Community organizer & GAVA executive director announces a run for Austin mayor

Carmen Llanes Pulido, a longtime community organizer and the executive director of the nonprofit GAVA (Go Austin/Vamos Austin), is running for mayor.

Llanes Pulido, a 39-year-old native Austinite, has worked at GAVA in different capacities for about 10 years, she said. She has served as the non-profit's executive director since 2017. Before that, she said she worked at the nonprofit Marathon Kids. She has also served on several city commissions including the independent citizens redistricting commission, the Latino quality of life commission and the city's planning commission.

"I am running for mayor because I feel like we are at an incredibly important crossroads in Austin's history," Llanes Pulido told the American-Statesman, adding that the city is facing, "global challenges like climate change, like growing wealth inequality, income inequality and a housing crisis that is stuck in the middle of that as well as much growth and a need to equitably invest in our critical infrastructure."

So far, former Austin City Council member Kathie Tovo is the only other person who has formally announced that she is running for mayor. Austin Mayor Kirk Watson has not formally announced if he is running again, but previously told KXAN he plans to do so. Jennifer Virden, who has previously run for mayor and the District 10 seat, when asked about a potential run for either seat in December 2023, said she is deciding and making an announcement later in 2024.

The election is Nov. 5.

Where Llanes Pulido stands on some key city issues

GAVA was one of the community organizations that took a stance against the the HOME initiative — which phase one of passed in December and allows for up to three units to be built on many single family lots — over concerns of displacement.

"I believe HOME should have been fashioned extremely differently," Llanes Pulido said. "Had I been in the mayor's seat at this time, I would have brought people together to say what is the problem we're actually trying to solve for, and let's bring the champions of creating affordability and stabilizing prices and developing more housing options to the table."

Llanes Pulido said she thinks a lot of investors were at the table but not community developers.

Overall, Llanes Pulido said she feels changes to the land development code can potentially help with affordability.

On homelessness, Llanes Pulido said she had serious concerns about the money being spent to address the issue.

"That's not to dismiss some of the great work that has been done, especially by community partners who are working on the homelessness issue, but there's frustration, a lot of frustration with, basically, the inability for people to get the support that they need before they're on the streets," Llanes Pulido said. "I think we could be doing a lot at the point of prevention, and be looking at other cities that are addressing some of the more root causes."

Llanes Pulido said she was very concerned about the contract the Austin City Council recently approved with the international consulting firm McKinsey & Company, saying it looks "like an extremely expensive contract agreement to once again assess the problem and not solve it."

On Project Connect, Llanes Pulido said she initially had high hopes for the planned light rail but continued to see rail plans that did not reflect what was first proposed.

"My concern with Project Connect is that it overcharges and under delivers, particularly creating a disproportionate tax burden to transit dependent areas that are not receiving the services and will not receive them for 10 or 20 years," Llanes Pulido said.

Llanes Pulido filed a campaign treasurer appointment on Tuesday.

The first day to file in person for a place on the ballot for the Nov. 5 election is July 22. The last day is Aug. 19.

Ella McCarthy covers local government for the Statesman. She will continue her local election coverage as more candidates file for the November 2024 election. To share tips or insight with McCarthy, email her at emccarthy@statesman.com.

Austin American-Statesman reporter Tony Plohetski contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Carmen Llanes Pulido announces run for mayor of Austin