Welcome to Mayoral Mondays! Five candidates are running to be Austin’s mayor, so for the next month, we’re sharing our interviews with them all. Get informed before you vote, y’all!
Doug Greco is on the City Cast Austin podcast today making his pitch to be Austin’s next mayor. Here’s a snippet of our interview:
Who are you? Why are you running for mayor?
“Most of my adult life, I have been a grassroots community organizer here in Austin. I was also a high school teacher here on the east side at what was Johnston High School. Now it's Eastside Early College High.
It was out of that experience that I got involved in organizing. First, I was a member of the teachers union, Education Austin, fighting for pay increases. Then I got involved with this organization called Austin Interfaith.
Our civil rights are under attack, our local decisions are under attack, our school funding is under attack, and I think we need a mayor that's willing to take on that fight."
What makes you qualified?
"I think (that) one of the primary jobs of a mayor is to lead. It's not a CEO system. You're like the chairman of the board, right? So you've got to understand the interests of those council members to pass a majority on anything. And I've done that at the city level, at the county level, and at the state level, passed legislation for long-term job training."
What should the next mayor’s top priority be?
"Number one, what is happening with working people? We are becoming a city that is increasingly for the wealthy and we need good jobs and we want good jobs.
What we've got to do is make sure we're investing in schools and partnering with schools and workforce programs so that kids that grow up here and underemployed adults can compete for those jobs. We’ve got to partner with unions and (have) living wage strategies to turn underpaying jobs into good paying jobs with benefits."
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. For the full conversation, listen to the episode below.
