Ann Kitchen

Ann Kitchen is the District 5 City Councilmember for Austin, Texas.

Ann Kitchen was elected to the Texas State House of Representatives, District 48, in the election of 2000.^[1] She was defeated for reelection in 2002 by Republican Todd Baxter.

Prior to her election to the State Legislature, Kitchen was an attorney,^[2] and later managed the health care regulatory group of Price Waterhouse Coopers. She also served as a policy adviser to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. She began her career in the Texas Attorney General's consumer protection division.^[3]

In the legislature, she is best remembered for her contributions to House Bill 1156, which expanded women's access to health care, and Senate Bill 11, the Medical Records Privacy Act.^[4]

After leaving the legislature, Ann Kitchen was Executive Director of the Indigent Care Collaboration (ICC) a regional collaboration of public and private hospitals, clinics, MHMR, public health departments, university medical departments, and medical society responsible for providing care for uninsured individuals.^[5]

Kitchen is married to Mark Yznaga, a lobbyist with the City of Austin.

Ann Kitchen is currently Vice Chair of the City of Austin Charter Revision Committee and is City Councilmember for District 5.^[6] Kitchen was elected to Austin City Council District 5 on November 4, 2014. She garnered 54% of the vote in a field of seven candidates and avoided a runoff election. ^[7]

In 2015, Kitchen proposed regulations on ridesharing companies such as Uber and Lyft. These regulations were presented as necessary for public safety, such as a requirement for fingerprinting rideshare drivers. Opponents claimed that the regulations included a gross receipts tax, rules on fares, and other regulations that threatened to drive those companies out of Austin.

On May 9, Kitchen's proposed regulations went into effect after a ballot proposition altering them was defeated by a special election, causing Uber and Lyft to leave Austin.

2016 Recall Effort

In January 2016, a recall petition against Kitchen was circulated and submitted to the City Clerk in February 2016 by the Austin4All PAC. Austin4All was criticized by city leaders^[8] and many Austinites for its purported lack of transparency and multiple ethics complaints were filed against the PAC, claiming Austin4All violated state election law by knowingly accepting political contributions and making political expenditure over $500 without filing a campaign treasurer appointment. Groups supporting Councilwoman Kitchen were formed as well in order to oppose Austin4All's petition.

In February 2016, Austin4All submitted 5,289 signatures to the city clerk's office. City Clerk Jannette Goodall rejected the recall petition shortly after, citing the group's failure to sign petition sheets in the presence of a notary.^[9]

References