Why I’m Running for Austin City Council | by Aaron Velazquez Webman (Candidate ATX District 5) | Apr, 2022 | Medium
I’m running for city council in Austin’s 5th district.
I’m a filmmaker, attorney, and entrepreneur. I’ve always been passionate about policy and history, but I never imagined I would run for political office because the process is undeniably gross.
Our city is on the precipice of historic heights or dangerous failure, and the outcome will largely be determined by a handful of career-politicians lacking in real-world experience and who most Austinites don’t even know exist.
Frankly, I was more than a little reluctant to throw my hat into this race. I avoided announcing because I was turned-off by the idea of being a politician, but after thinking about it for several months, I realized I would feel somewhat cowardly if I didn’t choose action over apathy.
Given the failure of other rapid-growth cities that were ruined by career politicians, it is clear that, here in Austin, non-professional politicians with proper and sincere incentives need to get involved with city governance.
We desperately need non-tribal sanity at city hall.
My District (District 5)
As you can see from this map, the district is hilariously huge. D5 ranges from the Colorado River near Barton Springs to Buda.
Why I’m Running
My wife and I have a very real stake in Austin’s future because:
- Our children were born in Austin. We want to raise them here and, one day, we’d like our grandchildren to be raised here;
- We love the sense of community;
- We love its creative and artistic backbone;
- We love how it’s not as transactional as other major US cities; and
- We love that its optimistic spirit of building and dreaming has warded off the hopeless nihilism that has come to dominate a significant percentage of the western world.
We feel a sense of duty to fight to keep it healthy. We can’t leave the vital task of guiding Austin’s rapidly expanding future in the hands of career politicians who are motivated only if it serves their political advancement. We need government officials, but we can’t forget that they are our public servants. We are not their subjects.
Career politicians are not incentivized to pass the best policy. They’re incentivized to pass the policy that looks the best so that they may remain in power for as long as possible.
To be clear, this is not a left vs. right issue. This is a broken incentive structure and incompetence issue.
I am not a career politician and I have zero desire to run for office beyond this city council election. I want to win this election so I can make a sincere effort, devoid of any grander political ambitions, to improve the city’s approach to issues such as infrastructure, transparency, zoning, safety, and community, to name a few. I want to win this election so I can focus on what this city needs instead of what my political career may need.
How You Can Help
This is the part of politics that is the most uncomfortable for me so far. To win in politics, you have to raise money. Money funds the campaigning plans highlighted above.
For this election, the maximum donation is $400 ($800 per couple so no special higher maximum for couples). We would greatly appreciate any amount you are comfortable with.
My goal is to win and bring sanity to the city. Not to feel proud of myself for every decision I make along the way.
Thank you for your support!
Sincerely,
Aaron Velazquez Webman
