Remember that election a couple weeks back with that whole smoking ban brouhaha? Don’t forget there’s still unfinished bidness with a run-off election for Place 3 on the City Council. Early voting begins tomorrow and runs until June 7th, with the actual vote occurring on Saturday, June 11th. As usual, voting info can be found here.

As for the candidates, it’s down to a choice between Margot Clarke and Jennifer Kim. Clarke represents a continuation of the Austin environmental / neighborhood coalition, while Kim is a small business owner who emphasizes economic development and affordable housing issues. Despite their disparate backgrounds, the two candidates generally speak the same language of environmental protection, quality of life, and downtown development. It’s easy to agree about these issues in principle, but where do the candidates fall when the choices are clouded by difficult trade-offs? Softball questions in candidate forums don’t typically get to this level of inquiry.