Looking back on her final year in office, Kelly said she is proud to have helped pass the city's new contract with the Austin Police Association after two years of work and negotiations. While critics have raised concerns about the five-year $218 million agreement and its approach to transparency and oversight, Kelly feels it creates certainty for the city and reached a middle ground that might not have been possible with a different Council makeup.
The police contract definitely is at the top of that list. It was something that I wanted to get accomplished probably for two years since we didn't have the opportunity to pass it the first time. I’m glad that the city was able to do that under this Council because there's no telling what would have been had it gone into another year.
We are the furthest district from downtown, and we're the only district that doesn't touch downtown. The initial idea of having this here was so that people could be closer to their government and their representative.
Her other highlights for 2024 include leading on action to eliminate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances - cancer-causing chemicals known by the shorthand PFAS - from firefighting equipment; securing safety bollards at hospitals citywide following a tragic incident at St. David's Medical Center.
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