By Bill Oakey – November 6, 2025

A Lopsided Victory That Will Wake Up City Hall

The final result was 63% to 37%. That capped off a long Tuesday evening of anxious waiting. The polls closed at 7:00, but the Travis County Elections website did not post early vote totals until almost 9:30. The reason for the delay spoke volumes about voter sentiment on Prop Q. People were still standing in line to vote, an hour and fifteen minutes after the polls closed!

Heads are now rolling at City Hall. Whether our leaders will change their free-spending ways is still up in the air. For far too long, they have been living in a bubble.

Mayor Kirk Watson quickly issued a post-election statement saying, “We should hear them, learn from this election, and trust our voters.” But many of us wonder how he could have misread the national affordability crisis to begin with.

Mayor Pro Tem Vanessa Fuentes Still Doesn’t Get It

On her Facebook post after the election, she made these comments:

“Finding a new path forward means cutting $110 million from the proposed budget. These cuts will have real and serious consequences – that could mean fewer paramedics on shift, fewer families receiving rental assistance and access to food programs, longer wait times for emergency services, and reductions in park maintenance and public health outreach – all at a time when many in our city need more help, not less.”

Austinites have a long history of showing support for essential City services and a high quality of life. But a 20% tax increase that would create a permanent annual slush fund of over $100 million was simply too much for taxpayers to swallow. The specific items that Ms. Fuentes cited could still be funded over time, and probably sooner rather than later. They will simply have to manage their budget the same way that Austin families have to do. We cannot afford everything that we want during an affordability crisis. And, we often make tradeoffs to balance buying the things that we need the most. It all comes to that concept known as fiscal responsibility.

Thank Goodness for City Council Member Marc Duchen!

Marc was the only Council member to vote against putting Prop Q on the ballot. Now, his office will be the strongest voice for meaningful reforms, to set the City onto the right track. I am in regular contact with his office, and hopefully there will be some good news to report on this blog in the coming days and weeks ahead. Stay tuned…

Musical Accompaniment for This Blog Piece:

1.”Such a Night” – 1960 Elivis Presley version

2. “Such a Night” – 1954 original version by the Drifters, featuring Clyde McPhatter.