Austin News

When a veteran political consultant became aware two years ago that a local developer and lobbying firm were making campaign contributions to members of the Austin City Council, his first thought was that the influence peddlers are at it again.

“They are rich, powerful and they make their money off of peddling influence and trying to use city government to make them money,” Peck Young told the Austin News.

Young made the comments in response to an inquiry about members, employees or spouses of developer Endeavor Real Estate Group and the lobbying firm Armbrust & Brown collectively contributing $18,950 to the campaign coffers of Austin Councilman Gregorio "Greg" Casar and $17,700 to council member Jimmy Flannigan, according to the North Austin News and Austin Texas News.

“There is no politician that is not influenced by who pays the bills because campaigns cost too much these days due to the price of media," Young said in an interview. "If somebody gives you 20% and 30% of all the money you spend, you're going to pay attention to them and what they want you to do once you're elected. The bottom line is that any politician who gets that much money from two companies is going to be really interested in making them happy in terms of the way they vote.”

In 2018 this campaign contribution pattern originating from the exact same employees, members and spouses of Endeavor Real Estate Group and Armbrust & Brown also took place in support of council members Paige Ellis (District 8), Sabino "Pio" Renteria (District 3), and Mayor Steve Adler in 2018, according to data obtained by Austin News.

Specifically, between Nov. 9-27, 2018, Endeavor and Armbrust & Brown contributed $16,900 to Renteria's campaign.

Councilmember Ellis' campaign received $17,369.31 from the two firms between Nov. 14-27, 2018, while Adler's re-election campaign received $18,775 from the two firms between Nov. 27, 2017, and Dec. 30, 2018, according to the data.

In all instances, contributions were made by the same people on the exact same day, indicating a potential concerted effort.

“The majority of people in Austin don't want to see their neighborhoods turned into tenement housing, like in Queens or Brooklyn, but these two companies are very much interested in developing row housing in Austin and that's one area where their interest and some others clash with the interest of the average voter,” said Young, founder of Voices of Austin.

The names of spouses, members and employees listed as contributors in the data from the two firms, include Jamil and Paige Alam, David and Cheryl Armbrust, John and Ashley Bartram, William and Kimberly Beckham, Frank and Janice Brown, Ben Bufkin, Sam and Anne Byars, Kirk and Amy Rudy.

“The public ought to know who's influencing the votes of their council members,” Young said. “The truth is if you don't know what's going on, you can't understand what you have to fix. There’s nothing wrong with taking a campaign contribution. It just may not be particularly savory.”

Of note, once elected to the Austin City Council following support from the two firms, Ellis reportedly hired the mayor's campaign manager's wife, Deena-Estrada Salinas, to be her chief of staff.