Prop A falls flat

Controversial proposition to increase Austin police staffing fails to pass in November election

Prop A would have required APD to staff two sworn police officers for every 1,000 residents.

Courtesy of Austin Police Department/Facebook

KVUE — Austin voters struck down a proposition to increase Austin Police Department staffing. Results show 68 percent of individuals voted against it in the November 2021 election.

Proposition A was one of two Austin propositions on the November 2 ballot. It would have required APD to have two sworn police officers for every 1,000 residents.

Save Austin Now, a local political action committee, created the proposition in response to APD’s staffing shortages. Thirty-two percent of voters voted to pass Prop A.

In addition to more officers, Prop A would have also required an additional 40 hours of post-cadet class training. It aimed to increase minority hiring and boost community engagement.

The PAC filed its petition in May to get Prop A on the ballot, and the City of Austin certified the petition in August. The initiative has been met with both support and opposition across the city.

Save Austin Now announced Austin City Council member Mackenzie Kelly and three former Austin mayors endorsed Prop A in October. Ken Cassady, president of the Austin Police Association, also supported it.

But Austin Mayor Steve Adler, the Austin Firefighters Association, and a group called No Way on Prop A, which was supported by Austin City Council members Vanessa Fuentes and Alison Alter, all opposed it.

The Austin Financial Service Department estimated Prop A would potentially use up to $120 million of the City’s budget per year.

The City of Austin is accepting mail-in ballots postmarked by 7 p.m. on November 2 until 5 pm Wednesday, November 3.

Voting in the November election ran from 7 am to 7 pm on Election Day in Texas. Early voting started on Monday, October 18 and ended on Friday, October 29.

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Continue reading this story and get more local election results at KVUE.

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share the road

Texas races to the bottom in new list of best states for cyclists

Photo by Justin Wallace on Unsplash

If you've ridden your bicycle in Austin, you already know how true this is.

In what will come as no surprise to cyclists around Austin, the state of Texas is not a good place for bicycle riding. According to a new report of the "Most Cycling-Friendly States in the U.S.," Texas comes in at No. 47 — meaning that only three other states are worse.

The report, from Philadelphia personal injury law firm KaplunMarx, examines all 50 states based on six metrics: Air quality index, the number of cyclist deaths per one million residents, bike routes per square mile, local government actions supporting cycling, federal funding for cycling projects, and bicycle laws.

Texas musters a mere 31 points out of 100 for its "cycling friendly score."

The most cycling-friendly state in the U.S.: Minnesota, which earned 84 points to claim the title.

According to the report's findings, there have been 15 local government actions per capita in Texas that integrate pedestrians and cyclists in transportation projects. Texas' has a 41 air quality index value, and there are approximately 1.2 bike routes per 1,000 square miles in the state.

On cyclist deaths, Texas does a little better, with three cyclist deaths per one million residents in Texas — about nine percent lower than the national average.

According to KaplunMarx founding partner Ted Kaplun, there is an average of 857 cyclist fatalities in the U.S. every year. He adds that every measure or community effort to improve cyclist-friendliness is beneficial for all Americans.

"It's crucial for all states to continually assess and enhance their cycling provisions, learning from both high-ranking peers and their own experiences," he says.

Top-ranking Minnesota has only one cyclist death per one million state residents. It also has about 27.2 bike routes per 1,000 square miles.

After Minnesota, the remaining top five best states for cyclists are Massachusetts (No. 2), Rhode Island (No. 3), Washington (No. 4), and Iowa (No. 5).

At the bottom of the list are Nevada (No. 48), Arizona (No. 49), and Utah (No. 50) — all of which performed far worse than Texas to be declared the three least cycling-friendly states.

The entire country still has areas for improvement when it comes to creating a safer environment for cyclists, regardless of where each state landed on the list, according to Kaplun.

"With over 53 million Americans riding bicycles regularly, the importance of cycling-friendly infrastructure and safety measures cannot be overstated," said Kaplun in the report. "This isn't just about rankings – it's about enhancing the quality of life, promoting sustainable transportation, and most crucially, saving lives."

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