Leslie Pool
Leslie Pool is a member of the Austin City Council in Texas, representing District 7. She assumed office in 2015. Her current term ends on January 6, 2025.
Pool ran for re-election to the Austin City Council to represent District 7 in Texas. She won in the general election on November 3, 2020.
Pool completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.
Pool is one of ten Austin city council members that was elected in the city's first district-based election in 2014. Because city councilmembers in Austin serve staggered four-year terms, the new council was divided into two groups by lot. The members of group one were designated to serve four-year terms, while the members of group two served two-year terms and ran for a full four-year term in 2016. Pool was a member of group two and served an initial two-year term.[1][2]
Although city council elections in Austin are officially nonpartisan, Pool is known to be affiliated with the Democratic Party.[3]
Biography
Leslie Pool was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She earned a bachelor's degree from Grove City College in 1977 and a master's degree from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin, in 2000.[4]
Her professional experience includes working for U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, former U.S. Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, the National Wildlife Federation, and the Texas Department of Transportation. Pool also founded the Bull Creek Road Coalition, a resident-based coalition organized to work with the city on the development of public property at Bull Creek Road, and has served on the Downtown Development Advisory Group, the Travis County Citizens Bond Advisory Committee, the 2012 City of Austin Citizens Bond Advisory Task Force, and the executive committee of the community research and advocacy group Liveable City.[5][6]
As of her run for re-election in 2016, Pool was the chair of the Austin City Council's Open Space, Environment & Sustainability Committee, the vice chair of the Austin Energy Utility Oversight Committee, and a member of the Audit & Finance, Public Safety, and Economic Opportunity, Technology, Innovation & Creative Industries Committees. She was also co-chair of the Balcones Canyonlands Conservation Plan Coordinating Committee and a member of the Hate Crimes Task Force and the City of Austin Employees' Retirement System Board of Trustees.[7]
Elections
2020
See also: City elections in Austin, Texas (2020)
General election
General election for Austin City Council District 7
Incumbent Leslie Pool defeated Morgan Witt in the general election for Austin City Council District 7 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Leslie Pool (Nonpartisan)  | 67.3 | 27,423 |
 | Morgan Witt (Nonpartisan) | 32.7 | 13,353 | |
| Total votes: 40,776 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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2016
The city of Austin, Texas, held elections for city council on November 8, 2016. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was August 22, 2016. Five of the ten city council seats were up for election.[8] Incumbent Leslie Pool defeated Natalie Gauldin in the Austin City Council District 7 general election.[9]
| Austin City Council, District 7 General Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Leslie Pool Incumbent |
71.95% | 21,411 |
| Natalie Gauldin | 28.05% | 8,346 |
| Total Votes | 29,757 | |
| Source: "Travis County", "Travis County Election Results", accessed November 8, 2016 | ||
2014
- See also: Austin, Texas municipal elections, 2014.
The city of Austin held elections for city council on November 4, 2014. The candidate filing deadline was August 18, 2014. Because of redistricting and term limits, there was no incumbent for District 7.[10] Candidates included Jefferson E. Boyt, Edwin E. English, Zachary R. Ingraham, James A. Paver, Leslie Pool, Pete Salazar, Jr., Darryl R. Wittle and Melissa A. Zone. Because no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote in the general election, the top two vote-getters - Boyt and Pool - faced each other in a runoff election on December 16, 2014.[11][12] Pool was the winner.[13]
| Austin City Council, District 7, 2014 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Jeb Boyt |
16.9% | 3,299 | |
| Leslie Pool |
32.1% | 6,275 | |
| Ed English | 13.8% | 2,701 | |
| Zachary R. Ingraham | 3.1% | 612 | |
| James A. Paver | 10.8% | 2,107 | |
| Pete Salazar, Jr. | 5.9% | 1,148 | |
| Darryl R. Wittle | 2.2% | 429 | |
| Melissa A. Zone | 15.1% | 2,951 | |
| Total Votes | 14,994 | ||
| Source: Travis County Clerk - 2014 Official Election Results | |||
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Leslie Pool completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Pool's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
First elected in 2014 when Austin changed from at-large to single-member district governance, and reelected in 2016, Council Member Pool's expansive legislative record focuses on environmental sustainability; transportation; Open Government accountability and transparency; and ethics and campaign finance reform. CM Pool led on adopting the city's Energy Resource, Generation & Climate Protection Plan and Austin's Climate Resilience Plan and Green New Deal. She authored action to create an Austin Community Resilience plan in response to COVID-19. She co-sponsored the Vehicle Electrification resolution and the resolution declaring a Climate Crisis. Her environmental goals target sustainability and resilience, improving standards for clean air and water, flood mitigation, stewardship of our water resources, and livability. She is a diligent advocate for increased investments in civic assets like community parks, libraries, trails, and open space. Before being elected to City Council, Pool served on numerous civic boards and commissions, chaired city-wide task forces, and was twice appointed by the Commissioners Court to serve on Citizens Bond Advisory committees in 1997 and 2004, and by the City Council to serve on the 2012 City of Austin Citizens Bond Advisory Task Force. She has worked in multiple levels of government, for elected officials from US Senate and Congress, and the Texas House of Representatives and Travis County, and a national environmental non-profit.
- Economic resiliency (as we grapple with & emerge from the pandemic). Continuing to provide financial relief programs to those affected by the pandemic by building on all our COVID-19 work to date.
- Environmental quality (e.g., land, water, air, solar). Resolution on Climate Resilience and Green New Deal. Flood and drought are a part of Austin's history; we have to be prepared for these extremes because we don't know when they'll hit us.
- Systemic reform. Resolution on Community Resilience & FY21 Budget adoption. Reimagining and rebuilding policing is the first of what should be a series of deep-dive audits of our policies and procedures for racism & discrimination. Next audit target should be the City's zoning processes.
- Environmental livability, sustainability, and equity - improving standards for clean air and water, flood mitigation, stewardship of our water resources, and expanding the city's open space and green space
- Transportation - better transit options and safer streets, especially Safe Routes to Schools and ADA-compliant sidewalks
- Open Government and Accountability - increasing government's accountability and transparency through public engagement, and
- Ethics, campaign finance, and lobbyist reform and reporting.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2016
Pool participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 survey of municipal government candidates. The following sections display her responses to the survey questions. When asked what her top priority would be if elected, the candidate made the following statement:
| “ | Craft a sustainable funding plan and identify sources for the revenue to support our public parks, pools and open spaces.[14][15] | ” |
When asked what she would most like to change about the city, the candidate made the following statement:
| “ | the weather - it's too darn hot in summer; the effects of climate change are evident in our droughts/flood patterns.[14][15] | ” |
When asked what she is most proud of about the city, the candidate made the following statement:
| “ | the people who live here[14][15] | ” |
Ranking the issues
The candidate was asked to rank the following issues by importance in the city, with 1 being the most important and 12 being the least important. This table displays this candidate's rankings from most to least important:
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Environment | |
| Government transparency | |
| Homelessness | |
| Housing | |
| Transportation | |
| Recreational opportunities | |
| City services (trash, utilities, etc.) | |
| Civil rights | |
| Crime reduction/prevention | |
| K-12 education | |
| Public pensions/retirement funds | |
| Unemployment | |
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer four questions from Ballotpedia regarding issues facing cities across America. The questions are in the left column and the candidate's responses are in the right column:
| Question | Response |
|---|---|
| Very important | |
| Federal | |
| Public outreach/education programs. Community policing is at the heart of building communities no matter where you live. | |
| Focusing on small business development. Small and local businesses are what make any community unique, and they employ the majority of our workforce. |
Additional themes
Pool's 2016 campaign website highlighted the following goals:
| “ | ” |
2014
On her 2014 campaign website, Pool made the following statement:
| “ |
I have lived and worked in Austin for 34 years, raised a daughter, and been deeply involved and active in many of the key issues that have come before us in Austin – supporting domestic partner benefits, Save Our Springs petition initiative, fighting for a woman’s right to choose, fair pay for a fair day’s work, marriage equality.[16][15] |
” |
Endorsements
2016
Pool received endorsements from the following in 2016:[17]
- AFSCME PAC Local 1624
- Austin Central Labor Council AFL-CIO PAC
- Austin Environmental Democrats
- Austin Firefighters Association
- Austin Neighborhoods Council
- Austin Police Association PAC
- Austin-Travis County EMS Association PAC
- Austin Young Democrats
- Bike Texas
- Capital Area Progressive Democrats
- Central Austin Democrats
- Clean Water Action
- Laborers International Union PAC Local 753
- Liberal Austin Democrats
- NXNW Democrats
- Stonewall Democrats
- West Austin Democrats
- Workers Defense Action Fund
See also
2020 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Austin City Council District 7 |
Officeholder Austin City Council District 7 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ KUT.org Austin’s Next City Council: Primarily Made of Newbies," April 12, 2013
- ↑ City of Austin, "New City Council Members Draw Term Lengths During Inauguration Ceremony," January 6, 2015
- ↑ Twitter, "Pool for Austin," September 25, 2016
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on September 2, 2020
- ↑ City of Austin, "District 7 Council Member Leslie Pool," accessed September 30, 2016
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Leslie Pool - Austin City Council 7, "About," accessed September 30, 2016
- ↑ City of Austin, "Council Member Pool - Committees," accessed September 30, 2016
- ↑ City of Austin, "City of Austin Election Calendar," accessed February 25, 2016
- ↑ City of Austin, "Ballot Applications - November 2016 Election," accessed August 23, 2016
- ↑ City of Austin, "2014 Election Calendar," accessed May 14, 2014
- ↑ Travis County Clerk, "2014 Unofficial Election Results," accessed November 4, 2014
- ↑ City of Austin, "2014 Candidate List," accessed September 4, 2014
- ↑ Travis County Clerk, "2014 Runoff Election Results," accessed December 16, 2014
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Ballotpedia's municipal government candidate survey, 2016, "Leslie Pool's Responses," October 5, 2016
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Leslie Pool for Austin, "Home," accessed September 26, 2014
- ↑ Leslie Pool - Austin City Council 7, "Supporters," accessed September 30, 2016
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Austin City Council District 7 2015-Present |
Succeeded by - |
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