Austin’s upcoming November election is bound to be one for the history books – it’s the first test for Austin’s new single member districts and the first time since 2009 that a new and untested mayor of the City of Austin will be elected. With such an historic election coming up, we want you to hear from the candidates on the issues we work on every day: barriers to economic opportunity for Greater Austin residents.
Follow the Mayoral Debate live on Twitter:
When: Wednesday, September 3, 2014, at 4:30 p.m.
Where: Newly renovated and soon-to-reopen Alamo Drafthouse, located at 1120 S. Lamar Blvd., Austin, Texas.
(and on Twitter via @uwatx and hashtag #uwatxdebate!)
What: City of Austin Mayoral Candidate Debate, focused on the barriers to economic opportunity for Greater Austin residents
Catherine Morse, general counsel/director of public affairs at Samsung Austin Semiconductor and board chair elect for UWATX, will moderate the debate. To date, Steve Adler, Mike Martinez, Sheryl Cole, Todd Phelps and Randall Stephens have confirmed they’ll be participating.
In the Greater Austin area, nearly half of all families are struggling to make ends meet because of high costs for everyday expenses like child care, housing, transportation and so on. The challenge is even greater for Austin children, one in four of whom lives in poverty, and our data show that the needs continue to grow.
We’re also excited to announce our host committee for the event:
- Becky Arreaga, founder and president of Mercury Mambo, and member of UWATX Board of Directors
- Andy Brown, partner at The Brown Law Firm and member of UWATX Social Impact Bonds Committee
- John-Michael Cortez, community involvement manager and Basic Transportation Needs Fund treasurer at Capital Metro, and member of the Austin Community College Board of Trustees
- Jennifer Foster, director of Global Business Development for Dell Financial Services and member of UWATX Women’s Leadership Council, and chair of the UWATX WLC Executive Committee
- Dan Graham, founder and chief executive officer of BuildASign.com, and member of UWATX Board of Directors
- Tommy Hodinh, founder and chief executive officer of MagRabbit, and member of UWATX Board of Directors
- The Hon. Celia Israel, member of the Texas House of Representatives, District 50
- Bobby Jenkins, president of ABC Home & Commercial Services and member of UWATX Board of Directors
- Don Kendrick, regional president of Wells Fargo Central Texas Region and member of UWATX Board of Directors
- Heather Ladage, publisher of the Austin Business Journal and member of UWATX Board of Directors
- Eugene Sepulveda, chief executive officer of the Entrepreneurs Foundation
- Mark Strama, head of Google Fiber Austin and member of UWATX Board of Directors
- The Hon. Bruce Todd, Travis County Commissioner, Precinct 2 and former City of Austin mayor