With 9 out of 10 apartment owners turning away Section 8 voucher users, single mothers like Evita Cruz have few options about where to live.  This affects what school her daughter attends, how far she travels for work and how safe she feels in her neighborhood.  During Holy Week, Austin Interfaith clergy and lay leadership stood up for people like Evita to demand that the council advance a resolution that would prohibit discrimination based on Section 8 vouchers.  Council responded with a 6-0 vote, directing the City Manager to draft language for a formal policy proposal.  In photo, Evita Cruz tells her story.  More photos here. 

Council Approves Voucher Ordinance, KVUE-ABC 

Council Passes Resolution to End Housing Discrimination, KXAN

Council Could Ban Landlords from Section 8 Discrimination, Time Warner Cable News

Council: Getting a Round Tuit, Austin Chronicle

Policy Austin City Council Says Landlords Can't Discriminate Against Housing Voucher-Holders, Austin American Statesman

Reverend John Elford's Remarks

"Austin Interfaith leaders mobilized members to show up en masse to city budget hearings to plug these programs, meet with council members and bombard council offices with calls and emails in the days leading up to the final budget vote.

The nonprofit was elated that council members agreed to spend money on all of Austin Interfaith’s priorities, totaling $2.4 million.

Austin Interfaith and the parks coalition “were effective because they were very diverse, broad-based groups that had a clear message: that as a world-class city, we should be able to fund some of these critical needs better,” City Council Member Kathie Tovo said."

Organized Groups Won the Day in Austin Budget Vote, Austin American Statesman

“Texas officials have declined to establish a state-based health insurance marketplace, a major provision of the federal Affordable Care Act. So private organizations are working to educate Texans about coverage options through the federal health insurance exchange, which opens on Oct. 1….The [USHHS] department will also finance at least two “navigators” — organizations intended to guide people through the exchange — per state.

But Jacob Cortes, the lead organizer of the group Austin Interfaith, said that might not be enough. ‘The private sector would have to step up,’ he said.”

Promoting Health Insurance, With No Help From State, New York Times

“Austin Interfaith, and the Network of Texas Organizations, convened 200 leaders from various faith traditions on the steps of the Capitol to call on Gov. Rick Perry and the Texas Legislature to expand Medicaid.

Religious leaders and clergy from throughout the state gathered at the north entrance the Capitol on Wednesday at noon to rally in support of Medicaid expansion…”

When the owner of a local liquor store petitioned to be allowed to sell alcohol 50 feet near Reagan High School, Our Lady of Guadalupe and Austin Interfaith leader Oralia Garza de Cortes responded quickly.  Within days she contacted members of her congregation and Northeast Austin neighborhood associations to inform them of the proposed variance and mobilized local troops to fight the proposal.  In coordination with eight neighborhood associations of Northeast Austin, grandmothers, teachers, pastors and other concerned citizens quickly rallied and succeeded in getting the proposal pulled before Thursday’s vote. 

Follow the Props and the Money, Austin Chronicle

Protesters Stop Beer Sales Near Reagan High, YNN News

Group Protests Sales of Alcohol at Store Near Reagan High School, FOX News

Neighborhood Protests Sale of Alcohol Near Reagan High, KVUE News

Leaders from the Worker’s Defense Project, a member institution of Austin Interfaith, successfully lobbied city council members to pass a resolution that will protect and train workers on all city-owned construction sites, whether or not a third-party is the developer.  Until now, city contracts did not require safety trainings in a situation where the city allows a third party to develop city-owned property (examples of such developments are the Mueller Development, the Seaholm Power Plant and Water Treatment Plant No. 4.)

The resolution will also require that a safety supervisor with 30 hours of training be present at construction sites. A study released by the University of Texas in 2009 found that the Texas construction industry is the most deadly in the nation, with a worker dying on the job every 2.5 days. In Austin, one in every five construction workers is seriously injured on the job, in part because 64% of construction workers have never received a basic safety training. Numerous studies have found that safety training reduces costly accidents and saves lives.

At the Austin Interfaith Accountability Session this past April 800 people gathered, heard stories on a range of issues including unsafe working conditions and asked all candidates for city council if they would support expanded safety training. The candidates publicly answered that they would, and they kept their commitment—now all workers on city-owned construction sites, even when a third party developer is used, will be provided with an OSHA 10 hour safety training prior to working on the construction site.

Video of City Council (Click on Item 106)

 

Perhaps there is another explanation for the increased turnout in early voting for the runoff election: Austin Interfaith.

In a release on Thursday, the ecumenical group said it has “conducted an intensive non-partisan Get out the Vote Campaign” over the past three months for the May 14 city election and the June 18 runoff. According to the group, more than 100 leaders from 27 Austin Interfaith member institutions took to their pulpits, got on the phone and went door-to-door to get out the vote. Its leaders targeted five specific precincts: on the East side precincts 124, 438 and 439; on the South side in Dove Springs, Precinct 450; and on the North side, Precinct 163.

During the last weekend of early voting Austin Interfaith leaders engaged over 700 households with the result that early voting was up significantly, they say. Austin Interfaith targeted several precincts in November 2010 with similar results.

Austin Interfaith les urge a votar según su consciencia en la elección de segunda vuelta para el consejo municipal.

Haz 'click' en el articulo o video abajo para descubrir como las candidatas Randi Shade y Kathy Tovo respondieron a la agenda de Austin Interfaith sobre la seguridad en el trabajo, permisos legados para los taxistas y un sueldo digno.

Artículo

Video

 

La votación temprano comienza Lunes, 6 de Junio y termina el Martes, 14 de Junio.

Los lugares para votar están abiertos entre 7:00 am – 7:00 pm en el Ultimo Día para Votar – Sábado, 18 de Junio.

So Far, Another Sleepy Austin Election May 7, 2011 4:16 pm by: Erika Aguilar Austin voters have showed little interest in early voting so far this year, says Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir. She says less than two percent of registered voters in Travis County have cast ballots for the Austin City Council Elections. “We’ve only had a little more than six thousand people go in person to early vote,” DeBeauvoir said. “That is really, pretty low.” DeBeauvoir is quick to remind people that there are still a few days left in early voting. The deadline is Tuesday. The meager turnout is motivating community members with Austin Interfaith to hit the streets. This weekend the group block-walked in East Austin neighborhoods to remind people to vote. Minerva Camarena Skeith knocked on apartment doors at the Booker T. Washington complex in East Austin. “There are a lot of people who are registered, it’s concentrated, and we can go very quickly,” she said. Travis County’s DeBeauvoir says low voter turnout is usually the norm in City Council elections, especially when there is no Mayor’s race or hot-button initiative on the ballot. ” I think the highest percentage turnout we’ve had is about 13 percent, here, in the most recent years,” DeBeauvoir said. It was the smoking ordinance proposed in the May of 2005 that drew out that modest crowd of voters. DeBeauvoir said she believes people just haven’t gotten around to voting yet. But Minerva Camarena Skeith says some are just confused. “Part of us coming out here walking to encourage people to vote is that you’ll hear these misconceptions and myths about voting or why people don’t vote, and we can both educate but also encourage and make sure there is a purpose for voting,” Camarena Skeith said. Take Janice Bell. She hasn’t voted in five years because she thought she had to register to vote every year in order to cast a ballot. “Ohh, (people are) probably like me. Thinking you have to register every year or if you done change your address, you have to go through a lot more difficulties, you know, so it’s probably just the change,” she said. Whatever the reason, you still have until Tuesday to make your choice. Just take your driver’s license with to any polling center in town. But on Election Day, Saturday, May 14, voters will need to report to their assigned precinct to vote. [email protected]