How national should city politics get?
How much should local pols talk about Trump?
The other day CM Zo Qadri wrote a column in the Statesman about how the city of Austin can stand up to Trump and Abbott.
As we take on the twin perils of a second Trump administration and Governor Greg Abbott, resisting their harmful actions with marches and boycotts alone won’t be enough. We must approach the next four years with the resilience to adapt, innovate and be bold in our solutions.
He lists three examples:
Now, with Abbott’s abortion bans in place, I’m proud to support funding for the Reproductive Justice Fund that helps women travel to access care. It’s literally a matter of life and death that we find these avenues for women in Austin.
Second, with state and federal leaders driving policies that allow unfettered access to guns, I am committed to advancing evidence-based gun safety solutions that will help save lives. That’s why I’m leading efforts to identify resources to support community events that will educate and empower citizens on preventing gun violence in their neighborhoods.
And third, Texas is the most energy independent state in the country, but Abbott and Trump’s energy agendas are driven by big oil donors and threaten our economy and our environment. In contrast, Austin is leading the way in rethinking our energy economy. I strongly support the unanimously-passed Austin Energy Resource, Generation and Climate Protection Plan and will work to see that its implementation leverages all available resources to improve reliability, lower costs and create jobs that work for the future of our state.
OK. I would have preferred he share more details about these initiatives. The abortion fund is a $400k pot of money that the city has set aside to dole out to organizations; so far it gave $100k to Jane's Due Process, an organization that helps teens travel out-of-state to get abortions. The gun safety events strikes me as pretty low-impact and symbolic. Now, what the city does with Austin Energy really is a very big deal. It is arguably the city's most powerful lever to protect the environment and deliver economic relief to those who most need it. I'm glad to see Qadri underscore the economic point; I would like to see other politicians more vociferously embrace the value of a publicly-owned utility and communicate that to the public.
Former CM Mackenzie Kelly, who since losing reelection last November has become a lobbyist for the Meadows Mental Health Institute, ridiculed Qadri, accusing him of opting for political performance over action.
