■ Mayor Johnson, West Side’s proud ARLENE JONES, PAGE 5
FREE Vol. 37 No. 15
April 12, 2023 ■ Also serving Garfield Park ■ austinweeklynews.com
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29th Ward runoff race remains close 6 days after election Taliaferro leads, mail-in ballots could swing race in Johnson’s favor By IGOR STUDENKOV Staff Reporter
The 29th Ward run-off race remains too close to call as of April 10, this issue’s print deadline – though incumbent Ald. Chris Taliaferro’s small lead continued to grow and, with most mail-in ballots accounted for, the race could well be decided by the time this issue hits the stands. Taliaferro faced off against community activist C.B. Johnson in a runoff after mail-in ballots and write-in votes lowered his vote share in the Feb. 28 election below the 50% plus one minimum required for outright victory. On Election Night, Taliaferro was 186 votes ahead Johnson with 5,008 votes, or 50.95% of the vote, to the challenger’s 4,822 votes, or 49.05% of the vote. The most recent totals, which include mailin votes received by April 11 and votes from the 6th Precinct that weren’t originally counted See 29TH WARD on page 8
FRANCIA GARCIA HERNANDEZ
Village Leaders Joint Block Club organizers at the Block Club Convention held April 1, 2023.
Block by block unification strategy Community leader works to connect 5000 blocks of Quincy and Jackson By FRANCIA GARCIA HERNANDEZ Staff Reporter
“Help us put the neighbor back in hood,” read a table sign at the block club convention held at Michele Clark High School
on April 1, inviting neighbors of the 5000 blocks of Quincy Street and Jackson Boulevard to share suggestions on how they’d like to improve their blocks. Neighbors who submitted their ideas entered a drawing where they could win a $50 gift card. It was one of the efforts by the Village Leaders Joint Block Club, a block club in Austin, that wants to bring neighbors together to improve the area where they live. Community
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See BLOCK CLUB on page 2
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