Austin mayor candidates debate soccer, transportation

All seven Austin mayoral hopefuls faced off for the first time Thursday, discussing issues from soccer to transportation during a debate hosted by the American-Statesman and KLRU-TV.

Only two of the candidates, incumbent Mayor Steve Adler and former City Council Member Laura Morrison, are widely viewed as viable contenders for the seat. On Thursday, though, the other five — Todd Phelps, Gus Peña, Travis Duncan, Alexander Strenger and Alan Pease — all brought their perspectives on city issues, and their swipes at Adler, to KRLU's Studio 6A stage.

Adler received criticism from several of his opponents regarding the city’s deal to use city-owned land at McKalla Place for a Major League Soccer stadium. Morrison called the stadium a bad deal because of the loss of potential property taxes, and Phelps called it a corporate giveaway of a site where the city could have built affordable housing.

Adler responded to Morrison by saying the city’s job is not to receive maximum profit from its properties, but to deliver maximum community benefit. The deal for the privately financed 20,000-seat stadium does that, he said. Adler told Phelps the stadium was not a subsidy.

“The soccer proposal was a really good deal,” Adler said. “We leased land that was nonproductive to the soccer team. They’re paying rent for the land, and, in addition, they’re building a $220 million stadium on their nickel, and then they give the stadium to the city and lease it back.”

“It’s our land, that’s the subsidy,” Phelps replied.

Phelps, 47, is a former musician and farmer who is more conservative than the other candidates and received Republican support during his 2014 run for mayor, when he received 10 percent of the vote. He endorsed Adler during that election’s runoff, a move he said Thursday that he regrets.

Adler spoke proudly of his record, touting the city’s strong economy, leadership on international issues such as immigration and climate change and recently passed policies mandating paid sick leave and a living wage for city workers. In regard to the city’s greatest challenges, mobility and affordability, initiatives included in a 2016 bond package and funding for income-restricted homes are now moving forward, he said.

“There are so many things going so well, but that probably puts into relief the challenges,” the mayor said. “I wish we had done these things five years ago, 10 years ago … but the city is moving forward, and we’re going to take care of the challenges.”

Morrison, who served on the council for two terms, said work on affordable housing and mobility hasn’t happened quickly enough. She called for more grass-roots community solutions to city problems.

“When I talk to folks all over town, they’re really concerned and anxious about the future of Austin,” she said. “We have a clear choice. I come from the world of community advocacy, not the real estate industry.”

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Peña, 65, a veterans activist and a frequent speaker at City Council meetings, accused the mayor of lying when he touts ending homelessness for veterans in Austin. Adler responded that Austin has achieved an effective end to veteran homelessness — a distinction the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development certified in 2016 — but said that doesn’t mean some homeless individuals won’t still come and go from the city.

Strenger, 32, is a pedicabbie who has staked his campaign on opposition to many other forms of downtown transportation, such as ride-hailing companies and electric scooters, and on bombastic public statements. His debate appearance continued in that vein when he said too many real estate interests on the city’s Planning Commission “makes about as much sense as allowing Bill Cosby, Brock Turner and Judge Kavanaugh to run a battered women’s shelter.”

Asked what advice he would go back in time to give Austin’s mayor 50 years ago, Strenger said: “I would tell them, one day a company called Amazon is going to get invented, and we should probably not invite them here.”

Duncan, 29, is a drummer who has dubbed his campaign “We are the mayor.” He said during the debate that he would do 100 days of town hall meetings, if elected, to “listen with passion, heart and love.” His advice to Austin’s mayor 50 years ago, he said, would be “localize our food supply” and “plant hemp.”

The seventh candidate, Pease, 69, a car and motorcycle blogger, has maintained a low profile so far, raising no money and setting up no campaign website. He began attending campaign events only this week.

A Marine Corps Vietnam veteran who has lived in Austin for 16 years, Pease took a conciliatory tone at the debate, urging the community to come together on city issues. A frequent presence at city meetings, he said he has watched the city operate for years and could do it more effectively. He spoke of riding an electric scooter for the first time downtown this week and embracing similar new transportation ideas.

Asked in an interview earlier in the week why he had spent $500 filing to run for mayor rather than buying lottery tickets, Pease responded: “Well, probably the odds would be the same.”