Katie Kam, the declared District 9 challenger to incumbent Council Member Zohaib “Zo” Qadri, published a constituent note Tuesday flagging four items on the Austin City Council’s May 21, 2026 regular agenda and her position on each. Kam, a civil engineer and founder of the Austin cultured-meat startup BioBQ, is not a sitting council member; her note is constituent advocacy ahead of public testimony at City Hall.
The four items span energy policy, the long-running convention center expansion fight, a 2,614-acre annexation and development agreement near the Colorado River, and the next procedural vote on the Project Connect light rail program. The full council agenda and backup materials are published by the city at austintexas.gov/council/2026/20260521-reg.
Kam said the proposal to install gas-powered peaker generation is “a disappointing surprise” given the city’s climate commitments, citing opposition from sustainable-energy advocates. She said she plans to continue researching the proposal ahead of speaking against it.
The bond would be backed by hotel occupancy tax (HOT) revenue. Kam argued that revenue should instead fund local creative industries and a “world class cultural venue,” which she said would draw two-to-three times the tourists and foot traffic of an expanded convention center. Approval, she said, would tie up the majority of HOT revenue for 30 years. Kam was a volunteer petition gatherer in the 2025 effort to force a public vote on the expansion, reporting more than 4,000 signatures collected.
The land, located near the Colorado River, US Highway 183 and State Highway 130, would be developed under a structure Kam compared to Mueller, with a tax-increment zone funding infrastructure and a minimum 20% affordable-housing requirement. She said she will oppose roadway plan options that route a major arterial through the South Walnut Creek Park and Trail system, and will ask council to raise the affordable-housing minimum to at least 40%, characterizing Mueller’s 20% as “too low.”
Kam described herself as “very pro-transit” but said the light rail alignment moving forward is problematic on cost, ridership equity and at-grade crossings, noting that Project Connect’s own materials acknowledge the route does not best serve riders most dependent on transit. She suggested council should evaluate alternatives including on-demand transit with smaller vehicles, monorail, and aerial gondolas of the type deployed in several Latin American cities.
Sign-up to speak in person at the May 21 meeting closes at 9:15 a.m. at the kiosks at Austin City Hall. Residents can also contact all eleven council members in writing through the city’s all-council email form; the city asks that residents include the relevant agenda item number(s) in the subject line.
Kam filed her candidacy with the Austin City Clerk on March 9, 2026. The District 9 seat, which covers downtown and central Austin, is on the November 3, 2026 general-election ballot. Other declared candidates in the race include incumbent Zohaib “Zo” Qadri, Rich Heyman and Thadani; the AustinMayor.com District 9 index tracks the field.