Kris Bailey, City Council Candidate, Place 3

Answers to NACN Agenda of Issues

My top issue will always be traffic.  The Austin City Council should be focusing its energy on adding lanes and widening roads wherever possible.  Austin should not be proud of its place as one of the top worst cities to live in with regards to traffic.  I would also like to focus on public safety issues.  I would like to shift the focus of the Austin police department from crimes that do not involve victims directly to crimes that do involve victims.  We need to be more efficient and effective with our public safety resources. 

I will increase police patrols in neighborhoods.  Last year the Austin police department spent approximately 5,000 hours of police time transporting people to jail, booking and fingerprinting people for possession of marijuana.  There is a state law that says officers are allowed to write a ticket for this as opposed to arresting people.  I would like to stop the policy of arresting people for possession charges and directly take those 5,000 hours into patrolling our community and neighborhoods.  This will deter real crime and we do not need to increase funding or hire new officers.  It’s about being effective.

I am in favor of adding lanes and widening roads.  I am not in favor of light rail.  I believe that proper timing of traffic signals would also help alleviate congestion in certain areas.

I believe firmly that the money allocated towards Water Treatment Plant 4 should have been used to maintain existing infrastructure in the city such as repairing leaking water lines. 

Increasing police presence in areas that see higher crime rates is vital.  I do not support an ordinance banning panhandling as I feel this is a direct violation of the constitution and freedom of speech.