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Claudia Chavez explains why she decided to run and what’s at stake in these elections.
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Jonathan Schober:
We are excited to be joined again by one of our local grassroots candidates, Claudia Chavez, running for city council in Cedar Park, which is just north of Austin. First question that I have for you is why did you decide to get involved and actually run for office?
Claudia Chavez:
Back in 2020, The election here in Cedar Park was so completely divisive, and the opposition really hit hard. And I think one of the things that I thought was funny, but very sad at the same time, was that even our mayor got involved and said that my husband, Dorian, who’s running for Place 1, was part of the Klan. My husband is first generation American of Mexican descent from immigrant parents who came to this country legally. And somebody had once asked me, “Why would you even consider doing this after they kept saying that your husband was a white supremacist or that he was a part of the Klan?” And I said, “It doesn’t scare me on how much they lie. I expect that.” What scared me the most was that people believed that a Hispanic male would be a part of a white supremacist group as the Klu Klux Klan.
And when they kept repeating it over and over and again, people started to believe it. So I’m standing here to go ahead and fight against that and to counter that and to say, it’s actually tell everybody that they have to search a matter out. So I’m really, really happy about being a part of this, getting our voice out there, getting the message out there of the conservative movement, and that conservativism is for everybody.
Jonathan Schober:
We get hit a lot about divisiveness, and you can go be whatever you want to do. You just don’t force me to do it. And don’t force me to say that it’s okay. Don’t force me to say that it’s right. Don’t force me to say that it’s normally, do whatever you want. But don’t force me. And tell us a little bit about the divisiveness that you’ve seen both in this race and then when your husband was on council.
Claudia Chavez:
Well, they liked to go ahead and say that when we’re speaking the truth about a situation, they call truth divisiveness. Truth is now the enemy. You cannot go ahead and you cannot speak the truth without somebody telling you that you’re being divisive. When did we become so weak and feeble that telling the truth became such a controversy? So here in Cedar Park, I’m planning on, if I win God-willing, that I’m going to focus on the taxes and lowering the tax rate because that’s gotten out of control. I’m going to focus on roads. However, if there are things that need to be addressed such as the pornography in the schools, on the dais, I will state that I’m against that. And I’m going to bring that to the attention of the families, because there’s a lot of families out here that don’t even know what’s going on when they send their kids to school.
And I believe that the reason why the mayor and the six out of the seven council members on there don’t want to speak about it, because those six members of the council fought to get those Leander school board candidates on. So, it was okay to campaign for these people and they were in their lane. But now that those people that they put there and endorsed and campaigned for are putting this pornography in the school, now all of a sudden we all have to stay in our own lanes and we can’t go ahead and address it, because that’s not what city council does, but you sure as heck work hard to get those people on the [crosstalk 00:04:53].
Jonathan Schober:
That’s right. You endorsed those two candidates, you worked for them, you campaigned them, but now, “Oh, no. That’s a school district thing.” And just for those people, at the risk of full disclosure, search on Google, Leander School District pornography. And let me warn you, it’s pornographic, what is in the schools. There is no other way to put it. It is hardcore porn that is in the selected reading at Leander ISD. And whether you are a city council member or an ISD member, this is important. And you’re hearing from, when you block walk, you’re hearing from folks about these issues, is that correct?
Claudia Chavez:
Yes. Of course, they asked me about the property taxes first because the property taxes out here are so high. People are nervous by the time they retire, that when you get into your golden years and you’re retiring, you’re hoping not to continue to make house payments on an already paid house that are all your taxes. It was five of the members that are sitting there right now, all voted, including my opponent, voted for the highest tax increase for the property taxes. Even during COVID, we had a surplus coming in. So why are the property taxes so high? Why is the rate so high? It could have been way lower. And I’m telling people that, BS works.
Jonathan Schober:
Let me ask, I’m going to assume you don’t have a background in politics. Where did this come from? And again, I think a lot of us are becoming more aware of what’s going on and the importance of these city council and these school board districts. Give us a little insight on who Claudia is and what you were doing before you decided to jump in here. Because I think that there may be some other people that are having these thoughts and they feel unqualified. I’ve never done it. Speak to that for just a moment, from your perspective in your experience.
Claudia Chavez:
Well, I’m just a simple mom who home school’s her youngest child. As far as what qualifies the qualifier to run, all you have to do is live in Cedar Park. You do not need to be an attorney. You do not have to be a doctor. You don’t have to have five or 10 degrees in order to participate in the city and be a part of a community that you pay your taxes in. And that’s what put a fire in me to run. I’m so tired of people saying, “Oh, well, no, you have to be a part of a board.” No, when you sign the application to run, you just have to be a resident of Cedar Park. You just need to be a resident in your city. This is their way of intimidating you from participating in a process because they want control over it.
Our mayor is the president of a lobbyist firm for commercial builders. He is fighting tooth and nail not to have myself and Dorian and Colin Klein win because then his money train ends with us. And that’s not what he wants. He wants a whole bunch of yes men to support him and no more. Because the people of Cedar Park are suffering for it. He has not once denounced the bullying in this city. He has not once denounced the doxing, the intimidation.
True conservatives who are getting harassed, their employers are being harassed to fire them. The people that follow him and support this mayor and my opponent made a Facebook page called the Racist of Cedar park in Leander, and anybody that speaks against the mayor or anybody who the mayor loves and supports gets put on this Facebook page. And then the citizens of Cedar Park in Leander get harassed by this mob, and they attack their employers to encourage them to fire them. So that’s why I don’t like bullies. I cannot stand bullies. And I will not sit [inaudible 00:09:26] by and allow that to happen.
Jonathan Schober:
I think that’s a great analogy. This is bullying. And one of the things I hear in your passion, and I would just speak to those other men and women that are thinking about it is, you’re being bullied. If you are a conservative, you are being bullied. And the best way, in fact, the only way to defeat a bully is to stand up to them and to fight them. And by that, what I mean is get out there, you don’t need any qualifications, you don’t need a law degree or a lobbyist, in fact, that’s part of the problem. You need to be willing to get out there and work. Knock on doors, talk to your neighbors, go to those churches, go to those places and get people that are already involved, already engaged, get the people to understand what you’re passionate about. And that’s all it takes, is a desire to do good, a willingness to stand up and fight against the bullies. And they are there. And the willingness to work really hard.
Well, let me change topics for just another topic, because I think it’s important, it’s happening technically in Austin. But I think that this is something that’s coming to a city near you, and that is this homelessness, that is this, they call it camping, right? What’s going on with camping, and how is that affecting Cedar Park and other smaller communities around big cities potentially?
Claudia Chavez:
Well, here in Cedar Park, the homeless issue is encroaching into our city, and the way that some of the members on council, they’re stating that, of course, they want this homeless shelter, this homeless hotel called the Candlewood, which is being purchased by Austin, which is just right across the street from Cedar Park residents. And behind the Candlewood, there are residents out there, there’s neighborhoods out there directly behind the Candlewood where children grow. Parents are coming out, picking up the feces early in the morning, bagging up the needles to make sure that their kids can play safely in that area.
Jonathan Schober:
You kind of blew past that. I want people to hear that right now in Cedar Park, people are having to pick up human feces. Did I hear you correct?
Claudia Chavez:
Yes. Well, it’s just right out, the Candlewood is just right across the street from Cedar Park.
Jonathan Schober:
Yeah.
Claudia Chavez:
So yes, the neighborhood that’s right behind the Candlewood is having to pick up feces and needles so their children can play in their backyards or in the area because it’s right there. But there’s members on the council that knew that the Candlewood was happening, that were working with Jimmy Flannigan and the mayor of Austin to allow that to happen. Well, I hate to tell you this, but you are beholden to the citizens of Cedar Park and the businesses in Cedar Park, you are not beholden to the Austin government. And it’s okay to disagree and still be friendly with Austin government. So that’s where I stand on that. And holy cow, if God’s willing it, and if it’s my place to be on city council, this is all coming to an end. And it is all coming out into the open. There is no more hiding this. There is no more getting along just to play on, uh-uh, no more.
Jonathan Schober:
Yeah. I think the days of, and let’s let you know, these things are nonpartisan, but every one of these are partisan. And it’s not just we have people want to get to the same place in different ways to get there, we have people that are trying to get to very different places. And I so appreciate your passion that you’re here. We watch the news and we hear about everything that’s going on in Washington and that’s crazy. But there is real work that needs to be done in local city councils, in local school boards, and men and women like you, and like Dorian need to be engaged.
Well, before we take a break, I do want to ask, and especially for those of us that are in the Cedar Park area, how can we contact you? How can we support you? What’s your website?
Claudia Chavez:
So that would be http://www.claudiaforcitycouncil.com/
Jonathan Schober:
Excellent. Well, we’re going to take a quick break, but when we come back, I want to ask you what keeps you up at night.
Jonathan Schober:
Well, we are back with Claudia Chavez. She is a homeschooling mom that is running for city council in Cedar Park. And what I want to ask you now is, Claudia, what is it that keeps you up at night?
Claudia Chavez:
The spirit of fear that has overcome this nation and my city and the state of Texas. We were commanded not to fear. It says that over 365 times in the Bible, “Do not hold a spirit of fear.” And the spirit of fear which stops people from taking a stand, a bold stand, and fear of losing your Facebook page, and fear of losing your job. Well, we were commanded not to fear. So that’s what keeps me up at night, is this fear that has overcome our nation in our take to… afraid to take a stand because they don’t want confrontation. Well, we were supposed to be bold. We’re supposed to be able to stand boldly and stand for our children. And if we lose our nation because of the spirit of fear, God helps us.
Jonathan Schober:
God help us. Well said. I could not agree more. Well, thank you so much for being on The Elephant Heard. Thank you so much for getting involved. Thank you so much for your encouragement to others and for teaching us to act boldly and to not have a spirit of fear. Be blessed.
Claudia Chavez:
Thank you. Be blessed. Thank you. God bless.
The post Get Out The Vote: Claudia Chavez Cedar Park City Council Candidate appeared first on Republican Party of Texas.