Austin is too expensive. We need bold and experienced leadership for an Austin that is affordable, safe, and protects the rights of all our neighbors. Misael will lower costs, make sure City Hall is working for you – not corporate lobbyists or far-right billionaires, stand up to state attacks on Austin communities, and use his experience with housing affordability and local policy solutions across the board to get real results for everyday Austinites.
THE PLATFORM
HOUSING AFFORDABILITY
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Austin is facing an affordability crisis, and at the center of that crisis is the cost of housing. Half of Austin renters are rent-burdened, spending more than 30% of their income on housing costs. Misael knows that we need to build more housing that working people can actually afford. Despite claims that Austin is leading when it comes to “affordable” housing production, most of the housing units produced are only classified as “affordable” due to Austin’s rapidly increasing MFI (Median Family Income), with only 426 of the 20,000 units produced halfway through the 10-year period set to reach this goal for households making 0–30% MFI. That’s housing for seniors on fixed incomes, people with disabilities, service workers — the residents most at risk of homelessness. As the only candidate with experience building truly affordable opportunities for renters and prospective homeowners, Misael can – and will – deliver.
Misael will maximize affordability by building truly affordable housing on City-owned land and championing the “Social Housing” model that has had success across the country! Through Social Housing, updated and quality housing with public investment is made accessible to renters of diverse incomes, achieving deeply affordable rents that are especially challenging to reach. By building truly affordable apartments on City-owned land and collaborating with neighborhood partners, we can make the development process community-oriented and more cost-effective. Research shows these strategies stabilize housing costs in our neighborhoods for everyone, maintaining the affordability and keeping our neighbors rooted in our diverse neighborhoods.
Given his experience as an affordable developer, Misael knows that the permitting process and fees create a higher barrier for affordable developers to build affordable housing on already expensive land. Misael will streamline permitting for truly affordable developers and waive fees for affordable housing projects, making the process of affordable housing development quicker and cheaper for affordable housing developers. Misael will also push to expand land and funding access for truly affordable developers, including Community Development Corporations, and scale up support for Community Land Trusts to stabilize affordability in neighborhoods across District 1.
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Homeownership is one of the strongest tools for generational stability and wealth, but it has been out of reach for too many Austinites that call District 1 home. Having served as chair of the Blackland Community Development Corporation, Misael knows what it takes to create truly affordable homeownership opportunities in District 1 neighborhoods where major barriers include expensive land and high property taxes.
Misael will bring his experience as an affordable developer to City Hall, championing the strategies that make homeownership accessible for working people, including collaboration and investment to scale up the successes of Community Development Corporations (CDCs) and Community Land Trusts. These strategies work for District 1 due to a special tax status and innovative land trust model that addresses the primary barriers to affordable homeownership. Misael will direct increased City funding to CDCs already doing this effective work on the ground in District 1, like the Blackland Community Development Corporation. Finally, by expanding access to technical assistance and training for trusted community-based partners, Misael will scale-up community land trusts throughout District 1 neighborhoods so that non-profits and neighbors can keep their communities affordable by preserving and building truly affordable homes.
Misael also knows from experience that affordable developers in Austin face fees and costly time constraints that come along with the permitting process. Misael will streamline permitting for affordable developers producing truly affordable homes for middle to low income families looking to rent or own and work to ensure that development projects receiving public funds or incentives include truly affordable homeownership opportunities. Finally, Misael’s office will host workshops in District 1 for prospective homeowners to plan for homeownership and learn about options through the City of Austin, including the City’s Community Land Trust, and non-profit partners that offer no down payment and lower-than-average interest rates to first-time homebuyers.
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Many Austinites wonder where our property taxes are going and want to see results, especially when it comes to affordability and homelessness. A recent internal audit showed that in 40% of cases, a needs assessment was not done before hiring a contractor, and in over 70% of cases there was no review of contractor performance. This problem isn’t new; Misael was proud to speak out in 2024 alongside a coalition that stopped a costly and unnecessary contract with a consultant that had a track-record of unethical and wasteful business practices. Misael will require performance reporting for every major contract brought before Council and use his budget committee assignments to redirect funding toward proven government service providers, while strengthening coordination with Travis County, AISD, and other local partners to maximize impact. By strategically and transparently investing in evidence-backed solutions that are proven to work, rather than spending millions on consultants and contracts, Misael will make sure your tax money is working for you.
Having personally supported elders in his neighborhood to navigate exemptions and existing assistance programs, Misael understands the impact of high property taxes on low- & middle- income Austinites. Misael will prioritize property tax relief by bringing together public and philanthropic partners to scale-up funding for local organizations that provide tax assistance to homeowners burdened with high property taxes that put their generational wealth at risk, and the District 1 office will spearhead public outreach to ensure that District 1 residents are informed of all existing public and non-profit resources to navigate tax exemptions and assistance.
With his background in affordable housing development, Misael knows that intentional development decisions can stabilize property taxes while bad deals can lead to land speculation, triggering rising costs for surrounding homeowners, renters, and local business owners. Misael will put community engagement and affordability first to ensure that development decisions prioritize affordability and stabilize property taxes, rather than causing sudden tax spikes and traumatic displacement for East Austin residents and businesses.
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Misael has been a leading voice for housing development policy that truly benefits homeowners and renters, not outside investors. Misael proudly organized the coalition that won an “Equity/Anti-Displacement Overlay” resolution, requiring transparency on the results of “HOME.” The resulting City-commissioned report found that the new City-approved entitlements for development in Single-Family neighborhoods (“HOME”) have overwhelmingly been utilized by private investment companies – and not by homeowners – in census tracts impacted by displacement. Misael was an early advocate for establishing creative financing options for homeowners, such as forgivable loans, and will propose an Affordable Financing Access resolution so that Austin homeowners, not just private investors, can take advantage of their right to build the affordable units Austin needs and secure their generational wealth.
Unfortunately, the pattern of disproportionate investor-driven development in neighborhoods undergoing displacement holds true for the City’s controversial development incentive program (known until recently as “Density Bonus 90”). This policy came under serious public scrutiny for giving incentives to private developers that target some of Austin’s most affordable apartments for unaffordable redevelopment. Misael organized with District 1 neighbors and tenants at Acacia Cliffs apartments who fought to protect their housing when their 290 deeply affordable apartments were put at risk, raising the alarm on the policy’s lack of critical protections for existing affordable apartments. Misael will fight to fix housing development programs that give incentives to private developers while offering little affordability and protect Austin’s most affordable apartments by requiring that private developers replace any affordable units impacted at the same rental rate. Instead of accelerating investment-driven displacement, Misael will push Council to follow-through on the creation of the Housing Preservation Fund, a resolution won by Acacia Cliffs tenants and housing advocates including Misael in 2025, so that the City, non-profit, and affordable development partners can compete to buy at-risk affordable apartments before private investors do.
IT’S THE PEOPLE VS. THE BILLIONAIRES
Right-wing tech billionaires have been playing in Austin’s backyard for years. They’ve funded organizations like Save Austin Now to drive costly ballot propositions and state laws against the will of Austin voters. They lobby for working people to pay for AI-powered mass surveillance technology like Flock cameras with our tax dollars. And they are cashing checks to buy consensus in City Hall that allows them to negotiate bad land deals and tax breaks for developments like Dog’s Head that enrich them while polluting our land, automating away jobs, and displacing our neighbors.
As an organizer, Misael knows people have the power to end this. People power is how Austin became the first city in Texas to divest from AI surveillance cameras, with other cities across the state following suit. Misael will use his position on the dais to fight with the community against the destructive forces of mass surveillance, data center expansion, and unregulated AI. Misael will make sure Austin continues to lead the way on resisting the billionaire class, ensuring the government serves the people and not corporate profits.
As the District 1 Council Member, Misael will:
Properly implement and leverage the TRUST Act, which creates transparency and sets guardrails around the city’s use of surveillance tech in order to protect our personal data.
Divest from mass surveillance technologies, like AI-powered cameras that harvest our data, to re-invest in effective, pro-people public safety infrastructure.
Vote to protect our land, resources, and data with a moratorium on AI data centers.
Disrupt the influence of right-wing tech billionaires on local public policy by exposing their investment into initiatives like DOGE-style audits to cut public services and homeless encampment sweeps costing us hundreds of thousands of dollars.
FAST, ACCESSIBLE TRANSIT
District 1 deserves safe, fast, reliable transit. In District 1, we can reduce transportation costs, increase opportunity, and connect neighborhoods.
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Misael believes transit equity means every community has safe, fast, and reliable public transit options. Riders shouldn’t have to make multiple transfers over hours to get home. Parents taking their kids to school shouldn’t have to worry about crossing major thoroughfares with high speeds. And no one should fear being hit while riding a bike to work, church, or play.
Misael will use his office to collect robust qualitative data regarding rider and user experiences across the transit system, in addition to offering reduced or free fare cards for residents who cannot afford to ride. He will also leverage his vote on future CapMetro Board appointees to appoint leaders who are public transit users and who prioritize dignity for our transit workers. In the next CapMetro plan update, Misael will advocate for District 1 to be prioritized, with more rapid routes connected directly to healthcare, grocery stores, and recreational opportunities. Misael will also use his seat on Council to direct the City's appointees on the CapMetro Board to prioritize District 1 routes, including routes connecting residents to healthcare, grocery stores, and recreational opportunities. In CapMetro's next service plan update, Misael will also push for central east and northeast Austin to be included in light rail funding in the next phases of Project Connect.Misael will push for strategic investments based on the City Leap study to strengthen District 1’s infrastructure and roads where it makes logistical sense. These investments will lead to more dedicated rapid bus lanes, increasing sidewalks, and additional protected bike lanes.
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Austin is being subjected to the largest highway expansion in its history since 1962. As a board member for ReThink 35, Misael joined in a lawsuit against the state to stop the expansion, citing the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT)’s own environmental analysis of the harm it will cause to people, businesses, and future generations of Austinites. Still, the state is ramming through the expansion, subjecting our communities to a decade of significant traffic disruption and intense environmental harm—all just to add one more lane on either side of the highway.
Instead of investing in more concrete, it’s time that we invest in safer, cleaner, and more accessible methods of moving people and commerce in Austin. On City Council, Misael will push to formally condition any further City infrastructure cooperation with TxDOT on stronger displacement mitigation commitments. He will also advocate for our money to be used toward the community-informed alternatives that District 1 residents and groups like Rethink35 have already put forward. Misael also believes that funds for the currently planned caps and stitches over I-35 would be better used directly investing in community benefits, including housing and improved, culturally-enriched public spaces. Caps & stitches are also no substitute for reducing emissions across the transportation sector, which remains one of the key contributors to carbon emissions locally and statewide.
For decades, transit projects have displaced Black and Brown communities in the name of “progress.” Transit solutions that prioritize equity and access will benefit us all.
Public safety outcomes are based in access to housing, mental health support, and programs aimed at prevention. All communities deserve to feel safe in our District 1 neighborhoods.
SAFE NEIGHBORHOODS
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In the name of fiscal responsibility and a commitment to real public safety outcomes, the City must put the brakes on the ever-increasing police budget, and instead creatively divert funds to evidence-based solutions that are proven to prevent violence, including community violence interventions, harm reduction, after-school and work-study programs for youth, neighborhood block clubs, and alternative responders in cases of emergency. Misael will fight each budget cycle to protect and grow Office of Violence Prevention funding, will push to codify current CVI funding levels as a floor rather than a discretionary line that can be quietly cut, and will work to connect eviction prevention resources to this same office, since housing instability and violence are directly linked.
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Even one officer involved shooting resulting in the death of a community member is too many. Misael knows firsthand the hurt that families go through following such instances having lost members of his family to similar circumstances. He believes in building a world where those calling for help are met with the care they deserve instead of cruelty. Misael is honored to have the support of community leaders who successfully advocated for the creation of the Trauma Recovery Center, and will continue to support investments in these critical resources for prevention of and restoration after violence.
Misael will support robust funding for the newly independent 911 call center and submit budget amendments to fund social workers and mental health professionals who will respond to distress calls, deescalating situations before a gun is ever drawn. Misael will also make contingent any continued funding for the Austin Police Department on a reduction in the number of officer shootings in the City, which have cost Austin taxpayers more than $37 million since 2021 the last time the District 1 seat was open on the ballot. -
The Austin Police Department budget constitutes more than 35% of all General Revenue funds, partially as a result of state law prohibiting reductions in the Department’s budget and also contractual raises for officers signed in 2024. This vastly outspends all other public safety departments, including Fire, EMS, and Austin Public Health. Even with all this money, the department retains hundreds of vacant positions and Austinites are still on the hook for misconduct. As a community organizer, Misael has long advocated for police accountability and public safety strategies informed by community. He will continue supporting these policies as the District 1 Council Member.
To make progress on police accountability, Misael will:Use his office to independently track incidents of police violence in District 1, and offer direct resources to aid families who endure the pain of those circumstances
Champion transparency by moving the Austin Police Oversight Office under the direct purview of City Council
Work with local state legislators to defend access to the G-File, a compilation of police misconduct records that help inform Council in contractual negotiations and reforming police training
Under the Trump administration, masked ICE agents have flooded the streets with the goal of detaining and deporting our immigrant neighbors. The result has been regular assault and even murder of citizens across the country. And now, Texas leads the nation for ICE arrests, with Austin being the top city in the state for them. Our immigrant neighbors and family members are often quickly detained with the assistance of DPS and, in some cases, APD due to the implementation of unconstitutional state laws (SB 4 2023) that conscript local law enforcement to do federal immigration enforcement with our tax money.
This created a crisis that was nearly invisible to many Austinites but nonetheless occurring regularly, until the shooting of Wilber Rafael Garces Perez by an ICE agent exposed this daily reality. Immediately, Austinites gathered to courageously protest this violence in our community and demand the release of Perez. Misael stood with them, and was targeted by the state for doing so when DPS detained him while on his morning walk with his dog.
Because over three hundred Austinites gathered to demand his release, Misael was freed and called attention to the continued detention of Perez and many more immigrant community members who deserve to live freely.
Misael understands the threats to the livelihoods of our neighbors and collective rights that ICE enforcement actions pose, and will not back down. Our communities deserve to live free from fear, discrimination, and lethal encounters with immigration authorities.
ICE OUT OF AUSTIN
At City Council, Misael will fight to protect our immigrant neighbors by working to:
Fully implement the Freedom Cities, Safe to Call, and Immigrant Rights Protections resolutions passed by Council to strengthen protections for residents stopped by immigration enforcement!
Proactively advocate for total transparency on instances in which the Austin Police Department calls ICE by creating a standing ordinance on reporting, because transparency should never stop for any period of time as it did with Freedom Cities reporting requirements!
Increase funding for pro-bono legal services for deportation defense and direct aid to impacted neighbors through our local nonprofit partners!
Work with peer cities to challenge the state’s illegal attacks on immigrant communities in court and promote real public safety for our communities!
In this critical time for our City to show leadership in the face of escalating attacks on our immigrant neighbors’ livelihoods and rights, Misael will fight to ensure the City uses its power to safeguard and support our neighbors, our right to protest, and our dignity.
PROTECT & KEEP AUSTIN SCHOOLS INDEPENDENT
Endorsed by AISD Trustee Candance Hunter, Misael has proudly advocated alongside families and teachers for students’ right to education and against AISD school closures. Now, the threat of a districtwide takeover by the state puts our school communities at risk, depriving us of a voice and vote in the future of our schools. If that happens, Misael will fight to ensure that City Hall is ready to speak up for and protect our schools.
To protect Austin Schools, Misael will:
Boost enrollment by creating housing that families, teacher, and staff can actually afford, helping Austin fund and protect our schools!
Ensure consistent collaboration between the City, AISD’s Board of Trustees, and Travis County to meet the needs of students, families, & teachers through programs like the Communities in Schools programs — which places support specialists on campuses to assist families!
Keep Austin schools independent by expanding strategic partnerships including land leases that protect school properties and bolster the district’s budget during fiscal deficits!
CULTIVATE & CELEBRATE CULTURE
District 1 is the cultural heart of Austin. Black & Latino working class communities built the vibrant culture that made Austin what it is today. Through cultivation, rather than neglect, we can make District 1 a place where the people who create the world-class art, music, and culture Austin is known for can afford to live here. Growth should not erase our history. We can build a thriving future that honors our past.
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We can preserve historic homes and expand protections for Black historic districts. Offer funding for longtime East Austin residents to support repairs, stabilization, small business loans, and generational wealth retention.
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East Austin’s culture lives in its restaurants, music venues, art spaces, and neighborhood businesses. In this district, Misael regularly experiences world-class musicians, eats at some of the best restaurants in the city, and supports the small businesses that make D1 the heart of Austin. Yet these artists and business owners are consistently under-supported by City officials. We must offer stabilization funds for legacy businesses facing rising rents., create financial tools and technical assistance for long-standing community businesses, ensure HOT tax dollars go toward local arts and music programming, and more.
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One of my main goals is to make District 1 a destination for arts and culture, without displacing the people who make it vibrant.
Expand funding for the African American Cultural District.
Expand cultural district funding tied to arts, music, and entertainment programming.
Direct HOT tax allocations toward programs that center historically Black and Brown communities.
Build a cultural grant program that prioritizes East Austin artists, cultural workers, and community-led initiatives.
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We must require meaningful community engagement before major developments are approved. Development should reflect the will of the community, not just the interests of developers.
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Culture needs places to grow. We must cultivate a Black revival of East Austin rooted in ownership, dignity, and opportunity. Let’s update and expand the Millennium Youth Complex into a modernized space for families and kids in East Austin. We have the opportunity to nurture and invest in community events, music, and cultural festivals in D1.
East Austin deserves a restoration rooted in its Black history and centered on economic empowerment and opportunity
