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Ryan Alter

From EverybodyWiki Bios & Wiki


Ryan Alter
Member of the Austin City Council
from the 5th district
Assumed office
January 6, 2023
Preceded byAnn Kitchen
Personal details
BornAustin, Texas, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Children2
Alma materUniversity of Texas at Austin (BS)
Harvard University (JD)

Ryan Alter is a member of the Austin City Council, serving District 5. He is affiliated with the Democratic Party.

Early life and education[edit]

Ryan Alter was born at St. David's South Austin Medical Center.[1] He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in engineering and afterward earned a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School.[2]

Political career[edit]

Prior to his election to city council, Alter was a staffer in the Texas Legislature, including for Senators Kirk Watson, Sylvia Garcia, and Chuy Hinojosa.[1]

Austin City Council[edit]

Alter is a reliable liberal vote on the Dias. In addition to being the Vice Chair of the Housing & Planning Committee, he serves on the Audit & Finance Committee, Austin Energy Utility Oversight Committee, Austin Water Oversight Committee, and the Public Health Committee.[citation needed]

Housing and Transportation[edit]

Alter is considered an urbanist. He voted for the HOME Initiative, legalizing three units on all single-family lots in Austin. He also voted to eliminate minimum parking requirements,[3] occupancy requirements,[4] and limiting height restrictions, known as compatibility.[5] In March 2023, he voted for a resolution allowing more homes to be built on smaller lots.[6]

He has expressed opposition to the ongoing I-35 expansion project.[7]

Public Safety[edit]

In January 2024, Alter opposed the rehiring of former police chief Art Acevedo by City Manager Jesus Garza.[citation needed]

In September 2023, he voted for a resolution from Jose "Chito" Vela to require the Austin Police Department to make its data publicly accessible on the city's data portal.[8]

In 2023, during a debate on a vote to reauthorize and fund the Austin Police Department's use of license plate readers, Alter authored an amendment to lower the length of data retention from the police-requested 30-days down to a seven-day window. As amended, the item ultimately passed on a vote of 9–1.[9] He voted against an amendment to raise the retention period to 15 days, which failed on a 5–5 vote.[citation needed]

Election history[edit]

Alter was elected to the Austin City Council in 2022, winning the December 13th runoff election with 59.6% of the vote.[10]

2022 Austin District 5 runoff election
Candidate Votes %
Ryan Alter 7,931 59.6
Stephanie Bazan 5,369 40.4
Voter turnout 100%
2022 Austin District 5 general election
Candidate Votes %
Stephanie Bazan 9,600 29.3
Ryan Alter 7,933 24.2
Ken Craig 6,274 19.2
Bill Welch 4,861 14.8
Aaron Velazquez Webman 3,295 10.1
Brian Anderson 796 2.4
Voter turnout %

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 "About Council Member Ryan Alter". AustinTexas.gov. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  2. "District 5 Council Member | AustinTexas.gov". www.austintexas.gov. Retrieved 2024-03-29.
  3. Fechter, Joshua (2023-11-02). "To fight climate change and housing shortage, Austin becomes largest U.S. city to drop parking-spot requirements". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  4. Thompson, Ben (2023-06-02). "Council moves to strike residential occupancy limits in Austin". Community Impact. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  5. Clifton, Jo (2023-06-09). "Council takes a step toward ending compatibility standards". Austin Monitor. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  6. Clifton, Jo (2023-03-15). "Council approves rule to allow more use of small lots". Austin Monitor. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  7. Brolley, Tara (2023-08-03). "Austin City Council members express concerns regarding I-35 expansion". KEYE. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  8. "Austin City Council approves police data expansion". KXAN Austin. 2023-09-12. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  9. Thompson, Ben (2023-06-08). "Council clears return of license plate readers for Austin police on 1-year trial". Community Impact. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  10. "Ryan Alter". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2024-03-19.


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