For Katie Kam, running to represent UT and West Campus in the Austin City Council “wasn’t a matter of if, it was a matter of when.”
Kam holds four degrees from UT, ranging from a Ph.D. in civil engineering to a master’s degree in community and regional planning. She has worked as an academic researcher focused on transportation, an engineer for the city and a teacher for Austin Independent School District.
“I’ve always cared about Austin,” Kam said. “I feel now is the right time to run for city council because what I have seen so far of decisions that are being made, they’re getting Austin on the wrong track for the future.”
The seat is currently held by incumbent Zohaib “Zo” Qadri, who has served on the city council since 2023 and is running for reelection. Kam will face Qadri, UT student Dave Thadani and former UT professor Rich Heyman in November.
As a former West Campus resident, Kam said she understands the unique struggles students face in terms of affordability, poor street conditions and a feeling of powerlessness as a tenant.
“Students (feel) like they have very little tenant rights, that the landlords are the ones (who) have the say,” Kam said. “This is just something that we should have conversations about. What can we do as a city to help protect students when dealing with that?”
Kam said she would take input from University students and adjacent neighborhoods on how to move forward in fixing the lack of affordable housing options for students.
The number of potholes and the poor street conditions come from city council decisions, “where they invest in big, shiny projects and forget about investing in the everyday experience,” Kam said.
Kam said she would advocate for increasing accessibility to infrastructure that can accommodate low-speed electric vehicles like golf carts and electric trikes.
“Let’s get out of this idea that we just have walking, biking … cars and buses (when) we have these other mobility options,” Kam said.
Kam said she started the West Campus Parking Benefit District, which set up metered on-street parking in the early 2000s. Kam said the program uses the revenue to fund improvements in the neighborhood, which benefits residents, students and local businesses.
“I would make an excellent representative for the University area because I seek out as many voices as possible.” Kam said. “I also have a mindset of ‘we are going to find the win-win solutions here.’”
Although she cannot do much at the city council level to affect statewide legislation, such as the prohibition of diversity, equity and inclusion programs in public institutions, Kam said she would ensure the city council is a safe place for all.
“Regardless of what’s happening at the state and national level, at the city level, we can ensure that we are a safe city, that everyone is welcomed,” Kam said.