Where the Money Goes

Former Mayor Lee Leffingwell says he is “accepting compensation” for his role as chair of the campaign to pass Proposition 1 on May 7. He’s hardly the only one: The transportation network companies are lavishing major bucks on local and national consultants to help pass regs favorable to their ride-hailing business.

After the Chronicle spoke to Leffingwell earlier this week about his new role as chairman of the pro-Proposition 1 campaign, it was reported elsewhere that his is not a voluntary position – he’s being paid by Ridesharing Works for Austin, the political action committee leading the campaign in favor of Proposition 1, underwritten by ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft, for which they’ve officially spent in excess of $2 million.

Asked subsequently about the arrangement, Leffingwell told the Chronicle that when RWA reached out to him about chairing the campaign, the request represented a considerable commitment of time and effort. “I was already in favor of the 2014 ordinance, which the proposition mostly reiterates, and I was comfortable supporting it. They offered compensation, and – as a private citizen now – I decided to accept it.”

During last year’s mayoral campaign, Leffingwell was adamant in his denunciation of “outside money” being spent in a municipal campaign, saying it was an important reason for his endorsement of Steve Adler. “We don’t need Super PACs from South Carolina,” Leffingwell said at the time, “telling Austinites how to vote.” (The reference was to the South Forward PAC, recruited by an Austin union to oppose Adler.) Asked about the influence of Uber and Lyft money in the current campaign, Leffingwell reiterated his argument that RWA is “following the legal petition process, as defined by state law.”