"I will bring a well-rounded vision of our community needs and priorities to the Travis County
Commissioners Court and serve as a strong advocate for expanding economic and educational
opportunities as well as promoting good planning, environmental sustainability & encouraging public involvement."
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Tuesday, March 02, 2010
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In The News
Monday, February 2, 2010
Alvarez gets lion's share of Travis County Democrats' endorsements
By Josh Rosenblatt
It was a fiery Raul Alvarez who took the stage at the Travis County Democratic Primary Candidates' Forum on Thursday to make his case for being the next Travis County Commissioner in Precinct 4. For his troubles he earned a near-sweep of the evening's available endorsements over his opponent, incumbent Margaret Gomez.
Alvarez, a former two-term City Council member and current ACC board member, used more than half of his allotted speaking time to draw distinctions between himself and Gomez, who has been the Precinct 4 commissioner for 15 years.
"There are some stark differences between myself and the commissioner," he told the crowd at theMillennium Youth Complex on Austin's east side. "City Council has passed a home state preservation district to support East Austin, but the Commissioners Court has failed to act, so there's been no relief forEast Austin. The county could have fought to stop the expansion of the landfill but, partly because of the deciding vote of the commissioner, the landfills are being expanded."
For her part, Gomez didn't mention her opponent, choosing instead to focus on her accomplishments as commissioner. "I've worked collaboratively with other county officials to approve conservative financial policies for Travis County," she said. "As a result we've had a AAA (bond) rating for nine of the 15 years I've served on the commissioner's court. I've made sure that we hire more law enforcement officers, corrections officers, and firemen, as well as adding more EMS stations to improve the response time of ambulances."
When a member of the Austin Tejano Democrats asked Gomez why she chose to resign from the Capital Metro Board of Directors at the end of last year — a potentially dangerous question considering the state of the transit agency's finances and public reputation during the commissioner's tenure as board chair — Gomez made sure to avoid controversy or criticism.
"My appointment was made by the Commissioners Court to represent Travis County's interests in terms of alternate modes of transportation," she answered. "The time ran out, a new board was created by the Legislature, and I thought it was a good time to let a citizen serve."
Alvarez, on the other hand, seemed eager to stir things up, letting the assembled Democratic groups know that he believes it's time for a change of leadership in Precinct 4.
"I cannot recall one instance of Commissioner Gomez standing up for the community," he said. "When I was a City Council member, I stood up for East Austin. I fought to close the Holly Power Plant, I fought putting a water treatment plant in Guerrero Park, I fought a horse race track from going into Montopolis. In addition, I provided a lot of affordable-housing support for East Austin - $50 million in the bond proposal — and I have elevated that issue to a level of importance it really needs. I fought the tank farms; I fought the BFI plant.
"I have the support of Austin Firefighters, the Sierra Club, and the Transit Union from Cap Metro because I stood up for the workers when the commissioner did not."
When the votes were counted at the end of the evening, six Democratic groups had chosen to throw their support behind Alvarez: Circle C Area Democrats, Texas Environmental Democrats, Capital Area Young Democrats, Northeast Travis County Democrats, Capital Area Asian American Democrats, and Austin Tejano Democrats.
The Black Austin Democrats voted to endorse Commissioner Gomez. Neither candidate got 55 percent of the Capital Area Progressive Democrats vote, so that group withheld its endorsement.
Gomez can add the Black Austin Democrats to her list of supporters, which includes the South Austin Democrats, the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas (CLEAT), and the Austin Police Association.
Last night, both of Austin's gay Democratic clubs, the Austin Lesbian Gay Political Caucus and theStonewall Democrats of Austin issued a dual endorsement of Gomez and Alvarez.