Melissa A. Zone

Melissa Zone

Nonpartisan

Contact

Personal website

Melissa Zone was a 2014 candidate for District 7 of the Austin, Texas City Council.

Campaign themes

2014

On her campaign website, Zone highlighted the following issues and provided bullet points on how she would address them.

Neighborhoods and quality of life

• "Growth can be effectively managed."
• "We need to invest in healthy, safe, and walkable neighborhoods."
• "We need a City Council that values neighborhoods throughout the city, not just downtown."
• "I want to use my expertise to ensure the new land development code, CodeNEXT, preserves the unique character of our neighborhoods."
• "The city needs to work with local developers and home builders to increase community revitalization at an appropriate scale that is compatible with adjacent neighborhoods."
• "We need to ensure that rezoning results in land uses that are harmonious with adjacent residential areas."
• "The city needs to increase opportunities for citizen participation in zoning matters."
• "The city needs to preserve the individual neighborhood plans that have been vetted through the public process."

Affordability

• "We need to leverage federal, state and local funding programs to increase housing choices throughout the city for people of all ages and incomes."
• "We need to provide non-monetary incentives like density bonuses and expedited building permits for on-site affordable housing in new residential developments on major transportation corridors with mass transit."
• "We need to enforce long-term affordable housing agreements through enhanced monitoring programs to ensure rental rates and resale prices remain below market rate."
• "Skyrocketing property taxes are forcing residents to move to the suburbs. We need to find innovative infrastructure funding sources to reduced reliance on bond initiatives."
• "Aggressive steps are needed to reverse the current growth trends contributing to urban sprawl."
• "We need to strengthen existing fair living wage policies and hold businesses that contract with the city or receive economic development incentives accountable."

Transportation

• "Austin needs safe, reliable and convenient transportation options for everyone."
• "We need interconnected and well-maintained bicycle and pedestrian networks. This will encourage more use of alternative transportation modes, improve air quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve public health."
• "Most of our daily commuting takes place in three-hour windows in the morning and late afternoon. We need to incentivize alternative work hours and telecommuting and the city needs to lead by example."
• "I will work closely with Capital Metro to increase the frequency and operating hours of public transportation in District 7."
• "The city needs to update transportation plans to focus more resources on improving east-west mobility on our roadway network."
• "The city needs to coordinate private investment with federal funding programs for large-scale projects."

Public Health, safety and the environment

• "The city needs to provide sufficient funding to provide the best available training and best practices for its police, fire and EMS personnel."
• "We need to optimize fire and EMS services through enhanced coordination and shared resources."
• "The city needs to provide sufficient funding for EMS outreach and injury prevention programs."
• "The city needs to support ongoing coordinated efforts by various federal agencies to improve occupational safety and health for first responders."
• "I would support establishment of a city-wide Shattered Dreams program to combat teenage drinking and driving."
• "The city needs to provide resources and continue to develop innovative, proactive code compliance programs, especially for rental properties with absentee landlords."
• "We need to ensure that CodeNEXT provides regulations that preserve the city’s valuable green space and protect natural resources."
• "We need policies to encourage more private investment in innovative stormwater infrastructure like the Riata Wet Pond which combines first-class outdoor amenities with systems to treat rainfall runoff and protect water quality."

Elections

2014

See also: Austin, Texas municipal elections, 2014.

The city of Austin held elections for city council on November 4, 2014. The candidate filing deadline was August 18, 2014. Because of redistricting and term limits, there was no incumbent for District 7. Candidates included Jefferson E. Boyt, Edwin E. English, Zachary R. Ingraham, James A. Paver, Leslie Pool, Pete Salazar, Jr., Darryl R. Wittle and Melissa A. Zone. Because no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote in the general election, the top two vote-getters - Boyt and Pool - faced each other in a runoff election on December 16, 2014. Pool was the winner.

Austin City Council, District 7, 2014
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Jeb Boyt	16.9%	3,299
Leslie Pool	32.1%	6,275
Ed English	13.8%	2,701
Zachary R. Ingraham	3.1%	612
James A. Paver	10.8%	2,107
Pete Salazar, Jr.	5.9%	1,148
Darryl R. Wittle	2.2%	429
Melissa A. Zone	15.1%	2,951
Total Votes		14,994
Source: Travis County Clerk - 2014 Official Election Results

Recent news

This section links to a Google news search for the term "Melissa + Zone + Austin"

Melissa Zone News Feed

See also

• Austin, Texas
• Austin, Texas city council elections, 2014
• United States municipal elections, 2014

External links

Suggest a link

• City of Austin 2014 Candidate List
• Campaign Website
• Social media
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