Mayor Pro Tem

[Alison Alter]

For the first time Austin has elected a female supermajority, with eight women and three men serving on the City Council. I believe it’s important for our children to see that women lead political institutions. I am humbled and grateful to have so many of my colleagues reach out to say they support my serving as Mayor Pro-Tem of the Austin City Council. As we move forward, I am fully committed to working with all council members to solve the problems that our community faces and to do so in a collaborative and effective way. 

[Leslie Pool]

Colleagues, last week I stated my intention to support Council Member Casar’s nomination as mayor pro tem when the new City Council is sworn in. I appreciated Council Member Casar’s pledge to help bring the dais together and heal some of the divisions that have persisted over the last few years. I, too, share that desire and pledge to help us work toward consensus.

After writing that post on the message board, I learned that another council member is willing to serve in the position. With a near super-majority of women now elected to the Austin City Council, I have been contacted by numerous constituents and community leaders — primarily women — asking me to reconsider my position.

I was reminded that the year 2020 marks the centennial of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote. And I thought of the words of our recently fallen hero, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who said:

“As women achieve power, the barriers will fall. As society sees what women can do, as women see what women can do, there will be more women out there doing things, and we’ll all be better off for it.”

January 2021 will establish an important historical achievement for women in Austin city governance, when there will be eight women serving on the City Council, the most ever in Austin’s history. Having two men lead a dais of so many amazing and qualified women would send the wrong message to our community, and I don’t believe it matches the will of the Austin voters who have elected so many women to represent them.

It recently came to my attention that Council Member Alison Alter is interested in serving as mayor pro tem, as her message below explains, and many of her colleagues are supporting her. Having worked alongside Council Member Alter for the last several years, I know her to be a consensus builder who actively seeks input from her colleagues and works to find common ground. If our goal is start 2021 as a more unified dais, then I believe she is the right person to help lead that effort.

I know that as mayor pro tem, Council Member Alter will continue her approach of building consensus and striving for equilibrium on the dais, and she will have my support in January.

Leslie

[Kathie Tovo]

Thank you CM Alter - you have my support!