Candidates for Mayor Responses from Celia Israel and Kirk Waston are listed below: (Anthony Bradshaw, Phil Campero Brual, Gary Spellman and Jennifer Virden did not respond yet. As we get any further responses we will include them.)
Although everyone acknowledges Austin has an affordable housing problem, affordability is a term that is thrown around loosely. ADAPT works with people who are mostly at the 30% area median income (AMI), or WAY below (like 12%). Even though supportive housing is very popular these days, and while there are people who needs supports and ADAPT has fought long and hard for services and supports for people with disabilities, we know that tying these services to housing can be problematic for many people with disabilities. ADAPT firmly believes housing and services should both be provided, but not combined – at least not for many people who need deeply affordable housing. In addition, ADAPT does not believe in disability specific housing, in other words housing that creates disability ghettos.
We want to know what you would do to ensure that housing options for people with disabilities who need deeply affordable (that is affordable to people with incomes at or below 30% AMI/MFI) accessible housing that integrates people with and without disabilities?
Celia Israel: We must maximize our city’s real estate holdings, in coordination with other public partners such as AISD, ACC, and Travis County, to create deeply affordable multifamily housing opportunities across our city. I also am a vocal supporter of this November’s affordable housing bond, and when passed, it will be a valuable asset to meeting our community needs for deeply affordable housing. We can ensure federal ADA requirements are being followed, and I understand the importance of ensuring disability rights organizations and advocates have a seat at the table in housing discussions and local reforms to improve access and sufficiently meet the needs of people with disabilities in Austin.
Kirk Watson: I agree that we should not have disability-specific housing. But we absolutely must do more to recognize that the 80% MFI standard still utilized for most affordable housing programs in Austin today sets a bar that is too high to provide support to many in our community who desperately need it. Many of the people at 30% MFI and below are being forced to leave Austin, which is simply unacceptable. The City and its partners must intentionally do more to deliver more deeply affordable housing. If elected, I will make it a top priority to do so.
Would you support keeping Austin’s current visitability ordinance (that provides basic access to new single family homes and duplexes)?
Celia Israel: Yes, visitability is an important part of construction criteria that I firmly support.
Kirk Watson: Yes, I support keeping Austin’s current visitability ordinance, and am open to strengthening it. I was very involved in the first community discussion about visitability requirements in 1998, and my position in favor of visitability has been clear for a long time.
Do you know about the Voluntary Compliance Agreement between HUD, the city and ADAPT, and if elected would you like to know more?
Celia Israel: Yes, I am familiar with the VCA. If elected as mayor, I would happily learn more from ADAPT about the history and ways to strengthen disability rights and justice in Austin.
Kirk Watson: I don’t know about the agreement but would welcome the opportunity to learn about it.
Transportation is a huge issue in Austin and a lot is happening in this area. ADAPT cut our teeth on this issue over 30 years ago, fighting for, and winning, lift equipped buses and other forms of integrated mainline transportation. Many people with disabilities are completely or partially dependent on public transit to get around our community.
What would you do to promote public transportation of all kinds that is accessible to people with all kinds of disabilities?
Celia Israel: I have been a longtime advocate for comprehensive public transit solutions in Austin. I believe that transit is freedom, and transit is a lifeline for many in our community. It is a responsibility of our public officials to support greater transit access to housing, health care, education, and jobs, and to always keep in mind the accessibility needs of all who rely on our public transportation system. When mayor, I will be an active partner with Cap Metro to prioritize this during the continued implementation of Project Connect in the coming years.
My mom used a wheelchair for years. I can certainly empathize with the challenges people face who are not able to drive, or simply choose not to, and who require accessible transportation options like safe sidewalks. As Mayor, I will invest in public transportation like bus and rail services that can help folks navigate the city without a car. The Mayor has a unique role in bridging the city and the transit authority together through the Austin Transit Partnership, and I will bring my personal experiences as a public transit user and my multi-modal transportation advocacy in the Texas House to deliver on the promise of Project Connect.
Kirk Watson: Among the steps I would take is to make sure that Austin is taking full advantage of the FTA’s Section 5310 program, which provides funds to grantees to help meet the transportation needs of older adults and people with disabilities.
How do you see Project Connect helping people who use public transit?
Celia Israel: Project Connect is an exciting opportunity to finally have a comprehensive public transit system in Austin. As I always say, people aren’t anti-transit, they are anti-inefficiency. Project Connect gives us a chance to create a larger, more connected public transit network and provide new transit modes we have never had in Austin. I firmly believe that every dollar spent on transportation should be an equity dollar, and I will work with Cap Metro through the Austin Transit Partnership to ensure we are getting the most for our dollars put into Project Connect and that we are being equitable with our resources.
Kirk Watson: If Project Connect is somehow not helping people who use public transit as a fundamental principle, then something has gone horribly wrong. I am committed to ensuring that Project Connect delivers what was promised, and will work to ensure that this includes transit that is accessible to people with all kinds of disabilities.
Sidewalks are critical for pedestrian safety in most parts of our city. ADAPT has fought for sidewalks and making those sidewalks accessible with curb ramps/cuts, tactile warnings for visually impaired people, crossing signals with visual and audible cues, and for pedestrian safety in general. Though this work has gone on for over 20 years, the network is not complete and often low-income parts of our city have the worst infrastructure still. What would you do to support expansion of sidewalks and curb cuts around Austin?
Celia Israel: These sidewalk improvements are essential for a comprehensive and connected transportation system. I would continue supportive investment and bring a critical eye to where exactly we are prioritizing improvements. Often, the communities who are most in need of sidewalk infrastructure have been left behind and deprioritized. These needed improvements are also a safety issue. In the legislature, I have been a leading voice in support of Vision Zero and improving transportation safety – I have been proud of the advances that the Austin Transportation Department has made in recent years on Vision Zero investments, and I would support their continued efforts.
Kirk Watson: I have always supported expansion of sidewalks and curb cuts in Austin, and will continue to do so if elected mayor. The City of Austin has significant voter-approved bond funds for a broad range of mobility improvements, including sidewalks. Now our focus must be on ensuring that those funds are spent efficiently and effectively, but also as quickly as possible.
What would you do to promote TXDOT making this a priority in the Austin area, as well as efforts by the city, Capital Metro, etc.?
Celia Israel: I have worked with TxDOT for years as a state representative and during my time on the House Transportation Committee, and I will always hold high expectations of TxDOT. It takes communication and coordination on these issues, as each of these entities has a unique role to play in our transportation network and in improving safety and access. I am optimistic in what we can achieve, and I will always be a vocal advocate for safety improvements and a multimodal transportation network that also keeps in mind our pedestrians and cyclists with various mobility needs.
Kirk Watson: As mayor and state senator I am proud to have enjoyed great success working with TXDOT and Capital Metro, and if elected will continue to build on these positive working relationships.
Community based personal attendants (sometimes mislabeled caregivers) are critical for many people with disabilities to live independently in their own homes in the community. These workers assist with bathing, dressing, getting in and out of bed, feeding and other personal care. Often this kind of support is paid for by Medicaid – a state program. Currently there is a critical lack of community attendants, which is forcing people to go into nursing homes and similar institutional settings they do not want to live in but have no choice. This is due in no small part to the stinginess of the state which refuses to raise wages above $8.11 starting pay. When an attendant does not show up the disabled person often must turn to the fire department, EMS, for help, and if they do not get help they can end up in emergency rooms with complications. The city public health department is working with other departments to look for ways to assist with this problem.
What would you do, if anything, to help foster these efforts?
Celia Israel: When my mother moved in with me during the last few years of her life, we relied on the support of a personal attendant to meet all of her unique needs. I personally understand the essential role these workers provide not only to the person receiving care but the entire family unit, as well as the benefit these services provide to allow individuals to remain living at home. I would fully support advocacy at the state level, as appropriate, to shore up funding for these essential workers, as well as explore all available opportunities to draw down funding at the local level.
Kirk Watson: As mayor I will commit to work with the City’s public health department to help ensure that Austinites with disabilities have access to the support services they need.
During emergencies like the blackout of 2021 people with disabilities wound up stuck in their homes unable to get out and get to emergency shelters or friends and family. During Katrina many people with disabilities were stuffed into nursing homes as emergency shelters, but then were left there afterwards, while other cities like Chicago were able to assist people in more integrated settings and programs. What would you do to promote inclusion of people with disabilities in emergency planning efforts by the city? What would you do to help ensure people with disabilities are not left to completely fend for themselves or get stuck in nursing homes or other institutions?
Celia Israel: The resiliency hub pilot program and buildout over the coming years is an exciting opportunity to improve citywide emergency response in an equitable and comprehensive way. This initiative – and any major city programming – will only be successful with extensive community input and collaboration with stakeholders of all backgrounds in Austin, including and especially people with disabilities.
This will take city planning that is inclusive of and centering people with disabilities. Along with resiliency hub programming itself, we must strengthen our public communication network to better reach and respond to those with disabilities, those who live alone, and others with unique needs in times of emergency.
Kirk Watson: It’s clear that our city and region must do a better job of planning to respond effectively to emergencies, which must also include making specific provisions to provide support to people with disabilities in times of crisis. Plainly, people with disabilities MUST be included in those planning efforts, and as mayor I will make certain that they are.
Police relations with the community have been under close scrutiny. Over the years there have been many incidents involving people with disabilities and the police that are of concern to ADAPT. To be fair, ADAPT has also had positive experiences with APD. However, women with significant disabilities who have been raped have been discounted and the rape charges dismissed because these women were not believed: women who have left home because of domestic violence have been discounted and been barred from going back into their home to get their clothes and belongings; people with cerebral palsy, Huntington’s disease, or brain injuries have been assumed drunk; people with psychiatric disabilities have been mishandled and several times killed; deaf people are mishandled because they fail to comply with oral orders they cannot hear.
ADAPT would like to know how you might include disability perspectives in more of the discussions surrounding police and community.
Celia Israel: I support continued transparency and community partnership as we improve police culture for the safety of all. This includes disability perspectives, which are crucial to meeting this vision for Austin public safety.
The first step [in disentangling] is to treat response to moments of mental health crisis as a matter of public health. On a systemic level, we must improve communication and collaboration with the county on mental health care regional services in order to support the health care needs of Austin. I will work closely with the County Judge and Commissioners to fund mental health facilities and services and to maximize federal reimbursement for care to those who cannot afford to pay.
Kirk Watson: There is no question that ADAPT must be included in discussions related to these issues. As mayor I will appoint representatives from ADAPT and other groups that advocate for the rights of people with disabilities to boards, commissions and task forces charged with considering these issues and making recommendations to policy makers. In terms of policing, we can prevent tragedy and help ensure that law enforcement officers earn the trust of the community through recruitment, training, supervision, transparency and accountability. With regard to people with psychiatric disabilities, I believe we must continue to expand our investments in community mental health care.
EMS in Austin receives a much smaller part of the city budget than police or even fire departments. This inequity limits the critical service EMS can provide and if you are elected you need to look at this problem. In addition, EMS has no consistent way to transport a person’s wheelchair with the person who is being taken to the hospital. For many people who use wheelchairs, especially motorized wheelchairs, our chairs are our legs. Not everyone has someone who can bring their chair to them in the hospital. Imagine being asked to go home from the hospital without your legs. There used to be a supervisor’s vehicle that was equipped to carry a motorized wheelchair, but if EMS still has this it is very sporadically and inconsistently used. What would you do to address these problems?
Celia Israel: Our EMS has been overstretched for years compared to other departments, and the affordability crisis has exacerbated the low staffing that our city has experienced. I support increasing pay and benefits for EMS paramedics as we fight to retain and recruit quality staff who can deliver the services people need in a time of crisis. I believe greater staffing and department funding would partially solve this issue raised, but it also requires partnership with disability advocates and community engagement to reach a best solution. Public engagement on a preferred approach, the establishment of a consistent policy when responding to people who use wheelchairs, and the adequate staffing to support implementation of this process will all help to ensure equitable services for people with disabilities in Austin.
Kirk Watson: I am proud to have been endorsed in this race by both the EMS and Firefighters associations, and expect to work closely with them if elected. I will commit to ADAPT to learn more about the issues detailed above and promise to take immediate action if it becomes clear that EMS does not have the equipment necessary to provide emergency services to people with disabilities.
Thank you for the opportunity to respond to these questions, and thank you for your decades of important work in Austin on behalf of people with disabilities