Good Wednesday morning --
Save Austin Now PAC is ready to begin announcing our City Council endorsements!
We just put out a press release announcing our endorsement of community leader and successful lawyer Richard Smith for City Council District 8 (SW Austin).
You can see our press release below.
---
For Immediate Release
October 12, 2022
Save Austin Now PAC Endorses Richard Smith for City Council District 8
Local Community Leader, Successful Lawyer Laser-Focused on Standard of Living Issues
AUSTIN, TX — Nonpartisan Save Austin Now PAC today announced it is endorsing Richard Smith for Austin City Council District 8, which encompasses southwest Austin. Incumbent Paige Ellis is seeking a second term.
“From the very beginning of our efforts to save our city and improve standard of living, Richard Smith has been our friend, supporter, foot soldier and partner,” said Save Austin Now PAC co-founders Matt Mackowiak and Cleo Petricek. “His focus on improving public safety, addressing homelessness with proven solutions, protecting taxpayers, and getting serious about transportation is sorely needed on the City Council. Paige Ellis supported the camping ordinance, opposed Prop. B (reinstatement of the camping ban) and voted to cut $150 million from the police budget. She has not fought for standard of living and has been a reliable vote for the extreme wing of the city council. We ask all of our supporters to actively, directly, and urgently support Richard in this campaign.”
“I am honored and pleased to be endorsed by Save Austin Now (SAN). SAN took action to reverse city council’s reckless and harmful decision to lift the public camping ban and continues to fight for restoration of public safety to our city,” said Smith. “I am proud to be part of that fight for the residents of Austin.”
Learn more about Richard Smith’s campaign at: https://richardsmithatx.com/.
To learn more about Save Austin Now PAC, please visit http://www.SaveAustinNowPAC.com.
# # #
TAKE ACTION NOW:
1) Share our news here:
> Twitter -- https://twitter.com/SaveATXNowPAC/status/1580225845028757504.
> Facebook -- https://www.facebook.com/SaveAustinNowPAC/posts/pfbid03Qi9BdTSKeoBLA1Jg9GTvEg6pzY9ZQFTFTDbAiH6cxmuH9VHaRpgwUvihoxRSxe5l.
2) Consider donating directly to Richard ($450 individual limit) -- https://secure.anedot.com/richardsmithatx/donate.
3) Learn more about Richard here -- https://richardsmithatx.com.
4) Donate to our effort to help Richard win here -- https://secure.anedot.com/save-austin-now-pac/help-save-austin-now-pac-elect-richard-smith-to-city-council-district-8-c361ac84c77a4988f589c.
Early voting is Oct. 24 - Nov. 4 and Election Day is Nov. 8.
---
PROP B LAWSUIT
Save Austin Now and four local business owners are suing the City of Austin for their failure to fully enforce Prop B, despite it passing in May 2021 by a 58%-42% vote. We had our first procedural hearing this past Thursday (Sept. 22). We should have another update either this week or early next. If we prevail, we will move to discovery and depositions quickly.
If you have specific examples of illegal public camping inside the City of Austin, you can email us photos, video and explanations here. Please provide as full an explanation as possible, including when/where and what happened. Please also include your contact information. If you are interested in becoming a plaintiff to our lawsuit, please email Matt.
Our lawsuit will take some time and while we have excellent, committed lawyers, this battle will require resources. You can donate to our legal effort here. If you wish to send a check to ("Save Austin Now PAC" and mail to 807 Brazos Street Suite 202, Austin, TX 78701).
---
As we have said before, we have only begun to fight!
Thank you!
-Matt Mackowiak & Cleo Petricek
Co-founders, Save Austin Now PAC