Austin Skyline | File Photo
Austin Skyline | File Photo
Voices of Austin (VOA) publicly launched on June 30 via virtual press conference, saying that 80 percent of Austin residents want the city's government to be more responsive.
"Eight out of every ten of Austin citizens believe our city deserves — but does not have — a City Council that listens to and respects the views of its residents," former State Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos, who is the chair of VOA, said in a release. "Clearly, major change is called for."
Barrientos said that 80 percent of Austinites want the city's government to use tax dollars on residents' needs, make affordable and sensible transportation a priority, increase public safety and instill land-use laws to protect neighborhoods.
“The problem is that right now, eight out of ten residents do not believe we have that kind of leadership," Barrientos said in the release.
VOA performed research that found that 80 percent of Austinites feel unsafe in their own neighborhoods and that more than 70 percent want transportation and the movement of vehicles to be efficient.
"Voices of Austin will be looking at how City Hall is paying for non-essential issues through professional forensic accounting services," VOA Vice-Chair Jan Lehman said in the release. "We’ll do a targeted examination of the current budget, follow the trail of where future money is being delegated, and find where we could help solve traffic problems, support and improve public safety, find better solutions for our neighborhoods and quit chasing CodeNEXT."
VOA noted in the release that Austin's city council rarely debates lowering or freezing taxes and always discusses why the city needs more money for programs.
"We do not have to persuade Austinites,” VOA Executive Director Peck Young said. "The majority of Austinites are already dissatisfied with city hall. VOA will make those Austinites aware that they are, in fact, the majority; that their voices are not alone."
VOA is a grass-roots organization that will speak on the above issues and others on behalf of Austinites and Austin organizations.
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