FAN-Letter&Attachment_Redacted — original pdf

Backup

An inclusive voice for Austin neighborhoods. Felicity Maxwell Zilker President Roger L. Cauvin Downtown Treasurer Thomas Ates Hyde Park Adviser October 10, 2021 Honorable members of the Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (ICRC), Friends of Austin Neighborhoods (FAN) thanks you for your service on the ICRC and for the important work balancing numerous factors and priorities as you drew new boundaries for Austin’s city council districts. Friends of Austin Neighborhoods (FAN) recently polled its membership on priorities for redistricting, and we would like to express our support for the proposed maps in areas where they provide more effective representation for historically-marginalized, or sometimes-overlooked, communities of interest. A supermajority of FAN’s voting members approved the following statement and criteria in a secure online vote. Full results of these and all other online votes are on the Votes page of the FAN website. FAN champions the needs of the citywide community and representation of the full diversity of neighborhood stakeholders – not just the vocal minority of incumbent homeowners that sometimes dominate neighborhood conversations. Accordingly, FAN calls for redistricting that enables neighbors belonging to the following groups to have fair and effective representation in city government: 1. Historically marginalized ethnic groups, including Hispanics and 2. Fast-growing Asian communities. 3. Overlooked socioeconomic groups such as renters, residents of multi-family African-Americans. homes, and students. FAN believes that drawing district boundaries to support better representation for these groups is far more important than blind consistency with self-defined neighborhood boundaries. FAN represents about 3,000 neighbors (homeowners, renters, and small business owners) among its 18 member neighborhood associations and individual members living in 212 other neighborhoods throughout the city. A complete list of member neighborhood associations and individual members is on the FAN website. Again, thank you for your work, and we are happy to answer any questions you may have. Respectfully, Board of Directors of Friends of Austin Neighborhoods (FAN) Friends of Austin Neighborhoods (FAN) is a coalition of neighborhood associations and residents reclaiming the word “neighborhood” to include the full diversity of voices, moving beyond neighborhood protectionism.