There was a debate

and I doubt anyone changed their mind. I was greatly encouraged by the number of young people present who were clearly intent on voting no on proposition 1. I was only one of two people in my age group as far as I was able to tell. One of the moderators, Caleb Pritchard of The Austin Monitor, said my demographic numbered four total, so I’m going to yield to his journalistic expertise in estimating the size and composition of groups of people. The Our City, Our Safety, Our Choice press conference I attended earlier had a good mix of people, but there were many people my age, rather than only a few.

The moderators were Nathan Bernier and Audrey McGlinchy (KUT), with the aforementioned Caleb Pritchard in the far right seat at the moderator’s table in this view. They directed the debate via the questions they chose to ask. I was disappointed in that safety was almost exclusively their focus, whereas my own and that of the Our City, Our Safety, Our Choice press conference is what is technically know as corporate nullification. Two multibillion dollar corporations based in San Francisco will not be allowed to subvert what Austin’s elected representatives decided was best for our city and populace, I hope.

Vote No on Proposition 1

nota bene: If you weren’t one of the two to three hundred who attended the debate, I hope you listened to KUT’s broadcast of the recorded version last Thursday. Unless public radio has changed since the days when I listened to it, the debate will probably be rebroadcast several times, so check your schedules.