Mayor Adler
Steve Adler is Austin’s 52nd Mayor, having won re-election in 2018 by 40 points in a field of 8 candidates. His top priorities include mobility, affordability and equity for all Austinites. Adler is a Trustee of the United States Conference of Mayors, Chair of the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) policy board, and Vice President of the National Council of Democratic Mayors.
While he’s been in office the City of Austin passed the largest mobility and affordable housing bonds in its history. The city raised its minimum city wage to $15/hr, passed city-wide sick leave and second chance hiring protections. Still working on the homelessness challenge, the city has become one of a limited number of cities to achieve effective net zero veteran homelessness. The city has become a world leader on climate change action.
Mayor Adler has received broad recognition for innovative leadership. Foreign Policy named him a Global reThinker and Living Cities included Mayor Adler on its list of 25 Disruptive Leaders (along with Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and author Ta-Nehisi Coates) to mark that organization’s 25th anniversary. The Austin Chronicle readership has named Mayor Adler as Best City Official each year since 2016. Chronicle critics named Adler Best Drag Mother for his turn as Mother Ginger in Ballet Austin’s The Nutcracker and Most Devoted Pen Pal for his viral Wonder Woman letter. Austin Monthly named Mayor Adler “Best Politician” for “fearlessly speaking up for Austinites [and] proving that a little snark goes a long way to support the morale of a community.”
Learn more about Mayor Steve Adler.
Mayor’s Staff
Lesley Varghese
Chief of Staff/Attorney
Municipal Court, City Attorney, Human Resources, Asian American Community Liaison
512-978-2217
Lesley.Varghese@austintexas.gov
Barbara Shack
Scheduler/Executive Assistant to the Mayor
Scheduling and appearance requests, All Media Requests, Building Services, LGBTQ Community Liaison
512-978-2122
Barbara.Shack@austintexas.gov
John-Michael V. Cortez
Special Assistant to the Mayor
Advises on Land Development Code Rewrite & Affordable Housing, Intergovernmental Relations, Workforce Development, and Mobility: (Mobility Bond Implementation, Regional Planning, Austin Transportation Department, Aviation, Fleet, Public Works, Corridor Program Implementation Office, Capital Contracting, Project Systems Intelligence), Hispanic Community Liaison
512-978-2130
John-Michael.Cortez@austintexas.gov
Sly Majid
Chief Services Officer
Advises on Veterans’ Issues, Innovation Office, Communications and Technology Management, Sustainability Office, Downtown Austin Community Court, Telecommunications & Regulatory Affairs, Communications and Technology Management, US Conference of Mayors
512-978-2137
Sly.Majid@austintexas.gov
Kazique Prince
Senior Policy Advisor
Education Coordinator, Equity Issues, Institutional Racism Task Force, Community Schools Liaison, My Brother’s Keeper Liaison, Public Information Requests African American Community Liaison
512-978-2125
Kazique.Prince@austintexas.gov
Janine Clark
Director of Community Engagement
Community Engagement, Public Relations Requests, Mayor’s Corporate Engagement Council, Internships, Boards & Commissions, Constituent Relations
512-978-2216
Janine.Clark@austintexas.gov
Ashley Fisher
Senior Policy Advisor
Manages Council Meetings and Council Affairs, Advises on Housing Planning and Zoning, Development Services, Land Development Code Rewrite, Austin Energy, Austin Water, Health & Environment and Culture & Lifelong Learning (Austin Resource Recovery, Animal Services, Austin Public Library), City Clerk’s Office, Safety (Austin Code), Government that Works for All (Human Resources, Child Care & pre-K)
512-978-2333
Ashley.Fisher@austintexas.gov
Michael McGill
Senior Policy Advisor
Advises on Homelessness, Health & Environment and Culture & Lifelong Learning (Parks and Recreation, Austin Public Health), Safety (Police, Fire, EMS), Economic Opportunity & Affordability (Economic Development, Small & Minority Business Resources, Real Estate Services, Austin Convention Center), Audit, Finance & Budget, Music & Creative Arts
512-978-2155
Michael.McGill@austintexas.gov