In an attempt to bridge political divides and push for progress in public safety and housing, Council Member Mackenzie Kelly is playing the mediator in Austin's City Hall. Despite her conservative leanings, Kelly is looking for common ground, especially when it comes to housing and public safety initiatives in 2024. As documented by the Austin Monitor, her approach includes courting a blend of kindness and strategic collaboration with her colleagues of varying political stances.
Kelly's office displays a photograph above a light switch, a constant reminder of her narrow election margin, symbolizing her duty to represent all constituents—both the 52 percent who voted for her and the 48 percent who did not. Kelly told the Austin Monitor, “I’ve always had this philosophy of killing people with kindness. I thought that if I’m kind and if I consider opinions and if I talk to people that I might not personally if I’m not in an elected position, then I might not get outside of my comfort zone. That interaction would make me grow as a person and represent the community better.”
While Kelly voted against the HOME initiative—a package aimed at increasing housing density—she criticized it as a "blanket rezoning" of residential properties citywide. However, she expressed support for the concept of smaller, more controlled pilot programs to test the waters. Moving forward, Kelly's team is pushing for an audit to evaluate the potential of converting commercial buildings into residential spaces, in hopes of reducing the renting and home-buying burdens for Austinites in the pricey real estate market.
Public safety continues to be a pinnacle of Kelly's agenda. She's gunning for the chair position of the city's Public Safety Committee and underscores the importance of a pay increase ordinance to boost the morale and support within the police department. “We have struggled as a city to come back to a place where our police department feels fully supported and the morale is at a place where we can recruit, retain, and I guess hire untrained officers," Kelly expressed her disappointment to the Austin Monitor.
To intertwine her public safety and housing objectives, Kelly is exploring options to offer housing, potentially dormitory-style, for police cadet enrollees. The high cost of living is a significant barrier, particularly for those relocating without assurance of success in the workforce. "Our cadets can’t afford to live in the city. How can we as a City Council expect to recruit outside of Austin if we have nowhere for these people to live?” she questioned during her conversation with the Austin Monitor.
