Fred McGhee
From Ballotpedia
Fred McGhee was a 2014 candidate for District 3 of the Austin, Texas City Council.
Campaign themes
2014
On his campaign website, McGhee highlighted the following issues:[1]
Transportation
- Excerpt: "Traffic and gridlock waste time, energy and are bad for the environment. All options must be on the table. I support optimization of existing motor vehicle traffic alongside simultaneous development of two-wheeled, pedestrian, and public transportation options. I live and work along the East Riverside Corridor and participated in the planning sessions that led to its creation as president of the Montopolis Neighborhood Association. Many details still need to be worked out, but I support the broad goals of the plan to establish a mixed use transportation corridor. An increase in high quality transportation options is good for District 3 and for Austin more generally.
Inequality
- Excerpt: "We should place a moratorium on the word “affordability” and on the phrase “affordable housing” in Austin. In the year 2014 discussing this issue from an equity perspective makes more sense and is more intellectually rigorous. The word “inequality” appears to be on the lips and pens of many people these days, with justification. But what does it mean for Austin and for District 3? A serious and well-rounded public discussion about this issue that is grounded in historical understanding and empirical social science is long overdue. As an engaged scholar and private sector consultant I am in many ways uniquely qualified to help lead this discussion. For instance, take a look at my lecture on the life of former Texas Governor E.M. Pease (1812-1883), which discusses the establishment of many Austin institutions, such as the Texas School for the Deaf, Pease Park, the first Colorado River Bridge, Brackenridge Hospital, and of course Austin’s “Old Enfield” Neighborhood. Like Pease, I am from Enfield, Connecticut and therefore have personal as well as professional knowledge and experience to bring to bear on this issue."
Sustainability and Environmental Justice
- Excerpt: "Austin has a well deserved reputation as a leader in sustainability but has work to do on the environmental justice front. Building on our city’s existing strengths, we should deepen our commitment to rooftop solar and other forms of distributed alternative energy, heighten our commitment to energy auditing and retrofitting our existing residential and commercial building stock, upgrade our Brownfields program, promote urban farming, work with our school districts to enhance or reboot our existing green jobs initiatives, gradually improve our building codes towards the Passive House standard, and dramatically ramp up support for residential and commercial options for rainwater catchment. We also need to improve the manner in which our city conducts historic preservation and manages our parks and recreation operations. And that’s just for starters; I have many more ideas and improvement suggestions. I have over twenty years of experience and numerous professional credentials in these areas and walk the walk on this issue, not just talk the talk."
Universal Pre-K
- Excerpt: "Residents of San Antonio approved a modest ⅛ cent sales tax that supports the city’s Pre-K 4 SA Initiative. New York City now offers full-day pre-K seats to 73,000 children, funded by a modest tax increase on the city’s wealthiest citizens. The State of Connecticut is looking to enact similar policies. As the father of three young children, I know how tough it can be to find and finance high quality daycare and preschool; the time has come for Austin to enact a policy that most educators and business leaders consider to be a no-brainer."
Elections
2014
- See also: Austin, Texas municipal elections, 2014.
The city of Austin held elections for city council on November 4, 2014. The candidate filing deadline was August 18, 2014. Because of redistricting and term limits, there was no incumbent for District 3.[2] Candidates included Susana Almanza, Mario Cantu, Julian Limon Fernandez, Christopher L. Hoerster, Shaun D. Ireland, Fred McGhee, Kent K. Phillips, Jose Quintero, Eric J. Rangel, Sabino "Pio" Renteria, Ricardo Turullols-Bonilla and Jose A. Valera. Because no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote in the general election, the top two vote-getters - Almanza and Renteria - faced each other in a runoff election on December 16, 2014.[3][4] Renteria was the winner.[5]
| Austin City Council, District 3, 2014 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
 Susana Almanza |
21% | 2,142 | |
| Sabino "Pio" Renteria |
18.8% | 1,919 | |
| Mario Cantu | 9.7% | 993 | |
| Julian Limon Fernandez | 5% | 510 | |
| Christopher L. Hoerster | 1.6% | 163 | |
| Shaun D. Ireland | 6.3% | 646 | |
| Fred McGhee | 4.5% | 462 | |
| Kent K. Phillips | 6% | 615 | |
| Jose Quintero | 2.2% | 223 | |
| Eric J. Rangel | 6.3% | 648 | |
| Ricardo Turullols-Bonilla | 2% | 201 | |
| Jose A. Valera | 16.5% | 1,683 | |
| Total Votes | 5,727 | ||
| Source: Travis County Clerk - 2014 Official Election Results | |||
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Fred + McGhee + Austin"
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Fred McGhee, "Issues," accessed September 25, 2014
- ↑ City of Austin, "2014 Election Calendar," accessed May 14, 2014
- ↑ Travis County Clerk, "2014 Unofficial Election Results," accessed November 4, 2014
- ↑ City of Austin, "2014 Candidate List," accessed September 4, 2014
- ↑ Travis County Clerk, "2014 Runoff Election Results," accessed December 16, 2014
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