Bring Austin to Task

It’s time to hold Austin’s local governments and elected leaders accountable for how they govern - and for voters and taxpayers to demand it.

In early 2025, I shifted my focus from national politics to local issues. I found more rabbit holes than I could ever chase, but also something more important: local decisions shape our daily lives, and ordinary citizens can help change them.

Over the past year, I’ve met more Austinites than I did in the previous 20 years of living and working here. Some have worked on these problems for years. Others, like me, are just waking up to them and finding ways to strengthen the community for this generation and the next.

People know me as someone who follows local news and city government. I’ve been asked to share my thoughts on the November 2026 election, so this site brings together my personal research and views on Austin City elections. I haven’t coordinated this content with any PAC or campaign. The ideas are my own, and I encourage you to make up your own mind before you vote.

- Jen Robichaux, long-time Austin resident

If we want to restore Austin to the people, we need Council Members who are not afraid:

• to bring real-world experience and face off against career politicians

• to treat the office as an act of service to the community rather than a launchpad for higher office

• to do right by their constituents, even at the cost of their political future

• to state their positions clearly, honestly, and consistently

• to push back on the bureaucracy and dig into why we’re taking a business-as-usual approach when better options are now available

• to nurture a whistleblower culture and elevate employees who put the best interests of the city and taxpayers first

• to properly vet board and commission recommendations against constituent feedback

• to vote no on items that haven’t been given adequate time for review or public input

• to vote no on policy that hasn’t fully considered unintended consequences

• to vote no on contracts that haven’t had an open bidding process with adequate time and solicitation to attract multiple bids from qualified vendors

• to vote no on contracts when performance expectations are not clearly stated upfront

• to cancel service contracts with vendors who fail to deliver results and re-bid those contracts so intended recipients actually receive the benefits

• to honor taxpayers as stakeholders and act as stewards of the city, ensuring public dollars achieve real results and leaving Austin better and more authentically itself