Randi Shade

Place 3

Hi. My name is Randi Shade, and I'm running for Austin City Council Place 3.I'm challenging incumbent Jennifer Kim.

You know, the first time I came to Austin was in the 1970s, I was about eight years old and I was here on a family trip with my parents.And for me, it was love at first sight.
So when it came time to apply to college, U.T. was the only school on my list. And ever since then – I started in 1984 – I have pretty much been an Austinite. I have now lived in this community, like I said, for nearly 20 years. But I think what's important about my candidacy is the fact that I have done so many different things in this community.

I have the perspective, of course, as a U.T. student where I served as student body president. I have the perspective of a person who graduated in 1988 and really had a hard time finding a job. I ended up going to work at Proctor and Gamble. Against everything, I hoped so much that I could be in Austin, but I really couldn't find a job in 1988. I ended up going to Harvard Business School. But before I went, I had an opportunity to be the fundraising coordinator for Governor Richards' successful gubernatorial campaign in 1990. So when she won in the fall of '90, I knew that when I graduated from business school in '92 with my M.B.A. in hand I would be returning back to Austin.

I worked in the Governor's Office for four years. I launched something called Americorps, which gave me the opportunity to work with non-profits and educational institutions all across this great state. And I'm proud to say that thanks to my leadership and the efforts of everybody on my team, we were able to raise more money for community service initiatives for Americorps than any other state in the nation.

I ended up leaving public sector and eventually launching a company. In 1999, I launched an internet company. I was the C.E.O. of that company. We sold the company and it was lots of ups and downs during the dot-com boom and bust. But ultimately in 2005, I was able to sell the company to a publicly traded company.

And then in 2006, after I completed the transaction, I turned 40. I had a baby. And like you, I spent a lot of time at home watching Channel 6. Over the course of a lot of late night bottles and a lot of Channel 6, there wasn't one particular issue that drove me into this race.

But, like you, I'm really concerned about the direction that Austin is going. I think that we're growing and that means change, some of it good, some of it not so good. And so I decided to enter this race because I have a couple of priorities that I would like to share with you right now.

First, I believe that we have got to promote responsible growth to ensure that the public benefits of growth always outweigh the costs. We have got to protect our air and our environment. We have got to keep Austin Austin. And you know, again we can't deny the fact that people are going to be coming.

Anywhere in the southwest is experiencing growth. And I'm all for great economic vitality. But we don't have to give away the shop. We really need to work harder at making better deals that benefit the people that are here.

And along those same lines, one of the things that I've observed, and I think a lot of it comes from my strong involvement in a lot of health and human service organizations in this community, but we have got to raise the priority of the impact that poverty is having on our community to provide a safer city infrastructure for everybody in Austin. You know, again it's wonderful that Austin is growing, and that we are consistently recognized for our economic vitality. But until at a bare minimum everybody's basic needs are met, I don't think we have very many bragging rights.

I had the opportunity to be the chief executive of the Austin Entrepreneurs Foundation, I have served on many local non-profit boards. If you go to my website, you can see what kind of extensive experience that I have in the non-profit sector, and I believe that my perspective will be a very much needed, added part of the council.

I have been endorsed by all three of the public safety unions, police, E.M.S. and the firefighters and I was just amazed when I have spent time out there how much of their time is spent on activities that are more like social work than fighting crime and emergency response. That's because our health and human services network isn't as strong as it needs to be.

And, finally, the biggest other reason that I'm running is to be a responsive and accessible councilmember who ensures that everybody has a voice at City Hall. My philosophy is that this is everybody's Austin. I'm going to put my calendar online so that you know how I'm spending your time when I'm in office. I'm going to meet with everybody.
I have found already on the campaign trail there's not just two sides of every issue, there's usually 10 sides – six sides at least. And it's incumbent upon the council members to not wait for the people to come see them, but for them to actually go out and see the citizens.

So you won't just see me as -- you know, while I'm campaigning. You're going to see me after I'm in office, really reaching out, being accessible and responsive to your needs. That's why I'm running. I really would appreciate your vote. Please go to my website randishade.com to learn more about me. Again, May 10 is around the corner and I would really appreciate your vote.

Thank you.