Francoise Luca

Fan of small business, curious things, interesting people, successful brands, evolving technology, economic trends, environmental issues, and breakthrough ideas

[Francoise Luca @eluca]

@Mateo_in_ATX Do you think the weather has anything to do with these standings?

[Francoise Luca @eluca]

@JackCraver @BeckReit the cost of building (permits and politics) in Austin continues to rise making it harder to produce ‘affordable apartments’. Yet it’s more financially attractive to build in the surrounding bedroom communities. Lower rents and newer housing stock make the suburbs the best value.

[Francoise Luca @eluca]

@BeckReit @JackCraver Aren’t the ‘affordable apartments’ within a redevelopment, just lower rent units, subsidized by the rest of the apartments in the complex? (So the total income yields remain favorable to the developer.)

[Francoise Luca @eluca]

@jeffcrawford375 @johnnyk20001 I think the PARD rules for naming public facilities is the the “honored” person must be deceased. (We’ll see if he is remembered 70 years from now.)

[Francoise Luca @eluca]

@mo0onmouse @KUT And the city’s budget is in the red by almost $14million.

[Francoise Luca @eluca]

@AleshireLaw Maybe add how many prosecutors and staff have left during his regime.

[Francoise Luca @eluca]

@johnnyk20001 Why is the City in the real estate business? Instead maybe focus on clean water, dependable electricity, fixing the potholes, and providing public safety - you know the basics.

[Francoise Luca @eluca]

@WalkableAustin Replacing this $500k home with 4 more $500k on this lot doesn't improve affordability. It does reduce the tree canopy and increases the load on our water/electric utilities, and makes more money for the developers.

[Francoise Luca @eluca]

@chrisharris101 What’s a “alternative crisis responder” ? (social worker, life-coach, nanny, or hall monitor?)

[Francoise Luca @eluca]

@Dazzbourgh They had to create a new tax district and a quasi-governmental corporation, and zoning to enable this development.

[Francoise Luca @eluca]

@KVUE Taxes! And the Project Connect subsidies charged to property owners.

[Francoise Luca @eluca]

@KVUE The DSA (Democratic Socialists of America) won this seat. Call them by their real name.

[Francoise Luca @eluca]

@ByingtonK @Grits4Breakfast @JosePGarza @innocencetexas DSA = Democratic Socialists of America. It’s their ‘progressive’ platform.

[Francoise Luca @eluca]

@CodeNOatx There are 3 political parties in Austin:
DSA= Democratic Socialists of America,
Democrats, and Republicans. DSA’s have hijacked the Democrat brand. Let’s call them what they really are.

[Francoise Luca @eluca]

@johnnyk20001 Living within your means is not a concept the City Council understands. (It’s tough being an adult.)

[Francoise Luca @eluca]

@JSM_ATX @CMZoQadri @austintexasgov It is shameful how bad “the drag” looks these days. This area show be one of the ‘cool’ spots in Austin for visitors and students. Council needs to clean it up!

[Francoise Luca @eluca]

@bradswail Bait and switch boondoggle.

[Francoise Luca @eluca]

@Grits4Breakfast @Cleo_Petricek Not exactly. It was city legal staff that negotiated a contract with APD for about a year before taking it to council. It was city council who threw away all that time and work on a mutually acceptable contract to further their political agendas.

[Daniel Lubetzky @DanielLubetzky]

The District Attorney race in Travis County/Greater Austin is among the most important this cycle. Everyone able should vote by March 5th. Watch this video and read the following to understand why – and share with others.

I don’t like to get directly involved in politics, and prefer to stick to building social enterprises that bring people together (i.e., @KINDSnacks, Builders, @eatsomos, @EmpaticoOrg ), but the stakes are so high for Austin that I feel the need to share some facts:

Austin is facing a rampant rise in crime. All the data demonstrates it. And all of Jose Garza’s policies point to it.

Some specific examples:

• Garza let Santos Celso-Flores, who was awaiting trial for participating in the gang rape of 13-year-old girl, out on a $40 bond. While out on bond, Celso-Flores molested two more young girls.

• Hilario Adrian’s bond was lowered to just $1 after Garza failed to bring his aggravated assault case to a grand jury in time. Shortly after his release, he brutally attacked an innocent bystander in downtown Austin, stabbing him to death.

• Richard Williams brutally raped his ex-girlfriend at knifepoint for two hours while strangling and beating her. Garza cut a deferred adjudication plea deal with Williams, meaning he was released after just 90 days in prison without anything on his record.

• Garza released Dedreuain Reese, who had been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for pistol-whipping a woman, on a personal recognizance bond. Just weeks after he was released on bond, Reese committed a murder at the same house where he pistol whipped the woman.

Friends have been telling me about the rise in crime in Austin. A family who lived downtown had their home burglarized. Another was held up. A friend who leads the Public Safety Commission shared the above examples. I assumed these were isolated cases and initially dismissed the issue. Eventually I did dozens of hours of research.

The data is staggering: https://t.co/y4Cfgp8O2m

• 127% increase in the murder rate since Garza took over!
• Car jackings more than doubled!
• Convictions are down 61%!
• Zero Jury Trials by Garza since he took over as DA!

How is Garza responsible for this? Some examples:

• When he took office, Garza abolished the DA division that sorted out cases. As a result, today there are over seven thousand unindicted felony crimes!  Not 7. Not 70. Not 700. Seven THOUSAND pending cases that the DA’s office has failed to process.

• In 2021, Garza released a bail reform plan that explicitly included releasing people on bail for just $1. Since then, Travis County has been plagued by crimes committed by people out on bonds.

• Over 75 (out of a professional staff of around 95) experienced prosecutors have left the DA's Office since Garza took over in 2021. He has hired inexperienced and untested lawyers to handle the most serious and complicated cases in Travis County.

• Here is testimony from a Mother whose children were sexually assaulted: https://t.co/kMYtDMztXD

These are not theoretical issues. And the people they affect are the most vulnerable members of our society.

• Lynn Isaak survived a brutal attack while running in Travis Heights.  She solved her own case through Nextdoor, trusted the DA's Office with the prosecution, and was then shocked when her attacker got probation with no jail time and no electronic monitoring. https://t.co/4fmB5ZK9xR

• Lashonda Lemons was beaten so badly by her partner that she lost her baby. The DA's Office got the case and lowered the charge from aggravated assault to a lesser offense and gave him deferred adjudication - a punishment that allows the offender to walk away without a conviction. This was all done over Lemons' objection.

There is hope on the horizon: Jeremy Sylestine is a lifelong Democrat running in the Democratic Primary for Travis District Attorney. He is Native American member of the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas. He went to UT, served as a Public Defender, and then for 15 years as a highly respected member of the DA’s office in Travis County. Meet Jeremy: https://t.co/TBXmrVbzj1

He is among the highest integrity people you can meet. He is sacrificing a very good job and risking a lot for the sake of Austin and Travis County.

Jeremy is compassionate, but he understands the duty to protect the most vulnerable members of our community from violent criminals. It’s quite a contrast: https://t.co/rHkeWthWmf

It took me months to understand why, in contrast, Jose Garza would allow a violent criminal who drugged and raped a 13 year old girl to get off without anything on his record. Why would he plea down everything to misdemeanor, including when a violent felon beat his pregnant girlfriend so brutally that she lost her baby?

Even the most kindhearted also want justice and public safety.

But Garza has a radical ideology that ANY prosecution ever is evil. When he was a public defender, that position was acceptable. But as DA in charge of enforcing the law, he is subverting his duties and violating his oath.

Under Garza’s simplistic ideology, everyone is a victim or an oppressor based on their background and position in society rather than based on their actions and behavior.
For Garza, the criminals that commit violent crimes are the victims so even if they committed rape or murder they cannot be at fault. It’s the system’s fault.
For Garza, the DA’s office he presides over is the oppressor and so he is slowly dismantling it (not just reform it, but dismantling it, which is why he disbanded the division that processes cases, resulting in over seven thousand unindicted criminal felonies thus far).
It’s so extreme it’s illogical. But that is what radical extremism does.

In terms of financial backing, virtually all support for Jeremy comes from people that live in Travis County. Garza came into power with $1 million from out of state money. The people that put Garza in power do not need to live with the consequences of his actions.

Jeremy’s supporters are locals whose families and loved ones live in Travis County. Our only agenda is to protect the community. For us teachers, entrepreneurs and parents it’s uncomfortable to get drawn into politically divisive issues. But the stakes are so high that everyone is stepping in.

It’s very unusual for other elected politicians to stand up against an incumbent from their party.  The amount of Democratic leaders that I’ve met and have told me how much they dislike Garza but can’t speak up is stunning.
And even then, you have icons of the Democratic establishment speaking up:

• David Butts and Alfred Stanley are among the most highly respected Austinites and life-long liberals helping Jeremy’s campaign.

• Former Austin City Councilwoman Ora Houston, former Travis County Commissioner Karen Huber, as well as the Austin Bar Association Preference Poll, the South Asian Bar Association of Austin, and the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas have all endorsed Jeremy.

• Even former State Senator Gonzalo Barrientos & Travis County Commissioner Margaret Gomez, fellow Hispanics, are so shocked by Jose Garza’s actions and so impressed with Jeremy’s integrity that they have endorsed Jeremy Sylestine.

Extremism seems to be taking over our country.  But the proper response to rigidity and dehumanization from one side is not denial of facts and “us vs them” dehumanization from the opposite extreme.

Personally, I identify as independent because I find political parties hyperpartisan. I support moderate candidates on both sides.

It’s high time for builders to transcend these labels and all join together.

It doesn’t matter if you are Democrat or Independent or Republican.

You are a human being. You are a citizen. When it comes to public safety, it’s not about politics.Your children should be able to walk downtown without fear for their safety. Your spouse should be able to go for a run in the park without fear of being assaulted or raped. It’s about enforcing the law to protect victims while showing compassion wherever justice guides us to. It’s about all of us being together to BUILD a better community for all. 

Everyone in Travis County should go out and vote for Jeremy - not just to keep our community safe - but to break the shackles of extremism from either side and show that the people in Austin are ONE and refuse to play divisive games from extremist ideological politicians from either side.

Regardless of political affiliation, anyone in #TravisCounty / Greater #AustinTx can go into a voting location, request a #DemocraticPrimary Ballot, and vote for #JeremySylestine in the most consequential election to the community.

Where and How to Vote: https://t.co/qAn0qAIpua

Vote for @Jeremy4DA during Early Voting today through March 1 or on Election Day March 5.

[Francoise Luca @eluca]

@JeffBarbour10 @Jennifer4Austin Is Mike running for city council D7?