'RADIATION RANGER' JOINS CONTEST FOR CITY COUNCIL

(from the Austin American Statesman 3/20/96)

An anti-nuclear activist whose sartorial trademarks are clean-room coveralls, a white cowboy hat and a black rubber gas mask announced Tuesday that he will seek a seat on the Austin City Council.

Shaun Stenshol, 29, said that his biggest concern is how the city generates electricity, particularly its ownership in the nuclear plant near Baytown.

"I'm running for City Council because it is time the City of Austin got serious about shutting down the South Texas nuclear project and working to make Austin a sustainable city," he said.

Although he calls himself a "radiation ranger" and protests the operation of a 1-megawatt nuclear reactor at the University of Texas' JJ Pickle Research Campus, Stenshol said he is interested in other city issues, too. He'd like to see the Drag (Guadalupe Street across from UT) and Congress Avenue downtown turned into car-free pedestrian malls, for example, and he's opposed to Austin's recent ban on public camping.

Stenshol, who said he came to Austin five years ago from his hometown of Kansas City, Kansas, does not have a regular job. Rather; he said, he is a full-time activist with a General Educational Development degree who does the occasional odd job to make ends meet.

If elected, he said, he will continue to wear his "radiation ranger" get-up to draw attention to the city's energy policies.

Stenshol announced for the seat currently held by City Council Member Brigid Shea, who is not seeking re-election.

Other candidates for that place include Eric Blumberg, a former radio talk-show host; lawyer Waller T. Burns II; Beverly Griffith, a businesswoman and parks advocate; Brian Kline, a middle-school teacher; Gus Pena, an East Austin advocate; and Rick Wheeler, a retired Air Force wing commander.

The City Council elections will be held May 4, 1996.