Flannigan hosts anti-Props A, B campaign event at city-funded field office

A Facebook Event for a Sunday afternoon caught our eye several weeks ago. Rather than drop it like its hot, we ruminated on it. But we had an election to worry about and kept our cool.

Now, a month after a neighborhood campaign event hosted at the City of Austin District 6 Field Office recommending voters reject Travis County proposition A and City of Austin propositions A and B, it's on us if we do not say something about how this whole situation stinks.

Given, we're not attorneys nor are we qualified to give legal advice to Austin City Council member Jimmy Flannigan or "Team D6," but we are wondering how a city-funded Field Office was allowed to become the base for a political campaign for and against local ballot propositions from the Nov. 5 election. Literature, customized for Travis County and Williamson County residents, featured Flannigan's campaign logo and "recommendations" (which are actually worded "vote no" or "vote yes").

November 2019 Constitutional Amendment and Local Election Results

Statewide propositions
With 100% of precincts reporting ...

Proposition 1: Municipal judges serving multiple cities 34-66% (No)
Proposition 2: $200M for water development loans 66-34% (Yes)
Proposition 3: Disaster-damaged property tax exemption 87-13% (Yes)
Proposition 4: State income tax ban 73-27% (Yes)
Proposition 5: Sporting goods sales tax to parks, historic sites 86-14% (Yes)
Proposition 6: $3B cancer research increase 67-33% (Yes)
Proposition 7: $300M school fund cap increase 75-25% (Yes)
Proposition 8: Flood control grants 79-21% (Yes)
Proposition 9: Gold depository property tax exemption 54-46% (Yes)
Proposition 10: Retired K-9 ownership 93-7% (Yes)

Source: Texas Secretary of State election night results

County and local

Last-minute help for those confused by the H.O.T. mess of Propositions A and B (oh, and county Prop A!)

There are a many benefits to early voting -- shorter lines on election day and picking a day and time that works best for the voter among them.

The benefit of waiting until election day to vote in a low-turnout election is that it gives time for complicated measures to be discussed -- especially amid concerns that the ballot language may have been awkwardly or even deceptively worded. In the case of Austin voters, many have waited for more clarity on city propositions A and B and county Proposition A, and how they interrelate.

For the last-minute voter, we put together this quick analysis of what it all means, as well as our recommendations.