The primary way to promote affordable housing in the CBD is with subsidies. This would be primarily bond money, since state law does not allow inclusionary zoning. The City currently supports affordable housing with its SMART program, in TODs, and with voluntary developer initiatives. I will continue to support allocation on affordable housing bond money to buy down affordability in the central part of town. The City can and should also support appropriate fee waivers to help facilitate affordable housing.

As a member of the Policy Committee of HousingWorks Austin and the Community Action Network Community Council, I understand that safe decent housing is the basic foundation of our families and community. As president of the Austin Neighborhoods Council, I worked on many cases with associations that were struggling with the loss of affordable rental properties and the harmful impacts that brings to the fabric of their neighborhoods.

We must not squander the opportunities we have and we must develop new mechanisms to achieve greater opportunities in affordable housing. My positions and initiatives include:
 

• Support the development of a comprehensive housing plan. A realistic assessment of our future housing needs will help to demonstrate the critical role that preservation of existing affordable housing plays in our ability to achieve a vision for a diverse, thriving city in the future.
• Prioritize the preservation of existing affordable housing and target properties for preservation.
• Understand the impact of new development or redevelopment on existing affordable housing.
• Investigate the potential for tools used for preservation in other cities, such as placing limits on conversions from rentals to condominiums and collaborate with our State delegation to gain necessary enabling legislation if necessary.
• Enact the East Austin Homestead Preservation Act, which uses increased tax revenues in the area to preserve and create affordable homes.
• Make affordable housing development a priority on city-owned land.
• Meet the 25% affordable housing goal for Transit Oriented Development around rail stops.
• Strengthen City support for developers using Federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits to build affordable housing.
• Develop and expand tools such as land trusts to spur development of affordable housing.
• Provide financial consulting to help families struggling with mortgage problems and to develop the financial skills to become new homeowners.
• Ensure that the Health Care District is taking advantage of all possible property tax exemptions and partner with the Tax Assessors Office to promote full use of the exemptions in our low and middle income neighborhoods.
• Expand city support for non-profit housing developers.

The City should be focused on achieving more affordable housing in both central Austin and outlying areas. While the fundamental value system of our community dictates that we work to ensure that central housing is accessible to people at all income levels, we know broader and deeper affordability in outlying areas is easier to achieve because land prices and construction costs are lower. We also know living centrally isn't a desire for all citizens. But for those who do wish to live centrally, we should follow the recommendations from the Affordable Housing Incentives Task Force and create more tools that leverage the findings in the current Downtown Planning process. The City Council needs to focus now on ensuring the judicious use of voter-approved bond funding for affordable housing, on facilitating the development of the Community Land Trust, and on creating additional mechanisms that encourage participation of the private sector in the development of affordable housing. The City should also strengthen its relationship with key local non-profit organizations already working successfully in this arena. I also support expanding efforts like the redevelopment of the Green Water Treatment Plant downtown, as well as the 40% set-aside in the proposed Tax Increment Financing plan for affordable housing.

Again, I believe bond funding offers our best opportunity in the near term to deliver real solutions to Austin's affordable housing crisis. In terms of an ongoing revenue source, I am supportive of pending efforts to create a Tax Increment Financing reinvestment zone within a Homestead Preservation District. The aim of that effort is to promote and expand opportunities for affordable housing and to prevent the involuntary loss of homesteads by people living in low and middle-income neighborhoods. The revenue from the Tax Increment fund would go towards development, construction, and preservation of affordable housing as well as construction of infrastructure needed to construct or rehabilitate affordable housing.

Current funding sources including the new general obligation bonds are inadequate to address the size of the growing affordable housing problem. While the City has dedicated some funding such as increments of downtown redevelopment revenue other potential dedicated funds such as the East Austin Homestead Preservation Act have not been enacted. I believe development of a dedicated housing fund should be part of the goal of the comprehensive housing plan. I also believe that a substantial portion of any dedicated city affordable housing fund must go to those most in need.

As mentioned above, I would reach out to work with the private sector and also non-profits already working successfully in this arena. Regarding other affordability strategies, we should explore targeted exemptions and tax relief for original residents as feasible, and also seek ways to influence the legislature with respect to its over-reliance on property taxes, which is contributing directly to our affordable housing challenges. As for a dedicated revenue support for affordability needs, I would support another bond proposal as soon as possible if we get the results we are hoping for from the current one. Having a clear and transparent method for reporting and performance review will, hopefully, allow us to accomplish that.

See #1. Code amendments should, to the extent that they conform to state law, reflect this priority.

As President of the Austin Neighborhoods Council over the past 2 years, I had the opportunity to work with people in all parts of our City. Affordable housing became an integral part of our dialogue and was the first program topic we hosted under my presidency. I believe that Austinites are compassionate and that they support housing for a range of incomes when they have early information, real dialogue, and they are shown respect for their communities.

We must continue to work with the community to establish housing as a basic value in our city. We must create a shared vision, a comprehensive housing plan, and new funding mechanisms to ensure long-term support for quality affordable housing.

We should work with the private sector to create clear and reasonable benchmarks for affordability in future housing developments. I support the collaboration between the City and the Domain developers to set aside a percentage of rental units for affordable housing, but we can do more by creating these partnerships in all parts of town, as long as they provide a clear and compelling community benefit. Where possible, I would support transparent incentives and targeted exemptions for developers committed to including certain levels of affordable housing in development.

All of these priorities should be considered, with affordability as the top priority.

While I realize the severe financial difficulties faced by many in our community, I believe the question should not be about balancing affordability against other public benefits, but rather how to optimize each of the benefits so they are mutually supportive.

A major part of a family's bills are utility costs; adding or building to higher energy conservation standards will save money adding to affordability over the long run. Neighborhood compatibility is also important to build long-term support for housing and reduce opposition to "affordable housing" across the city. Austin's award winning non-profit developers have shown that can produce high quality affordable housing that gains area residents support. Accessibility is a major issue not only for people with disabilities but also for our rapidly growing aging population.

It's time we move forward as a community to expect and financially support high quality affordable housing across the city. The focus should be on developing new funding mechanisms along with transparent public accountability measures to ensure that our efforts are matching our goals.

Our community values an emphasis on green building, environmental issues, and accessibility and neighborhood aesthetics, so I believe it's important that our building regulations reflect those values. Affordability does not have to be at odds with these regulations, as green building, for example, can actually help keep future costs down for owners and renters. I would leave the door open to waiving certain regulations to accommodate affordability if the need is clear, compelling and in the interest of the community-at-large.

Current requirements for allocation of affordable housing bond money stipulate that a portion of these funds be expended for affordable rental housing in the 30% MFI range, and I will stand by those requirements.

I will inform him of my personal interest in addressing housing needs, especially for those most in need, and my belief in the fundamental nature of the problem in protecting and improving the quality of life and success of the Austin community. I would ask that he work with the community to develop a comprehensive approach to solve housing problems in conjunction with other issues such as transportation and education. Finally, I will remind him that the City Manager, and City staff along with the City Council work for the residents of Austin.

One of the priorities of my campaign is addressing poverty, and if I elected I will strongly encourage my fellow Council members as well as the new City Manager to also make it a priority. Too often issues related to poverty are at the bottom of our City's priority list rather than at the top. As mentioned above, I support creating mechanisms that encourage private sector investment in addressing our affordable housing challenges and strengthening the relationship the City has with leading local nonprofits working successfully in this arena. I would also encourage the new city manager to work with me and the rest of the City Council in exploring tax relief for original residents as feasible, and also seek ways to influence the legislature with respect to its clear over-reliance on property taxes.

These percentages track roughly the percentage of rental and ownership in the city as a whole and seem reasonable. However, I am open to reconsideration in changing circumstances and with public input.

I will support the bond priorities for rental/ownership and MFI which were promised to the public during the campaign. I will monitor and support the efforts of the Housing Bond Oversight Committee on the dispensation of the bonds. It's critical that the residents of Austin have confidence that the Housing Bonds are being spent responsibly if they are to be asked in the future for additional bonding authority.

I supported the 2006 affordable housing bond program and want to see it succeed, so we can do it again. We need a clear and transparent method for reporting and performance review to ensure success of the bond program and determine how to best prioritize future spending.

I wholeheartedly supported the bond funding for affordable housing, and I believe it will help us make significant progress in addressing these priorities established by the Task Force. In terms of other affordability strategies, I have supported and will continue to support the city's SMART Housing Program (Safe, Mixed Income, Accessible, Reasonably Priced, and Transit-Oriented). I will work to ensure that affordable housing options become a part of Transit-Oriented Development districts and city redevelopment projects. I have actively worked to help incorporate "density bonuses" into city policy, which allow for greater density than the code allows in appropriate places while ensuring funding for affordable housing throughout the city. As Austin continues to grow, utilizing the density bonus program within the Central Business District and along Core Transit Corridors will likely provide an important stream of revenue for affordable housing. Additionally, I support tax increment financing generated by redevelopment projects like the Green Water Treatment Plant that could contribute hundreds of thousands of dollars for affordable housing each year for several decades.

The Task Force core values are an important development in the public and governmental discussion on housing in Austin. The Task Force recommendations represent a somewhat incomplete process with more limited scope of how to "incentivise" affordable housing downtown. While I believe the recommendations have merit, I hope that current and future efforts such as the developing Downtown Plan continue to bring new approaches to meeting our community's affordability needs.

I will focus on strategies for affordability levels that range from 60% MFI to 80%. Different levels and different objectives (i.e. rental vs. ownership) require different strategies to reach deeper, longer levels of affordability. Regarding geographic dispersion, please refer to my answers above, specifically regarding the need to focus on affordability not only in central Austin but in outlying areas as well.

As noted above, per Council action last month, the Green redevelopment downtown will dedicate, via a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district, 40% of incremental tax revenue to affordable housing on an ongoing basis. I will support a contract award for the Green redevelopment project that meets the affordable housing goals set by the Council, but hope and expect that the RFP respondents will exceed these affordability goals.

The Request for Proposal passed by the Council requires that 10% of the units be affordable for people with incomes at 80% of the medium family income. I believe this standard is too low for city-owned land. A better model would be the standards for the Mueller Redevelopment Project which is working to produce 25% of homes as affordable. I will continue to support new approaches to gain affordability such as have been proposed in the 1st phase of the new Downtown Planning process.

I will ensure that standards for affordability at the Green Plant site are part of any eventual legal contract between the City and the developer, with enforceable language and reporting requirements.

Much like the bond program, success in redeveloping the Green Plant site will be contingent upon having a clear and transparent method for reporting and performance review to ensure that aggressive affordability standards are being met. I'm anxious to see the proposals presented to the City regarding the redevelopment of the Green site and hopeful they will not only meet but exceed the affordability goals set by the Council.

I have supported funding for Foundation Communities, which has provided this type of housing with great success in recent years, and would expect to continue to do so over the coming years. I would note that these units also are typically energy and water-use efficient. Thanks for these questions, and I look forward to meeting with you.

I support the goal of ending homelessness in our community. As a member of the Community Action Network Community Council, I understand that the growing number of homeless, many of whom are families with children, is a major concern. To provide the additional housing with supportive services, we must ensure that the city budget reflects our priorities for funding services for those most in need. We need to expand our use of tax credits, and increase financial support for organizations that are on the front lines of addressing homelessness. While I understand that there are enormous demands on our limited budget resources, I will ensure that we consider the long-term financial benefits to investing in housing for the homeless. It is a smart investment as well as a compassionate one.

We've got to do more to leverage the strengths of our local nonprofits, and help them better address this challenge. I plan to build on my extensive experience in the nonprofit sector to improve the way the City does business with basic needs providers. I will also work hard to create new resources by bringing private sector partners to the table, and I will actively pursue additional sources of federal funding that will likely become available with the upcoming change in White House administrations. Austin must not only get its "fair share" of those funds, it should hopefully get even more — by competing as successfully on that front as we do on so many others.