You're invited to join your fellow progressives as we kick off Bill Spelman's campaign for Austin City Council, Place 5. Please join this grassroots campaign to help improve our quality of life here in Austin.

Bill is a professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, University of Texas. He teaches courses in applied mathematics and statistics, urban policy and management, and criminal justice, and continues his research on police operations, prison policy, and urban economic development.

Turning theory into practice has been the cornerstone of Bill’s career. He earned a Ph.D. in public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, then spent seven years with a national association of big-city police chiefs; developing nationally recognized community-policing programs. As executive director of the Texas Institute for Public Problem Solving, Spelman helped to train 14,000 police officers and community residents throughout Texas in the practice of community policing. After serving two years on the Austin Water and Wastewater Commission, he was elected and served from 1997 to 2000 as a member of the Austin City Council. While on the City Council, Spelman championed downtown development, neighborhood-based service delivery, performance measurement, and civilian oversight of police operations.

Currently the Chair of the Waller Creek Citizens Advisory Committee, Bill has been active in the community since leaving city council. He's a TCDP precinct chair and also a card-carrying member of the Texas State Employees Union. His goal is to add another progressive voice to city hall and provide more opportunities for regular citizens to get involved and make their voices heard.

Bill is married to Niyanta Spelman, and they have two sons.

For more info, please visit www.billspelman.org or contact Ian Davis at 466-6939. Thanks for your support!