Jose “Chito” Vela launched a campaign for Austin City Council District 4 on Tuesday morning, striking a populist tone that took aim at the rising cost of housing in the city.
“My number one priority on city council: we must make sure that Austin is a welcoming city for working class people, not a playground for the wealthy,” he said at his campaign launch at the Windsor Park Branch of the Austin Public Library, surrounded by about two dozen friends, family, and supporters.
“For too long people have been forced out. You see our writers and our musicians and our creative class — those who used to come to Austin because it fostered the creativity and opportunity for so many people — and they’re struggling to remain in the city. They’re struggling to stay here.”
Vela added, “Homes are out of reach for the vast majority of Austinites. You see the same thing (with apartments), you see people renting apartments getting $200 or $300 a month increases (in rent). We have to get our housing situation under control and the only way we’re going to do that is by building more housing.”
These remarks suggest that Vela will follow in the vein of the incumbent, Greg Casar, when it comes to affordable housing and land use policies. Casar backed massive public spending on affordable housing projects, while also advocating for land use changes that would allow more private sector housing supply to come on the market.
Casar has announced that he will have vacate his council seat to run for Congress. A special election will be held sometime in the next few months to take his spot, and Vela so far is the only declared candidate.
If he wins, Vela will represent District 4 for the remainder of Casar’s term, which runs until January 2023. Council District 4 includes the neighborhoods of Windsor Park, St. Johns, Highland, Georgian Acres, and Crestview.
In addition to housing, Vela cited two other policy priorities as the basis for his campaign. First, he vowed to back an expansion of public transit. “I’m so excited about the Project Connect light rail that passed last year, and during my time in council I want that to be a priority. We need to make sure that that line is up and running as soon as possible.”
Second, Vela pointed to the need for more disaster resilience, citing the extreme storm that hit the state last February and triggered a major failure of the electric grid. “We have to prepare for those kinds of climate change-driven disasters. Thankfully, we own our electric utility here in Austin and I think we can take steps to make sure that we have reliable electricity and to make sure we have safe places to go in case that ever happens again.”
Vela is an attorney specializing in immigration and criminal defense law, a former legislative staffer to Rep. Solomon Ortiz, Jr (D-Corpus Christi), a current member of the Public Defender Advisory Committee, and a former Planning Commissioner appointed by Casar. He also formerly served as board chair of the Workers Defense Project, which advocates for a variety of progressive causes.
Casar was an employee of Workers Defense before he ran for council, and the organization until last year was led by José P. Garza, who won election in November 2020 as the chief prosecutor in Travis County.
Vela has run for office once before, narrowly losing a Democratic primary runoff for House District 46 to Rep. Sheryl Cole (D-Austin) in 2018, by a vote of 50.9% to 49.1%.
