Accusations fly in W. Side race

In the combative 29th Ward aldermanic contest, each candidateblasts the other as an opportunistic carpetbagger with no stake inthe community, a puppet of political allies, and a guy not aboveusing threats to get elected.

And this is one of the quieter contests in the rough-and-tumbleworld of West Side politics.

"We've had some real rough ones where there was literallyfist-fighting, but times have come and gone," said Mary JohnsonVolpe, executive director of the Northeast Austin Organization.Each of the candidates in the April 13 runoff accuses the otherof trying to turn back the clock in the Far West Side ward, whichincludes a long, narrow strip of the Austin …