David Buttross

AUSTIN (CLASS/KXAN) - The candidates in the Austin Mayoral Race 2009 were each asked to provide written answers to seven questions on issues, ideas and philosophies.
The following questions were submitted to each of the major candidates by the LBJ School of Public Affairs' C.L.A.S.S. (Citizens for Local and State Service) program.

1) What do you see as the three most critical issues for Austinites in the next five years and what would you do as mayor to address them?

In these tough economic times, our city has to learn to do more with less. That economic crunch will continue over the next five to ten years and it will determine the issues and priorities our city must address.

PROVIDING GOOD QUALITY BASIC SERVICES – The top priority for our city has to be providing good quality basic services like good roads, good quality water, utility services and meeting our public safety needs.

MAINTAINING EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE - Maintaining our existing infrastructure and public spaces is critical to the quality of life in Austin. Under our current city council, only 10 percent of our roads are scheduled to be maintained. This is unacceptable. We must prioritize maintaining our existing infrastructure, including our public parks, and keeping our neighborhoods up where they provide the quality of life people expect out of Austin.

LIVING WITHIN OUR BUDGET - I am a firm believer that smaller government is good government. Austin families are hurting and they have to tighten their belts. The city of Austin needs to do the same. We need to find ways to distinguish between our needs and our wants and then we need to fund our needs (see above) before funding all the special interests wants that flood city hall.
As mayor I will work to make sure that we make good use of taxpayer money, that there are no tax increases and that the city works with private enterprise to ensure the city can live within its budget while still providing the necessary services, such as affordable housing, that the city needs.
 

2) The City of Austin's population has doubled over the past 20 years. How will you as Mayor manage Austin's future growth while maintaining Austin's unique community?

We must encourage density in city building, especially in the central areas of town, and work with developers to include affordable housing. Like it or not, Austin is changing and the biggest challenge is helping it change the right way while keeping its unique identity. We do that by deciding what is good about Austin that we want to keep and deciding what we can do without.
 

I believe in mass transit but not the way it currently operates. We are spending too much money to bring people in from outlying areas who then take the money they make in Austin and use it to increase the tax base in other cities. We need to use smaller, more energy efficient and buses and we need to build upon the rail we have already started to make it work cost efficiently and effectively.

People move to Austin because they want its quality of life and they like the fact that it is unique. We must maintain the ability to have different neighborhoods that appeal to people of all economic means and keep our ability to be accepting of diversity and work to find common ground.

3) On a national level, there is a discussion about the need to greatly improve infrastructure. What do you see as Austin’s greatest infrastructure improvement needs, and what will you do to ensure that these problems are addressed and our infrastructure is maintained?

Our greatest infrastructure needs are ensuring that we have good basic city services and maintaining our existing infrastructure. And we need to reexamine how we are handling our infrastructure needs. For example, while we need to improve our existing transportation infrastructure, we also have to re-examine our priorities. We should never again be in the position of having Cap Metro spending down its reserves while it owes millions of dollars to other entities such as the city of Austin. Government must be held accountable whether it is City Hall or other entities who receive local taxpayer money.

There is a big issue in cities across the country regarding maintenance of existing infrastructure and open spaces. This would be one of my budget priorities. We need to take care of what we have before we move on to new items.

I think it is important to note that we must do more with less. Austin families are hurting and have to tighten their belts in these tough economic times, and the city of Austin has to do the same. That means we will have very tough decisions to make about funding and hiring, and determining the differences between what the city needs and what special interests want. We have to work to meet the needs of the city before we meet the wants of everyone else.
 

4) What will you do during your time as Mayor to expand Austin's consumption of renewable energy and promote green jobs and technology?

While