McCracken moved back to Austin and ran for a place in City Council. The young and vivacious candidate won and is currently serving his second term. As the chair of the Emerging Technologies Committee and the Land Use-Transportation Committee, “Brewster has focused his work on the Council on promoting emerging technologies, particularly film, wireless, clean energy, biotech and digital media, and on establishing mixed-use density zones along Austin’s major corridors,” according to his Web site. McCracken is also an avid and published writer.
I wanted to know how McCracken plans to improve Austin, so his campaign supplied me with the following statement from him:
Given the tough economic times ahead, Austinites believe we must prepare our city for the 21st Century economy or risk losing the jobs we’ve earned in the last 25 years. To achieve leadership in the future economy, I have specific proposals that will preserve the jobs already here, and create jobs and leadership in biotech, healthcare, clean energy and the creative sectors, including film and digital media. Austinites deserve a tireless economic development advocate for then in City Hall, and I will fight every day for Austin’s workers and employers if elected mayor.
Austinites believe our future economy will be unavoidably tied to how we build upon our position as a clean energy leader. Through the Pecan Street Project, a project I initiated with the University of Texas, Austin Energy, the Environmental Defense Fund and others, Austin is poised to lead the nation in clean energy and create a brighter future for people across the country. We must – and we can – meet our power needs, protect our environment and once again set an example of innovation for the rest of the country.
Austinites believe what we must restore the promise of Austin as a community accessible to everyone, including the less fortunate. I have proposed a 21st Century Careers Initiative and the creation of an Endowment for Austin’s Future that move us toward that goal.
And finally, Austinites believe we must renew our focus on improving the livability of Austin neighborhoods. We need to focus on the small stuff. Because if you have children, walkable streets and neighborhood parks and nearby soccer fields aren’t small stuff. It’s a shame that in this active city, so many people have to get in their cars and go somewhere to get fit. Or teach their kids to ride a bike. I will start by focusing the scheduled 2012 bond election on investments that make Austin’s quality of life the envy of Texas and make our neighborhoods and families even stronger than they are today.
