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I Ikept y ” r, . ,of; ;4.’4 I. ‘1./.1://,’ Austin’s only open-air dance floor is now open every day and night for live music and homestyle meals. Come enjoy our laid-back tropical garden atmosphere. Fine wines & beers 405 West Second Street 477-0461 ES;AN v o vo Friendly Spot Ice House Live music Friday and Saturday 1 001 S. Alamo, San Antonio m ei `up nv . at’s It c 9I1 \(-About? Parisian Charm. Omelette & Champagne Breakfast. Beautiful Crepes. Afternoon Cocktails. Gallant Waiters. Delicious Quiche. Evening Romance. Continental Steaks. Mysterious Women. Famous Pastries. Cognac & Midnight Rendezvous. In short, it’s about everything a great European style restaurant is all about. Ihe Pecan Ol s d t Cafe 31 0 East 6th St. Houston vote. . . from page 12 Wheeler threw her support to Gorczynski in the run-off; he also picked up the endorsement of Mickey Leland; and he beat Lauhoff with 57 percent of the vote. At 28, he will be the youngest member of the council. District 1: This is the seat drawn for Mexican-Americans, and State Rep. Ben Reyes walked away with it, getting over 65 percent of the vote in a three-man race November 6. The PACs backed businessman Mario Quinones, although Reyes managed to get some sizable contributions from labor unions. But most of Reyes’s money came from the chicano community. “It’s the first time ever for that kind of participation,” Reyes says. “One guy in our neighborhood gave me $5,000 and he gave Leonel $6,000. This man never gave more than $25 before. He just got fired up about the thing.” Reyes was on the front lines in the fight for single-member districts and feels that money isn’t as important as it used to be. “You needed that money in the at-large contests. That was the only way you could get elected. Now, with single-member districts, you don’t need as much money,” he believes. “If the system is right, money doesn’t matter.” Nevertheless, the three candidates did raise and spend over $50,000 to compete for the District I seat. But many political observers say the results of this election, particularly the victories of Reyes and Gorczynski, show that the impact of large chunks of money has been diminished. At his election headquarters, a victorious Gorczynski told his supporters, “From now on, the success of candidates for city council will be determined by how much community support [they have] rather than how much money they spend.” That is probably overstating the caseeven the purists know some money is needed to win elections. They just want to avoid the possibility of undue influence on officeholders from contributors. Among progressives, there is much talk of limiting the spending of PACs, which as Rice University sociologist Chandler Davidson points out, “will continue to be dominated by the wealthy conservative business community.” Davidson feels there should be other mechanisms for channeling money into campaigns, but, he suggests, “Rather than regulating PACs, progressives ought to be more concerned with developing a broad-based mechanism for obtaining campaign revenuessmall amounts from large numbers of people instead of large amounts from a small number of people.” Gabrielle Cosgriff and Janice Blue are the co-editors of Houston Breakthrough, Houston’s monthly feminist newspaper. THE TEXAS OBSERVER 27