On May 1, 2021, Austin residents will vote on eight propositions, many of which will alter the Austin City Charter. Probably the most contentious issue involves reinstating a camping ban in Austin, which would make camping in public spaces a class "C" misdemeanor. The only penalty is a fine; however, since homeless persons cannot pay the fine, a warrant for the person's arrest will be issued. It does nothing to solve the homeless situation in Austin.
Many of the issues deal with changing the Austin City Charter. The most significant change would change the form of municipal governance in Austin from the Council-Manager form to a Strong Mayor-Council form. The justification for this proposition is to make the operation of municipal government in Austin more accountable to the residents. Another proposition moves the mayoral election from non-presidential general election years to presidential general election years. The mayor would still serve a four-year term. However, proponents argue that the mayor will be subjected to more pressure to abide by the residents' opinions than the current city manager is. The city manager can be removed by the City Council now, but proponents of this change don't think that the pressure is enough on the city manager to force compliance with the citizens' desires.
Two proposals were considered by an Austin Charter Review Commission two years ago and rejected by the commission; however, they are on this ballot. One proposal would establish Ranked Choice Voting for council elections if allowed by the Texas legislature. Ranked Choice Voting allows each voter to rank the candidates for an office in order of preference. If no candidate receives a majority of the vote for the first place votes for the office, the candidate with the fewest first place votes is eliminated, and the second place votes of those voters are distributed to the remaining candidates. If no candidate receives a majority of the votes, the process is repeated until a candidate receives a majority of the votes. This system eliminates the need for run-off elections, which occur in December currently and have very low voter turnout percentages. Furthermore, there is less negative campaigning since the candidates is trying to garner as many first place votes as possible and all voters' ballots are important. The other proposal would create a Democracy Dollars program that would send every registered voter in Austin two $26 certificates that could be contributed to a candidate for mayor (one certificate) and to a candidate in his or her council district (one certificate). The cost is a major impediment to the approval of this measure. However, cities that employ this system, such as Seattle, Washington, have experienced an increase in candidates for council positions who would not have the resources to compete otherwise.
Unfortunately, voter turnout will be low. So far, after three days of early voting (one-third of the total days of early voting), voter turnout in Travis County is only 3.35 percent of registered voters. I would be surprised if turnout exceeds 20 percent of registered voters.
Early voting ends on April 27th, and Election Day is Saturday, May 1st. If you haven't voted, please exercise your right to vote.
Voter Guides are here.
