Meet Austin, TX Mayoral candidate, Clay Dafoe
April 18, 2012 by Jack Blood
Filed under Commentary
We are fully endorsing Clay Defoe for mayor… Before they completely ruin our city! Out with Lee Laughingwell (all the way to the bank) !
AUSTIN — May 12th means Election Day for voters in this year’s city elections. Among the spots up for grabs — a handful of council seats and the position of Austin mayor.
Clay Dafoe, one of two challengers for incumbent Mayor Lee Leffingwell’s seat in council, joined us this morning to talk about some hot issues in this year’s election.
“Well I think we’ve received a very positive response from voters on the campaign trail, that have attended many of our different forums,” Dafoe said. “They’re excited about our message of really releasing city government from the management of economic growth, and instead being the mechanism of protecting our rights.”
Some of Dafoe’s message includes opposing some incentive packages for big businesses in Austin.
“One of the things I’ve been very strong on in our campaign is opposing a lot of the corporate incentive packages that have gone through council recently,” Dafoe said. “These are deals where we’re just giving give-aways to major corporations, like the $250 million in state grant funds for Formula One; the recent $8.5 million tax rebate for Apple. I welcome these companies, but I believe they can pay their own way, and we should not have to tax payers footing the bill for these unnecessary expenses.”
Dafoe is running against the current mayor and long-time local politician Brigid Shea.
“Well I think as a citizen activist, I’ve been very involved in the council meetings,” Dafoe said. “We bring a fresh perspective that hasn’t been there before. People are getting tired of the career politicians that seem to get into office and take up this position as something they almost feel entitled to. I think we need to bring a fresh perspective, someone that will represent the working class and not the special interest.”
