I voted" or "Yo voté" sticker. </p>
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(Emma Freer/Austonia)
President Donald Trump and his supporters have recently adopted a stance on an issue critical to many Austinies: local land-use regulations, or zoning laws.
<p>Zoning determines how land can be used throughout a city, including what can be built, where it can be built and how much of it can be built. </p><p>On Aug. 12, <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1293517514798960640" target="_blank">Trump tweeted</a>: "The 'suburban housewife' will be voting for me. They want safety & are thrilled that I ended the long running program where low income housing would invade their neighborhood."</p><p>Less than two weeks later, Mark and Patricia McCloskey—a St. Louis couple facing charges for waving guns at Black Lives Matter protesters marching past their mansion—gave a prerecorded speech that directly referenced zoning policy at the Republican National Convention.<br/></p><p>"(Democrats) want to abolish the suburbs altogether by ending single-family zoning," Patricia said, claiming that doing so "would bring crime, lawlessness and low-quality apartments into thriving suburban neighborhoods." </p><p>Jake Wegmann, an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture, said this type of rhetoric is new—at least on the national level. </p><p>"It is absolutely a new thing for zoning to be mentioned in the context of a presidential campaign," he told Austonia. "But I guess my caution is that the politics of land use reform don't map neatly onto a left-versus-right political spectrum, in my view." </p><p><strong>A local look</strong> </p><p>This plays out in Austin, where all 11 members of City Council are self-identified Democrats and yet typically vote 7-4 on land use items, with the majority supporting urbanist policies and the minority favoring preservationist ones. </p><p>Such a split has proven challenging as the city continues its nearly <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-land-use-code-rewrite" target="_self">decade-long process</a> to rewrite its land use code, which was last updated in the mid-1980s. Although it is currently on hold due to a lawsuit, the code rewrite—which has cost more than $10 million to date—is a critical issue, and one on which many of <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-city-council-seats-up-for-election" target="_self">the 20 candidates for Austin City Council</a> have an opinion.</p><p>Opponents say a rewrite would pander to developers, destroy neighborhood character and accelerate gentrification. </p><p>Fred Lewis is the president of Community Not Commodity, a local organization that sued the city over the current rewrite process and was a vocal critic of its previous effort, dubbed CodeNEXT.</p><p>"The marketplace is not going to build modest, middle-class housing," <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-land-use-code-rewrite" target="_blank">he told Austonia last month</a>, adding that he feels the rewrite is instead about satiating "developer greed." </p><p>Supporters, on the other hand, argue that the city's current code stands in the way of more equitable, sustainable development, at best, and <a href="https://www.kut.org/post/white-homeowners-dominate-input-over-austins-land-code-rewrite-one-group-trying-change" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">is racist and classist</a>, at worst.</p><p>David and Courtney Whitworth co-own the Central Austin infill home building company Whitworth Homes. <a href="https://www.austinchronicle.com/columns/2020-09-11/opinion-time-to-look-in-the-mirror-on-housing/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">David believes</a> the current code prevents the construction of denser, more affordable residences.</p><p>"What bothers me is we have a code that only allows Mercedes," he said. "If only our code would allow Kias, we wouldn't have to be subsidizing people into Mercedes." </p><p>Despite finding themselves on opposite sides of the land use debate, many candidates—and Austin residents—find themselves in the same political party.</p><p>This may be because zoning is a local issue that, until recently, was rarely discussed by national politicians. </p><p>Researchers at Stanford University wrote about the challenge of ascertaining the politics of zoning reform <a href="http://cess.nyu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Nall.pdf" target="_blank">in a 2018 paper</a>. </p><p>"Such policies tend to benefit the poor and working class—generally aligning with Democrats' concerns—but they also involve an embrace and a trust of private commercial interests (including real estate developers) who tend to be associated with the Republican party," they wrote. </p><p>Wegmann went further, mapping out a matrix in which the x-axis was the American political spectrum and the y-axis went from zoning reform at the top to the status quo at the bottom.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ca01a48c273889ad1003f9a926e7cfdb" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="1dbdd" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDUzMTI1Mi9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NDE4MzI3OX0.ar1Ly4BRHlX1Q9f2j4_cC5EJj5foN35KRrS_AYjdjY8/img.png?width=980"/>
</p><p>In the upper left quadrant, Democrats who support zoning reform may cite a desire to desegregate cities, while Democrats who oppose it would argue that increased density benefits private developers, Wegmann said.<br/></p><p>In the upper right quadrant, Republicans who favor zoning reform may appeal to property rights, while opponents feel "single-family houses preserve a nurturing atmosphere for traditional, nuclear families," he added. </p><p>This dynamic presents the opportunity for an odd bedfellows coalition, Wegmann said, similar to the bipartisan support for criminal justice reform in recent years. </p><p>But it has also divided those who purport to share the same values. </p><p><strong>A case study</strong> </p><p>District 10 City Council Member Alison Alter describes herself as a progressive Democrat and tends to vote with the preservationist minority on land use issues. </p><p>"What people want is to have a say in how the growth happens," she said of some Austinites' opposition to a new code. "They don't want us to just unleash it and rubber stamp it. They want us to guide it."</p><p>For Alter, such guidance means ensuring that new development prioritizes affordability and environmental friendliness and honors neighborhood character and property owners' rights. </p><p>"I think we need to require more than density," she said.</p><p>Alter presented a hypothetical scenario to make her point: Say council is presented with a zoning case that proposes redeveloping a 171-unit apartment building made up of mostly two-, three- and four-bedrooms with a 486-unit building with mostly studios and one-bedrooms. The replacement would increase housing stock, but it could also decrease the number of people living there and displace the working families who had found a home in the existing building.</p><p>Because of cases like this, Alter is skeptical that density is the panacea that some zoning reform proponents say it is. </p><p>"I don't think we should just be trusting when the developers say that when they're going to do things it will all work out well," she said. </p><p>Alter's colleague, District 1 Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison, recently argued in favor of increased density for different reasons.</p><p>During an Oct. 13 meeting, council members discussed a rezoning application that would have upzoned a lot in the Montopolis neighborhood from a single-family designation to one that would have allowed townhomes and condos.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0a49eb8635afdbbe02d3f26df9899fbe" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="fab3a" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDUzMTAxOC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNTU1ODE5N30.F3KN2ZzQYN-wqA-74F1LsLmxAG6GV8dBTl-4sHLcdpM/img.png?width=980"/>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">The rezoning application concerned the lot at 508 Kemp St. in the Montopolis neighborhood. </small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">(Google Maps)</small></p><p>Harper-Madison supported the change—and used the discussion to talk about zoning more broadly.<br/></p><p>"It's a little known fact that the legacy of single-family zoning is absolutely rooted in racism," she said, pointing to racial covenants used by neighborhood developments in California <a href="https://www.kqed.org/news/11840548/the-racist-history-of-single-family-home-zoning" target="_blank">during the early 20th century</a>.</p><p>Although she acknowledged the concerns some Austinites have about increased density—especially those who feel their neighborhoods are "bearing the brunt of the load," while others are left largely unaffected—she argued that leaving the Montopolis lot as is would enable the construction of an even more expensive single-family home and eliminate the 17 affordable units proposed in its place. </p><p>"I often get asked, 'How can I be an effective anti-racist?'" Harper-Madison said. "One answer should be to ditch that not-in-my-backyard mentality (and) embrace more dense, missing-middle housing types to accommodate more residents with less land (and) more affordable housing right in your neighborhood." </p><p>Wegmann, the UT professor, said the recent Black Lives Matter protests have accelerated an existing reevaluation of zoning norms. But he anticipates it's still a long way off before America's "dominant (housing) practice" changes.</p><p>"It might take decades," he said. "But I guess what's different is that it's beginning to be seriously challenged <a href="https://archive.curbed.com/2018/11/27/18113208/minneapolis-real-estate-rent-development-2040-zoning" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">in a few places</a>. And I see some evidence that it could spread further."</p><p><em>This article has been updated to clarify Alter's hypothetical. </em><br/></p><p><br/></p><p><strong>More on zoning: </strong></p>
<h2><a href="https://austonia.com/austin-land-use-code-rewrite" target="_self">Austin land use code rewrite stalls amid pandemic, lawsuit—but both sides say a solution is possible</a></h2>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzk4MTkzMC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMzQ1MDgwMX0.wo8BZTgfx3Sbxn_krJmy5nJQHeQVAY2segZ4kmm0Mco/img.jpg?width=980" id="1bf06" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0da559a95053f508bcfd8bf318ae1d98" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Austin land use code rewrite stalls amid pandemic, lawsuit—but both sides say a solution is possible(Emma Freer)
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