Laura Pressley - 2012 Candidate for Place 6 - Answers to Multi-Environmental Issue Questionnaire

12 Apr Laura Pressley – 2012 Candidate for Place 6 – Answers to Multi-Environmental Issue Questionnaire

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Each 2012 Austin City Council candidate was sent a Multi-Environmental Issue Questionnaire with 28 questions broken into seven subject areas. The questionnaire as well as information about the live, televised May 23rd Election 2012 Green Forum is here. Below are the written answers submitted for Laura Pressley:

General

What do you believe that Austinites think are significant environmental issues? How do you plan to address those?

1) Water Conservation—This is probably the most important resource constraint that our City has had to face in decades and please allow me to elaborate extensively on this topic. The key is to use our water supplies as frugally possible, prioritize and repair major leaks in our delivery systems, and as a city we must provide real incentives to conserve water. At this point, residents and business owners do not have effective financial incentives to use less. Our fee structure must be modified to encourage conservation instead of charging flat fees independent on water usage.

There needs to be more incentives for residents and businesses to capture rain water in areas that are not recharge zones and use that water for irrigation, and use for toilets, industrial uses, etc. that do not need drinking water quality. This is a huge way we can reduce our demand and secure water resources that would not be available otherwise. At this point, residents do not have effective financial incentives to use less. Our fee structure must be modified to encourage conservation instead of charging flat fees independent on water usage. I fully support Austin’s goal of 140 GPCD. Is a realistic goal year-on-year and with some creativity, we can do even better.

There is a real flaw in the Water Utility/City of Austin General Fund relationship and it is one that is not supportive of water conservation. The Water Utility is a profit center for the City and the profits that are transferred to the General Fund. Therefore, if citizens conserve, profits are not at historical values and revenue stabilization fees are placed on water bills. This happened recently with the $4.70 fee that was added. Basically, we have a revenue based system that does not encourage or reward conservation of water. We have to decouple water usage from the General Fund revenue stream.

Our proposed alternative is to a) only charge residents for the operating and delivery costs of water usage, b) implement a usage based fee schedule that financially rewards water conservation for residents, c) cut waste in city budget to reduce financial pressure on the General Fund, and d) increase City property tax rates to replace the amount being collected from water profits; this will allow a higher property tax deductions on income tax returns.

2) Air Quality—I fully support a local air quality/nuisance ordinance. This has been discussed for years and I commit to driving this as Council Member of Place 2. There are multiple businesses within our city limits that are operating just below the EPA’s regulations for toxic, metallic and carcinogenic compounds and pose a health hazard to our community.

In East Austin, since 1968, Pure Casting on East 4^th Street has been operating and emitting heavy transition metals such as Cu, Cr, and Ni within yards of Zavala Elementary. Many groups have raised health concerns and nothing has been done. Another example is Liquid Environmental Solutions on East 7^th Street. They recycle grease from local companies/restaurants and have received complaints for years that children and families are suffering from asthma and lung inflammation issues when the collection trucks are unloading the grease waste and the volatile organic compounds are released into the atmosphere. Allan Elementary, residential homes and businesses are only a few blocks away and the community has asked for something to be done to mitigate the emissions.

These businesses need to implement scrubber or other abatement/capture solutions and we need to work within these communities to develop a tactical ordinance that supports the heath of all our neighborhoods all over Austin.

3) Cost Effective Renewable Energy— We need an energy plan that ensures supply, ends our exploitation of sulfur and mercury polluting coal plants, invests in renewable sources, supports conservation, provides incentives for roof top solar solutions, and also provides no increases in utility expenses for citizens. This is a tall order but one we can and must achieve so that we honor and respect affordability needs in our city. Our utility rates continue to increase and this is absolutely unacceptable. The Council needs to provide the leadership, expectations and demand the city utility departments implement cost cutting and operating efficiency programs year on year so that we cut operating expenditures instead of raising rates.

I’d propose multiple cost effectiveness employee forums for first level utility employees for them to brainstorm and provide a prioritized list of efficiency and cost savings measures that will be presented to Council for evaluation and consideration. This is the best known method that companies use to cut waste and improve operating efficiencies. Currently, there is no one on the Council that has a technology, computer, semiconductor, networking or business background and we need that expertise to ask the hard technology and business finance questions. I can provide a unique perspective and provide creative problem solving skills from a technical and business standpoint that are not available to the Council today.

What positive contributions have you made to environmental efforts in the past?

1) Organic Gardening—Like several of my Allandale neighbors, we have lovely organic flower garden and delicious organic food gardens in my front and back yards. I share my successes and learning opportunities with my neighborhoods and our area of Allandale has numerous gardens within our block. It’s amazing and the education we share is useful to us all as a small community.

2) Rain Water capture—I do a lot of training and education of families, businesses and schools about how important rain water capture is and how it can benefit irrigation, conservation, and improve heath. I co-founded and own Pure Rain, LLC and we sell purified rain water commercially to the organic food market for those that need chemical-free drinking water. Our company has allowed us to share the benefits of residential and commercial uses for rain water.

3) Fluoridation and GMO awareness—Awareness of how fluoride and genetically modified organisms affect our heath and environment is very important. I have done a lot of training and education of children, families, and professionals on how these chemicals impact our health from a biological standpoint. And, in the case of GMO’s, the genetic proliferation cannot be recalled and is one of the most dangerous assaults on our natural environment and food supply.

One serious and unexpected impact that $1M per year municipal fluoridation has on our environment and water conservation is that the removal processes are incredibly wasteful. The only way to remove the majority of fluoride from our drinking water is to install or use reverse osmosis systems. Reverse Osmosis (RO) is employed by businesses, residents and grocery stores for individuals that want fluoride removed because it is the only technology that can remove 90% of fluoride. Ceramic filters only remove a fraction of fluoride. The technology of an RO system is excellent, but the method it employs is very low yielding. For example, if tap water is put through RO, then only 20% of the water is useable for drinking (called RO+) and 80% is waste that gets routed as wastewater (RO-). Therefore, 80% of water going through RO systems is being wasted. This is a huge environmental consequence of municipal fluoridation. Not only do we as the City of Austin spend $500K – $1M in funds to fluoridate, but the water waste that is generated goes against our conservation goals.

What is the role of the sustainability officer and what changes–if any–would you like to see to increase sustainability practices in Austin?

I appreciate the work that the Sustainability Officer has engaged our citizens and businesses in. If we could work towards more integrative strategic plans around sustainability, waste management that involve citizens, large businesses, small businesses and non-profits, that would be help us make a huge impact for Austin.

What is your strategy for engaging YOUTH and SCHOOLS in sustainability initiatives?

Our youth and schools are perfect venues to bring about change in perspectives and goals for future sustainability programs. We need to engage at early ages through high school and offer fun, engaging training, city wide competitions for sustainability projects in neighborhoods. Competition between schools is a great way to enhance and educate. I would really enjoy helping, leading and expanding those efforts.

Food

What steps do you believe the city can take to ensure long-term sustainability of our local food system, including production, marketing and distribution, and preparation and consumption? How can the City make good food easily available and affordable for all of us living in Austin?

Community gardens are one of the key programs that I passionately support. In addition, the City Council needs to make more visible the issue of food deserts across our city and work with the Austin Independent Business Alliance to address and educate and make small businesses aware of the needs and business opportunities for local food sources and local businesses to fill those needs.

Development and Transportation

How will you take use of resources and resource availability into account when making decisions about local economic development and incentives?

Financial Incentives/subsidies in the form of tax rebates, fee waivers, or infrastructure costs waivers, are simply ways to provide a financial competitive advantage to select companies over others. I do not support these subsidies in 99% of the cases that have been historically provided by the City of Austin.

I might support incentives if a company would not have built in Austin without them and they meet criteria similar to these:

a) many thousands of jobs are generated,

b) the job levels generated would support a distribution of education levels,

c) permanent salaries in the $50,000 – $200,000 range per year,

d) offer full benefits for 90% of the jobs created,

e) would be located in an area of Austin that would support the majority of jobs to Austinites and not the surrounding areas or cities, and

f) the financial return on investment would exceed 5x the incentive the city would provide.

These are high bars to achieve and I hope this describes the level a company would have to reach to be considered for an incentive. The current proposed Apple incentive package does not meet 5 of the above 7 criteria.

In addition, the Apple incentive package to the Austin City Council, has several obvious problems: 1) The new Apple construction will be located in the Round Rock ISD, not Austin ISD, 2) The city's Return on Investment calculation (ROI) that showed a $14.6 M return was based on incomplete information because the economic benefit model does not take into consideration the physical location of the facility which will be far north Austin, 3) over 1,000 of the jobs created are non-permanent, temporary contract jobs with no benefits, and most importantly, 4) it is a high probability that they would have built here anyway given they are adding to an existing site.

Do you support construction of SH 45 SW? Why or why not?

SH 45 SW is a severely contentious topic and one that has been discussed for many, many years. The bottom line is that building this highway will endanger our critical recharge zones for the Edward’s Aquifer and put drinking water quality at risk, and it does not ensure a relief of traffic congestion. I oppose and pledge to keep SH 45SW out of the Imagine Austin Comprehensive Plan.

In addition, I do think a creative solution to the traffic issues that South Austinites are dealing with can be found. My belief is there are answers to many longstanding problems if enough creative minds focus on out of the box solutions and I commit to facilitating those discussions. I believe answers exist and that we just have not found them yet. One solution is to allow large trucks on I-35 to be diverted to 130 with no toll fees. This could relieve traffic on I-35 and on Mopac. Actually, 130 was supposed to take this type of traffic anyway and it has never been implemented. The costs to do this would be minimal compared to building new roads. We need to be smarter with our traffic instead of just thinking more roads are the answer.

Going forward, what are your plans for improving Austin’s pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure?

The 2012 bond package that is being proposed has several projects included in it that will help fund more neighborhood pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure. We need to put more emphasis on these projects. It supports our sustainability and city connectivity goals.

Campaign finance reports for Council candidates are not due until the end of April, after Early Voting starts. In the past, candidates have made environmental promises which some believe were undermined by the influence of political donations. In the interest of disclosure and transparency, will you tell us who is bundling contributions for your campaign?

No one is bundling contributions for us. We are raising our funds directly so we know exactly who is donating and personally are aware of what issues are important to our donors.

What will you do to create or attract high-wage, family-supporting green jobs to the Austin and Central Texas areas? What will you do to ensure that hard-to-reach populations and communities of color have access to these green jobs?

The main way we attract high-wage jobs is to keep affordability in mind with regard to electric rates and water rates. I would support incentives for high-wage green jobs as noted above if they meet those criteria.

Politicians often say they are against suburban sprawl – yet they approve water and sewer lines and zoning changes that create it. How are you different? How will you ensure that development pays for itself, i.e. the extension of water and wastewater lines? Do you support or oppose giving a discount on electric and water rates to ratepayers living outside the city? Why or why not?

I am a strong supporter of ensuring development should pay for itself. The city should not subsidize multi-million dollar for profit entities with tax payer funds. I fundamentally disagree with the recent changes in city policy to fund water and wastewater lines by giving fee waivers to developers. I would passionately work to revert that policy.

There are a lot of economic and political pressures to build and densify many areas of Austin and South Lamar is a prime example. The Planning, Zoning and Platting Commissions have a critical responsibility to better manage and evaluate the upzoning requests that allow for higher population density projects to move forward and potentially challenge the balance of our natural environment and limits of our infrastructure. Before recommending changes to the City Council, our Commissioners need to question and carefully evaluate the trade-offs which occur with overdevelopment. Traffic congestion and overload are a direct consequences of poor planning and foresight. I will appoint Commissioners that respect and understand these challenges.

In addition, as a Council Member I would base future zoning change approval on the availability of improved transit solutions. All across Austin, we are in the predicament we are today because of the upzoning for mixed use is not coupled with a tactical or strategic traffic solutions to handle the increases in flow.

With regard to the electric rates varying between in city and out of city residents, there is a possible legal argument that our of city residents that do not get as much benefit from the general fund transfer as in city residents. This has to be carefully evaluated by our legal department because we do not want to get into costly legal battles that drain financial resources.

Between urban rail, expanding the current light rail system, bus rapid transit, a monorail system or HOV lanes on major roadways, toll lanes which transportation options do you believe would be best and worst for Austin and why?

I do not support toll lanes as have been recently proposed for Mopac. I support going to the citizens with a bond proposal for enhancements to our transportation infrastructure such as HOV lanes. Also, I would push for 130 to be used to divert large trucks, utilize bus rapid transit.

As more families are forced to move further out of Austin to find housing they can afford, our traffic is becoming more congested, earning us another distinction as the third most congested city in America and our air quality deteriorates as a result. What would you do to address these interconnected issues? How would you help more residents secure affordable housing in the city?

Ensuring safe and affordable housing is critical for our community to be healthy, vibrant, and supportive of our neighbors. An effective solution to the supportive housing availability issue in Austin may be to disperse affordable housing across the city in varying levels and smaller scale housing types and not continue to concentrate it in large projects.

As a City Council Member, I’d support a program that helps find appropriate vacant properties in Austin and utilize existing city funds as incentives to help subsidize and fill existent vacancies across Austin that need support. Also, there is an inventory of city owned real estate across all of Austin, and the corresponding and respective neighborhoods where these properties are located should be brought into discussions early on in the process of defining the size, type and impact of affordable housing to the areas from the beginning.

Do you believe that the Formula 1 deal is an “historic agreement” for sustainability? Please explain why or why not. What are your concerns around Formula 1 and what should be done to mitigate the impacts?

I did not support Formula 1 for a lot of reasons. Specifically, I do not agree with the subsidies the City of Austin is providing for utility waivers that total around $13M. This is a prime example of how we should have let development pay for itself. There is no reason we should be subsidizing and using our citizen’s tax dollars to enable the huge profits this business is slated to make.

Zero Waste

The City Council has passed a plan to reach 90% diversion of our discards from landfills by 2030 and 95% by 2040. Would you support any changes to the Zero Waste plan? Phase 1 of the Universal Recycling Ordinance (URO) requires all multifamily buildings, office buildings, and institutional properties in the City to recycle. In Phase 2, the City will add a citywide policy for diverting compostables. Phase 3 will include single-family residences in the requirement to recycle and compost. Do you support all three phases of this ordinance?

Businesses in Austin, small and large have been asking for recycling and composting for many years and these strategic Zero Waste goals will finally allow the infrastructure to be put into place to encourage and enable this. I support all three phases. These initiatives will generate a whole set of industries and local businesses that do not exist today and these consequences are all win-win.

Do you believe Austin should ban certain problem materials, such as styrofoam, to keep them out of our waste stream? If so, which materials should we target? If not, how will you deal with problem materials?

I would like to see the City of Austin show real leadership in this area and lead by example on these issues. Customer and market force driven initiatives are incredibly effective at influencing change in culture and business practices. For example, the City of Austin is a customer to many businesses because of the contracts that are paid for by our tax dollars. The Council can pass a Resolution that we not provide city contracts to companies that provide the problematic products that contain Styrofoam, etc. This is how we can lead in these efforts and be an example to our citizens who we represent.

Water, Streams and Trees

The health of Barton Springs and its aquifer are always a concern to us. How would you use land acquisition to protect the aquifer? How much would you allocate for this purpose in upcoming bond packages? What new ideas do you have to stop pollution of our waters?

In addition to bond money to purchase open spaces, there is an inventory of city owned and AISD owned real estate across all of Austin, and the corresponding and respective neighborhoods where these properties are located should be brought into discussions for open space and environmental protection zones designation. We should review those locations and bring those properties up for consideration of permanent open spaces. This may be a way to limit future debt and bond creation. Also, pollution of our waters is a critical issue and we should look at reducing the chemicals in our drinking water. Our municipal water ends up in our streams and our water supplies and there are alternative solutions such as using ozonation as a disinfectant vs chlorination (Arlington, TX does this). The by product of chlorination is chloroform and this enters into our stream and ozonation does not produce the chemical byproducts. Also, we could potentially stop the addition of fluoride into our tap water. We could save $1M per year and prevent the introduction of hydrofluorosilicic acid into our water supply if we stop fluoridation. There are other cost effective ways to provide the dental health benefits to our low income populations and these should be looked at and discussed.

Austin’s residential water rates are among the highest in Texas, and unless Water Treatment Plant 4 is put on the shelf, the cost of water will continue to rise. How will you stop the increase in Austin’s residential water rates?

I fully support the energy and water conservation policies of the City of Austin and would supplement with additional incentives for rain water capture and remove roadblocks and make irrigation with rain water an more viable option for residential and commercial business owners.

The City could offer financial incentives for the construction and design for onsite capture and reuse of non-potable water. This is a win-win situation for builders, and the city’s water conservation goals. In addition, there needs to be more incentives and permitting for residents and businesses to capture rain water in areas that are not recharge zones and use that water for irrigation, and use for toilets, industrial uses, etc. that do not need drinking quality water. This is a huge way we can reduce our demand and secure water resources that would not be available otherwise. In addition, we must expect our public works departments to prioritize identifying and correcting major leaks in our water distribution systems across the city. This is a must.

Before I would consider a proposed water rate increase, I would first expect Austin Water Utility to propose a 5-10% operating budget reduction. I’ve attended the Impact Fee Advisory Sub-Committee meetings and cost savings and budget cut discussions were not pursued. This cannot continue; as a city we have to be willing to be critical of rate increases and only consider them if the city is also willing to question, identify and cut waste. Best practices for implementing efficiency programs in the private sector include employee forums for first level department employees to brainstorm and provide a prioritized list of efficiency and cost savings measures that will be presented to Council for evaluation and consideration. Leadership is needed on the Council to set the expectations that we have to look internally for cost reductions before we apply a rate increase to our residents, churches, non-profits, and businesses. There is a better way and I will provide that vision and leadership.

We’re in one of the worst droughts in Texas history yet we are still watering our lawns. What stronger measures do you see as necessary to conserve water beyond the city’s current goals? How do we get to 140 GCPD or less?

that was added. Basically, we have a revenue based system that does not encourage or reward conservation of water. We have to decouple water usage from the General Fund revenue stream and financially reward conservation. Flat fees need to be replaced by volumetric fees

There needs to be more incentives for residents and businesses to capture rain water in areas that are not recharge zones and use that water for irrigation, and use for toilets, industrial uses, etc. that do not need drinking water quality. This is a huge way we can reduce our demand and secure water resources that would not be available otherwise. I also propose we remove permitting roadblocks for businesses to capture rain water so it can be used for irrigation. In addition, I fully support Austin’s goal of 140 GPCD. Is a realistic goal, year-on-year, and with some creativity, we can do even better.

Austin has lost thousands of trees during the recent drought, posing a serious threat to our urban forests. What will you do on the Council to protect and replenish these forests? How do these concerns figure into your priorities when it comes to drought response?

Honestly, the city has not done enough on it’s own to protect our mature and young trees from the stress and drought we endured last several years and we lost so many trees on city owned property such as parks, public areas and on roadways. We needed to have better planning and execution of contingency plans to preserve and address the severe water drought that can occur. Going forward, the city must act as a role model and demonstrate with actions how important our urban forest is and we can even be creative at engaging volunteers to help address saving our trees from drought damage.

The City of Austin is currently engaged in a public input process to amend the Watershed Protection Ordinance to help preserve east side creeks. Based on this input the Watershed Protection Department will probably recommend headwater setback buffers to be set at 64 acres in east Austin and the ETJ. Would you support or oppose allowing developers to use expanded creek protection setbacks as part of their Park Land dedication requirements?

Air

What air improvement strategy or set of strategies would you advocate to help clean our air? How can the City leverage its purchasing power to impact air quality?

I fully support a local air quality/nuisance ordinance. This has been discussed for years and I commit to driving this as Council Member of Place 2. There are multiple businesses within our city limits that are operating just below the EPA’s regulations for toxic, metallic and carcinogenic compounds and pose a health hazard to our community.

In East Austin, since 1968, Pure Casting on East 4^th Street has been operating and emitting heavy transition metals such as Cu, Cr, and Ni within yards of Zavala Elementary. Many groups have raised health concerns and nothing has been done. I used to volunteer at Zavala when I was in graduate school and did chemistry demonstrations to the 4^th and 5^th grade classes. The children and families deserve better and it has been too long for them to endure these exposures. If this facility was in West Austin, a solution would have been found long ago.

Another example is Liquid Environmental Solutions on East 7^th Street. They recycle grease from local companies/restaurants and have received complaints for years that children and families are suffering from asthma and lung inflammation issues when the collection trucks are unloading the grease waste and the volatile organic compounds are released into the atmosphere. Allan Elementary, residential homes and businesses are only a few blocks away and the community has asked for something to be done to mitigate emissions.

Pure Casting Foundry emits toxic metals and carcinogenic compounds/particles through the manufacturing process of steel and aluminum products. Residents have registered odor complaints from this facility and others, most of which are located East of IH 35. The TCEQ has installed an air quality monitor on top of Zavala Elementary, which is located directly south of Pure Castings. Would you support the passage of an air quality nuisance ordinance as part of the solution? Also, What steps would you take to relocate this facility in order to protect the health of the children at Zavala Elementary and area residents?

See above…

Energy and Austin Energy

Fayette finally has sulfur dioxide scrubbers installed after many years of delay. Fayette doesn’t have SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) technology to reduce NOx emissions that contribute to ozone. Fayette has not installed the technology to control the fine particles (PM2.5) that cause premature deaths and asthma attacks within a few hundred miles. Do you support getting Austin out of Fayette, and off of fossil fuels and nuclear power altogether? How do you propose that we do so?

Yes, I fully support weaning Austin off of coal by 2016. Austin gets 30% of it's power from the Fayette Power Plant in La Grange which has been known to damage acres of agricultural orchards due to sulfur, nitrous oxide, and mercury emissions. We need an energy plan that ensures supply, ends our exploitation of sulfur, and mercury polluting plants, invests in renewable sources, and also provides no increases in utility expenses for citizens. Our utility rates continue to increase and this is absolutely unacceptable. The Council needs to provide the leadership and demand the city utility departments cut operating expenditures, engage in lean business benchmarking/practices, and reduce costs year on year instead of raising rates.

In parallel, we need a renewable energy strategy that is inclusive of effective incentives for distributed rooftop solar and additional wind sources. Distributed systems are more efficient and provides the added benefit of self reliance to our community. I would also add that we should incorporate a requirement that our solar investments will be done using local, state and US based manufacturing.

The biggest concerns I have from an environmental standpoint outside of water conservation and clean energy for Austin are related to serious contamination issues that cannot be reversed or recalled such as nuclear energy accidents. There are a lot of expensive solutions to many environmental contamination situations. Yet, there is no technological solution, no matter how expensive, that can address or recover the irreversible devastation that nuclear disasters cause. As a Council Member, I intend to lead instead of follow with regard to these two issues.

We need the City Council to participate in an audit the South Texas nuclear plant to determine if they are at risk for similar failures as those in Fukushima in Japan. Again, I would lead the Council and recruit the support of the Sierra Club and other organizations to help do this. More education of our Council members needs to happen with regard to the environmental dangers and risks of nuclear power and I as a chemist can provide that information and leadership.

As the board of directors for Austin Energy, the City Council sets environmental policy for our electric utility. What are your environmental priorities for Austin Energy for the next 3 years? What will you do to increase energy efficiency savings so that we meet our 300 Megawatt savings goal by 2020? Proposed hikes to minimum charges are a disincentive to conservation. Will you raise minimum charges for residential users, and if so, by how much?

We predict there will be reluctance from the general public for Austin Energy to strategically invest funds for infrastructure and incentives for distributed solar with cash reserves because rates will most likely increase and affordability will suffer. The creative way to fund these initiatives, is to set the expectations for Austin Energy, a $1B entity to cut costs year on year and honestly, there is no one on the Council today, or running for Council that has the background to lead these efforts. And if we don't do this now, again, we will loose a precious opportunity. Let me expand on how this can be done.

I was the gross margin business and cost reduction manager for Freescale’s $1B Networking Group and defined the tactical and strategic priorities for improving efficiencies, reducing waste and managing employees directly and indirectly as we implemented various cost reduction programs.

With regard to how specific departments could benefit from private sector business concepts, Austin Energy is a $1B for profit entity for the city, and they need to be expected to engage in operating efficiency and cost reduction programs year-on-year to ensure competitiveness with regard to rates. I have spoken with Larry Weiss regarding employing strategies and methodologies of Lean cost efficiencies that are used in many Austin companies and he acknowledged that he “does not have the bandwidth” to push these initiatives in Austin Energy. My candid feedback to him was, “You don’t have to do them yourself, delegate it.” He acknowledged the inputs.

As the Place 2 Council Member, I will press and set the expectation for these activities. The good news is Mr. Weis has confirmed there are no coordinated efforts for cost reductions and operation efficiency programs within Austin Energy and this means there are ample opportunities for improvements.

For the APD and Austin Energy departments, I recommend auditing and reviewing how we can and optimize the performance evaluation process for their staff so that

a) it supports and is conducive to retaining the best employees,

b) it highlights personnel improvement opportunities,

c) it addresses those with serious performance issues, and

d) it determines which personnel may be legal risks and offers corrective actions to address those issues.

In addition, benchmarking what the private sector does with regard to ensuring a lean business operation, I’d propose multiple cost effectiveness employee forums for first level APD and AE employees for them to brainstorm and provide a prioritized list of efficiency and cost savings measures that will be presented to Council for evaluation and consideration. And finally, I would carefully evaluate future hardware expenditures that APD requests and other requests for purchases by both departments.

Again, we are at a critical crossroads for renewable energy strategy and we cannot loose this opportunity by continuing the status quo.

Currently Austin's water rates have 5 tiers. The lowest "lifeline tier" is less than 10% of the highest tier. Do you support a similar rate structure for Austin's electric utility?

Yes, and we must provide incentives and financial consequences for conservation. Those rate structures do not exist yet and I will push and advocate for a reward conservation rate system.

The City Council adopted the Energy Conservation Audit and Disclosure ordinance in 2008 as a key component of the Climate Protection Program, with the goal of retrofitting older properties with energy efficiency measures at the point of sale. The program has not yet lived up to expectations, with only 5% of properties sold retrofitted. Would you support mandating some energy efficiency improvements when a home is sold?

There needs to be a creative incentive and education program to encourage home owners to retrofit their homes. I’m open to ideas such as a Austin Green Realtor/Broker competitions for real estate agents and brokers to compete for the most homes sold with retrofits. The real estate community responds very well to competitions, financial rewards and feeling appreciated for their efforts. I am a firm believer if we use positive reinforcement and engagement vs retaliatory measures (which are hard to enforce, manage and track) we will get the results we want and sorely need. If that doesn’t work, then we could pursue the mandatory avenues.

What role does rooftop solar energy have in Austin’s renewable energy mix?

Rooftop, distributed solar is, by far, the most effective way to implement solar energy in Austin, please forgive if some of this is a repeat.

There are two primary ways the Austin City Council can drive renewable energy investments: Bonds or use Austin Energy's cash reserves. Please allow me to share my vision of how each of these would work.

Bonds: It is very concerning to me that the recent Bond Development proposals have no projects listed for capital investments for renewable energy infrastructure. The Guiding Principles for the Bond Development highlight "Infrastructure and Sustainability". The Austin community prioritized Sustainability and the projects that are listed as supporting "Sustainability" are related to Housing Affordability, Public Libraries, Small Business Development, EMS, Elevators, Rutherford Lane Renovations, Police Headquarter renovations, etc. I've attended several community outreach forums for the bonds and none of the proposed investments include renewable energy infrastructure. In addition, the largest investment projects are related to expanding Austin Police Department and 911 facilities for a total of $245M. We are about to loose a huge opportunity for Austin and where is the leadership from the Council, City Manager and Staff on this? I would publicly set the expectation we need to add renewable energy infrastructure projects.

Austin Energy Cash Reserves: We predict there will be reluctance from the general public for Austin Energy to strategically invest funds for infrastructure and incentives for distributed solar with cash reserves because rates will most likely increase and affordability will suffer. The creative way to fund these initiatives, is to set the expectations for Austin Energy, a $1B entity to cut costs year on year and honestly, there is no one on the Council today, or running for Council that knows how to lead this other than myself. And if we don't do this now, again, we will loose a precious opportunity. Let me expand on how this can be done.

For the APD and Austin Energy departments, I recommend auditing and reviewing how we can and optimize the performance evaluation process for their staff so that

a) it supports and is conducive to retaining the best employees,

b) it highlights personnel improvement opportunities,

c) it addresses those with serious performance issues, and

d) it determines which personnel may be legal risks and offers corrective actions to address those issues.

Again, we are at a critical crossroads for renewable energy strategy and we cannot loose this opportunity by continuing the status quo.

Additional Information regarding my environmental positions:

It has come to my attention that there may be a additional information that would help explain my positions with regard to environmental regulations in general. Because of my support for Presidential candidate, Ron Paul this has caused me to loose endorsements in this City Council race. It might be helpful for me to clarify why I’m supporting him.

After a lot of painstaking debates and research, I am supporting Ron Paul for President because I cannot find another candidate that has committed to stopping the incessant wars in the Middle East and Africa. I simply do not want any more of my tax dollars being spent killing innocent women, children and men and destroying our planet with the consequences of war. From a moral standpoint, I have to make a stand and say stop the killing and engage in more diplomacy. The three areas that I support Dr. Paul are a) end the unconstitutional wars, b) repeal the NDAA, and 3) no more financial bailouts. Bottom line is that when I die, I must feel as if I did everything I could to prevent the death of innocent human beings and prevent the atrocities to our environment that war causes.

Honestly, I do not agree with Ron Paul on all issues and the ones I disagree with the most are his environmental regulation positions. I have worked for Freescale Semiconductor which has factories in China and the US and I have been to Asia and directly seen the consequences of lax and inconsistent regulations. I am a strong supporter of regulations and would work incredibly hard and drive for an air quality ordinance in Austin and do what is needed to protect our environment and our health.

I am a scientist and engineer and make decisions based on data and as a result I am an independent voter and make decisions on candidates based my priorities and stopping the wars, and money that funds them.

With regard to the Democrat politics, over the last 20 years, I've voted for Democrats, campaigned and donated to Democrats. I was involved with MoveOn.org, campaigned for John Kerry in Nevada, donated to Hillary Clinton, volunteered for Kelly White's campaign for State Rep, canvased in the rain on election day with Valinda Bolton for Kelly White and supported Valinda Bolton's campaign financially. And at the end of the day, and over the last year and half, I've been really frustrated with the Democratic and Republican party leadership and have seen them overwhelmingly corrupted at the national and state level while under the influence of large campaign contributions, paid lobbyists and sometimes fear.

I hate to say it but that also happens here in Austin, where some of our elected Democrats don't VOTE with and protect the people that elected them. Many special interests, non-local real estate developers, various groups and the 1% "bundlers" have skewed our city elections and corrupted some of our Council members. Not all Democrats have been corrupted here in Austin but some have and it really shows. Today, I'm more independent than that. I will not be bought and sold like that. My decision to evolve into an independent voter and representative has been driven by endless national and state corruption, wars overseas, the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and our freedoms which have been severely eroded. These atrocities are going on, people are suffering, our community is being polarized and I'm here to put a stop to it at a local level.

Also, even though I have not had direct experience on Austin's Boards and Commissions, I have critical leadership experience related to Board Memberships on non-profits for SafePlace and the Women's Advocacy Project. In addition my private sector experience with direct and indirect leadership is extensive over the last 17 years in the semiconductor industry as a contamination and yield engineer and business manager and I have the technical and business experience that is unequaled with regard to running a large business and small business. Pulling people together for commons goal is critical and I've done this successfully for 17 years.

Thank you for the wonderful and detailed questions. These rival the ANC’s!

Laura

12 Apr Laura Pressley – 2012 Candidate for Place 6 – Answers to Multi-Environmental Issue Questionnaire

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