Why should you support my candidacy for City Council?
Is it because you will always agree with everything I say and do? No.
It’s because you will always know where I stand, you will always know I’m coming to an issue with deep, solution-oriented, intersectional thinking and a community mindset, and because you know I won’t make people come to City Hall (as if it’s some Ivory tower) to know what’s happening in District 9, I will go wherever the action or people or problems or solutions are.
That’s why I never needed to be a candidate to sit on City boards and commissions or to serve on nonprofit boards and executive committees and why I didn’t need to run for office to raise money for worthy causes or try to be a part of solutions to community issues and why I never waited for permission to speak out on the realities of life in Austin as a business owner, as a Black man, as a creative, as a renter, as a tirelessly committed Austinite.
You’ve seen me at the AIDS Walk speaking alongside Congressman Doggett or raising money for Austin Justice Coalition with Judge Andy Brown. You’ve seen me supporting local bars and restaurants or going to shows on Red River to support local musicians. You’ve seen me speaking at AISD public schools or guest lecturing students at UT and St. Ed’s. You’ve seen me running all over this city and swimming at Barton Springs. You’ve seen me lament the closures of historic businesses but also celebrated the influx of new entrepreneurs into our city. You’ve seen me be an advocate and a champion for this city and also a truth-teller on this city’s history of racism and inequity. You’ve seen me do this in my 20s and now well into my 30s and you have no reason to doubt it’ll stop in my 40s which are just a year away. I live the kind of life that would give me the kind of balanced and nuanced understanding of issues ranging from affordability and housing to transit and public safety.
I love Austin, you all know, and I have always pointed my love of this city toward being the kind of engaged, passionate and tireless advocate for the values that make our city unique and distinct and worth celebrating. Affordable, creative and inclusive. I believe those are the key ingredients to what makes Austin special. And I believe I can help.