{"id":470335,"date":"2026-10-19T07:38:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T07:38:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/470335\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T07:38:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T07:38:13","slug":"austin-city-council-candidates-face-voters-at-accountability-forum-ahead-of-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/470335\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin city council candidates face voters at accountability forum ahead of elections"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 Early voting begins tomorrow across Texas, and Austin City Council races are among those on the ballot.<\/p>\n

Today, candidates met with community members at a forum in Central Austin to discuss issues like affordability, housing, and city services.<\/p>\n

\"Early<\/p>\n

Early voting begins tomorrow across Texas, and Austin City Council races are among those on the ballot. (CBS Austin\/Jane Page)<\/p>\n

Early voting starts tomorrow across Texas and voters in Austin got a chance to hear directly from candidates for City Council at an open forum in Central Austin.<\/p>\n

RELATED | No Kings, new approach: Austin event shifts focus to voter education<\/a><\/p>\n

We spoke with voters about what issues matter most to them heading into the election.<\/p>\n

“I’ve lived here in Austin all my life,” Alexandra Villegas said. “And I’ve seen how my community is being affected and I’m here because I want to, you know, hear the candidates, hear our stories.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Today,<\/p>\n

Today, candidates met with community members at a forum in Central Austin to discuss issues like affordability, housing, and city services. (CBS Austin\/Jane Page)<\/p>\n

This afternoon, candidates running for Austin City Council Districts 1, 3, 5 and 9 came together at United Methodist Church on UT\u2019s campus to share their platforms with voters.<\/p>\n

Central Texas Interfaith asked candidates to make commitments on issues including workforce development, affordable housing, parks, and caregiving.<\/p>\n

“I think that, you know, a lot of times politicians may get up and say, you know, ‘I’m for education, I am for parks, I for this,'” Mary Cree, Central Texas Interfaith, said. “But if you try to pin them down to, you now, well, ‘are you in favor of this particular or capital idea of helping people have job training? Are you in favor of committing city money for parks?’ You know, very specific asks so that there’s not a lot of wiggle room, that there is a specific accountability. “<\/p>\n

\"Early<\/p>\n

Early voting starts tomorrow, October 19, in Texas and runs through October 30th. (CBS Austin\/Jane Page)<\/p>\n

For attendees, the forum was an opportunity to learn more about the candidates before heading to the polls.<\/p>\n

Some people we spoke with today even came from outside of Austin, telling us that decisions made here can affect surrounding communities.<\/p>\n

“And although I’m not specifically here for Travis County, my county is adjacent to Travis County,” Cedar Creek resident, Melodi Albert, said. “So I feel like what happens here really kind of happens everywhere. And having a chance to hear from the candidates themselves. On their positions in a bipartisan way I think is really important.”<\/p>\n

\"Early<\/p>\n

Early voting starts tomorrow across Texas and voters in Austin got a chance to hear directly from candidates for City Council at an open forum in Central Austin. (CBS Austin\/Jane Page)<\/p>\n

For residents in Austin, the opportunity to speak directly with candidates was important and voters wanted to make sure their concerns are heard beyond Election Day.<\/p>\n

“Because not only do we get to tell our stories, but we get see them eye to eye,” Villegas said. “And make sure that they get to know what we want, you know, and see how we’re getting affected and how the community feels about it.”<\/p>\n

ALSO | Close races could bring more scrutiny over elections as early voting approaches<\/a><\/p>\n

Early voting starts tomorrow, October 19, in Texas and runs through October 30th.<\/p>\n

After that, your last chance to visit the ballot box will be Election Day, on Tuesday November 3rd.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 Early voting begins tomorrow across Texas, and Austin City Council races are among those on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":470336,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-470335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470335"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470335\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/470336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}