Which PACs are spending?
And *another* highway in Austin?
Here's what I'm seeing in outside spending in the city races so far.
Save Austin Now: The conservative group led by Matt Mackowiak raised $228,000 between July 1 and Sept. 24 and spent $187,000 during that period in support of Prop I.
Don't DOGE Austin, the PAC opposing Prop I, has spent $68,000 on advertising. Of the $97,000 it has raised, the great majority comes directly from AFSCME (the city employees union) or Austinites for Equity, a PAC linked to AFSCME. But it also got $10,000 from Lynne Dobson, a liberal donor from the Whataburger family, and $1,000 from Kirk Watson's PAC. Although Watson has put a big emphasis on regaining trust from voters, including by authoring an ordinance requiring periodic audits, he has said he opposes Prop I, dismissing it as a "repetitive and haphazard proposal."
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The Real Estate Council of Austin's PAC reported spending $69,000 split between the following candidates: Amber Goodwin, Selena Xie, Zo Qadri, Ryan Alter and José Velásquez.
Parks, Pools, Trails & Books PAC: This group led by longtime parks and trails advocate Ted Siff had raised $60,000 by the beginning of October and had spent $16,000 in support of Prop A and Prop B, the parks and libraries bonds.
Austin really doesn't need another highway
I remember being on a panel a few years ago where a moderator bemoaned Austin's supposed reluctance to build needed transportation infrastructure. She recalled a conversation once upon a time about building East-West "thoroughfares" that was shut down.
The implication was that congestion in Austin wouldn't be nearly so bad if the city had turned 2222/Koenig Lane into a major highway through the city, congestion wouldn't be nearly as bad. During another panel at the same event, Mayor Lee Leffingwell grimly noted Austin was the only major U.S. city without a "loop" of highways around it.
