Kirk Watson

Austin’s success depends on more investment and more revenue to cover the services our growing city needs and our residents want. Those funds are how we pay for our values. 

Our social safety net, our parks, libraries, housing programs, health care, climate investments, workforce pipelines, arts and culture, and the public servants we rely on to provide the services— are funded by a thriving, growing, and diversified economy. 

We also care about affordability, so we want to take great care before increasing taxes, rates, or fees in our community. Growing our economy is the obvious, most equitable, sustainable, and affordable way to generate needed funds. 

I am happy that Council passed my plan that lays out an active, progressive economic development policy for the City of Austin. 

The plan defines explicitly, and in advance, what the companies for Austin look like. 

➡️They pay living wages and invest in Austin’s workforce.

➡️They bring career pathways, not just jobs.

➡️They operate as stewards of Austin’s public resources—its water, its energy, its land—and not simply consumers of them. 

➡️They show up as civic partners, not just employers.

➡️They share the values that make Austin special in the first place.

That standard is the policy. A company that meets it, gets Austin’s embrace.  One that won’t, isn’t the right fit, regardless of the size of the investment or the numbers on the jobs announcement.

Today, I announced a hospital-led plan developed by Ascension Seton, Baylor Scott & White Health and St. David’s HealthCare to ensure sexual assault survivors continue to have access to critical forensic exam services across the hospitals.

The coordinated, multi-provider approach was developed by the hospital systems in partnership with community providers and ensures that every patient seeking a trauma-informed medical forensic exam from a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner, or SANE, has timely access to compassionate, high-quality care.

For the past several months, I've led conversations between the hospital systems, the City Manager’s Office, Austin Public Health, Austin Government Relations, Austin Forensic Science, Travis County, and SANE service providers to address the need, and achieve a long-term vision for the community given the funding challenges presented by The SAFE Alliance.

I’ve been directly engaged with our community's healthcare system partners, SAFE Alliance, and others. Our priority has always been, as it should be, focused on sexual assault survivors and to make sure survivors in our community get the care and services they deserve.

I’m pleased that the hospital partners are ensuring care continues. Hospitals have a legal obligation to provide access to Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner services either directly or by referral to another provider, and they have the ability to determine how best to meet that obligation while ensuring quality care.

I thank Ascension Seton, Baylor Scott & White, St. David’s HealthCare, and Brave Alliance for stepping up in a difficult situation. They worked through a challenging set of circumstances, stayed focused on what matters most--the need for the services for survivors--and found a solution to ensure SANE services continue to be available in our community.

Latest : Funding Our Values. I’ve introduced a plan that lays out an active, progressive economic development policy for the City of Austin—a comprehensive and clear vision of the economy we’ll build, the tools we’ll deploy, and the standards we’ll uphold.

The proposal defines explicitly, and in advance, what the companies for Austin look like. They pay living wages and invest in Austin’s workforce. They bring career pathways, not just jobs. They operate as stewards of Austin’s public resources—its water, its energy, its land—and not simply consumers of them. They show up as civic partners, not just employers. And they share the values that make Austin special in the first place.

That standard is the policy. A company that meets it, gets Austin’s embrace. One that won’t, isn’t the right fit, regardless of the size of the investment or the numbers on the jobs announcement.

This framework makes Austin’s values binding, visible, and consistently applied so that every economic development decision reflects who we are.

Read more: https://bit.ly/WireFOV