by Daryl Slusher | Nov 24, 2025 | Austin Elections, City Council 2025
The rejection of Prop Q by Austin voters appears to have had an impact on City Council Members, who heretofore seemed to only feel the need to answer to “progressive” activists. Really, that has been the case since the first 10-1 district Council took office in 2015....
by Daryl Slusher | Nov 17, 2025 | Austin Elections, City Council 2025
I am going to begin this week with something I imagine most readers don’t expect. That is a discussion of etiquette; specifically the eating habits of the Austin City Council during their meetings. I decided to speak out on this topic after seeing a few people...
by Daryl Slusher | Nov 6, 2025 | Austin Elections, City Council 2025
Mayor Kirk Watson was well prepared on election night, with a pre-written concession speech. It was an unprecedented defeat for Watson and the entire Council, except for Marc Duchen who refused to go along with the crowd. Duchen voted against putting Prop Q on...
by Daryl Slusher | Oct 31, 2025 | Austin Elections, City Council 2025
OK folks, this is our final Prop Q pre-election coverage. It’s long, but I’ve broken it up into reasonably sized sections. First of all, there was a surprise plot twist as the campaign headed into the final stretch. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton — displaying...
by Daryl Slusher | Oct 13, 2025 | Austin Elections, City Council 2025
As the election on a City property tax increase (Prop Q) nears, opponents are beginning to hammer the point that the increase will affect the “affordability of Austin” — particularly for residents already on the verge of not being able to afford to live within the...
by Daryl Slusher | Oct 8, 2025 | Austin Elections, City Council 2025
I can’t put it off any longer. It’s time to begin our coverage of the Prop Q election. That’s the election item on whether to raise the City of Austin property tax to the tune of $201 more per year on the “typical homeowner.” That $201 comes on top of a $268.23...
by Daryl Slusher | Sep 3, 2025 | Austin Elections, Texas Legislature
Stories in a couple of national media outlets recently tried to paint rising young Texas Democratic star James Talarico as a hypocrite, saying he has slammed the role of billionaires in funding Texas politicians, but himself accepted $59,000 from a PAC associated with...
by Daryl Slusher | Aug 26, 2025 | Austin Elections, City Council 2025
There was some really big news not long after out last story about Texas mid-decade redistricting. First, Congressman Greg Casar made clear, through surrogates, that he plans to run for the seat currently held by Lloyd Doggett. Republican mapmakers merged the Austin...
by Daryl Slusher | Aug 14, 2025 | Austin Elections
Texas House Democrats are still on the lam, but the glory is beginning to fade. It hasn’t helped that some in the national media have pointed out to Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker that his state — where most fleeing Democrats are hiding out — is very gerrymandered...
by Daryl Slusher | Jan 19, 2025 | Austin Elections
Happy New Year folks. The Austin Independent is returning from a long break after losing part of our Christmas season to the Council runoff election (a little on the election results below). I realize that a lot of folks can’t face looking at the news right now, or...
