Meet Our Mayor

[Reporter: Huimin Zhao Video production: Lee Dedear]

 

Video Link: https://youtu.be/bhyH_-3_LKw

 

On July 24th, 2018, as part of a series to foster Chinese-American community involvement, ACAN interviewed Austin Mayor Steve Adler in the city hall. The purpose of the interview was to showcase our fast-growing Chinese-American community organization, ACAN, to the mayor. The interview also provided an opportunity for Mayor Adler to speak directly to our community, to share his vision for the city, and to address issues specifically related to the Chinese-American and Asian-American communities. During the Spring Festival celebration earlier this year, ACAN President Peter Chao expressed our organization’s eagerness to meet Mayor Adler for his advice. After working closely with the Mayor’s office, coordinated by our member Victoria Li, the President of NAAO, the interview occurred on July 24th.  

ACAN President Peter Chao opened the interview with a brief introduction of ACAN. ACAN is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, founded in March 2017 to serve the Chinese-American community in the greater Austin area. ACAN is the largest Chinese-American community organization in the area and currently has close to one thousand individual members.  

ACAN Vice-President CJ Zhao and Secretary Jean Shaw conducted the interview. Jean first asked Mayor Adler what he thinks makes Austin special. Mayor Adler responded that there are a lot of things that make Austin special and magical. Austin has been the fastest growing large metropolitan area in the country for the past seven years. The Mayor thinks that Austin is growing so quickly due to its people and culture. Austin is a very welcoming, friendly, and progressive city. Historically, the city of Austin has been demonstrably open and focused on progress. It is entrepreneurial and encourages innovation.  

CJ asked what we can do to help Austin attract more international travelers, especially those from China. Mayor Adler emphasized the importance of bringing more international travelers to the city. One of the Mayor’s early economic development trips was to China and surrounding Asian countries. Austin continues to develop business interactions with China and other Asian countries, especially to create joint incubators for new companies. Mayor Adler thinks that further developing Austin’s relationship with China and encouraging interaction is a high priority.  

Jean asked Mayor Adler what the most rewarding experiences of his tenure were. Mayor Adler thinks that, unlike state government and federal government, local government can get things done. And this is one of the most rewarding experiences as Mayor of Austin. For example, the city was able to focus on homelessness, especially amongst veterans; the city has been able to pass the Mobility Bond, with three quarters of a billion dollars to address traffic and mobility challenges that plague Austin; the city is also able to deal with the affordability issue, creating for the very first time a regional workforce development plan to move thirty thousand people into middle-skilled jobs and to invest in affordable housing. In addition, Mayor Adler thinks that the most enjoyable aspect of his job is to interact with the community on a daily basis.  

In regard to the city budget and priorities for the next few years, Mayor Adler reiterated the challenges of mobility and affordability in the city. The Mayor believes that it is important to address these issues without interrupting the growing economic development and to make sure that the benefit of economic development is shared with all the communities in the region. In terms of CodeNEXT (the city’s initiative to revise the Land Development Code), Mayor Adler emphasized that CodeNEXT is a process, not a product. It is one of the many things that the city is working on to address the mobility and affordability issues. The Mayor understands the concerns of many neighborhoods and why CodeNEXT may be a divisive issue at the moment for some communities. Yet, Mayor Adler believes in the people living in the community and he believes that if we stay with the process, ultimately, we will be able to come up with a resolution that works for most of the people in the city.  

Mayor Adler recognizes that the Asian community is the fastest growing component in the City of Austin and is the third largest demographic group in the city, with the Chinese community being a significant component of the Asian community. The Asian-American Resource Center is a wonderful asset for the city that is very active and highly utilized. On the other hand, parking has been an issue and the expansion is very much needed for the Center. The Mayor informed us that there will be a bond package on the November ballot. Seven million dollars will be devoted to the repair and expansion of the Asian-American Resource Center if the bond package passes. ACAN Vice-President CJ Zhao expressed the organization’s intention to actively participate in the expansion plan, phasing, and other issues regarding the further development of Asian-American Resource Center.  

Mayor Adler encourages the Chinese-American community to get more involved in civic and political engagements. There are many ways to get involved. The city has 70-80 boards and commissions. Every couple of years the council members appoint members to these boards and commissions. The Mayor thinks that it is important for the Chinese-American community to be represented in these boards and commissions, and a good first step is to go online and find these organizations to volunteer, apply, and serve. Furthermore, Mayor Adler encourages ACAN to be the voice of the Chinese-American community, to get to know more leaders in the city, to actively participate in political campaigns, and to endorse political candidates.  

ACAN Secretary Jean Shaw informed Mayor Adler that ACAN is planning a signature culture festival, The 2019 Austin Chinese Culture Festival, for the Austin community. Mayor Adler expressed his full support for the festival. Additionally, Mayor Adler thinks it is important to attract large audiences outside the Chinese community for the festival to be successful. He offered his help to work with ACAN to ensure that there will be a lot of festival goers from different cultures. CJ indicated that our organization is also trying to attract festival participants from under-represented and underprivileged groups. In terms of funding resources, besides the city’s culture arts funding, Mayor Adler suggested that ACAN look into Asian-American Quality of Life Commission because they speak directly to the city manager for funding.  

It was a pleasant half-hour interview with Mayor Adler. ACAN appreciates the opportunity to meet Mayor Adler. The Mayor’s guidance on a variety of issues is invaluable for our organization to serve the Chinese-American community and beyond. ACAN thanks Mayor Adler for his time and advice.

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1On Aug 9th, Austin City Council voted to scrap CodeNEXT, about a week after Mayor Adler proposed City Council put an end to the controversial CodeNEXT. City Manager Spencer Cronk has been directed to develop a new process leading to a code that achieves city plans.