José “Chito” Vela is the Austin City Council Member for District 4. He was first elected in a special election that took place on Jan 25, 2022. He was sworn into office on Feb 7, 2022. He was elected to a second term in November 2024 and his current term runs through January 2029.

He is from Laredo, Texas, where he has deep roots. He first moved to Austin in 1992 after graduating from high school. He attended The University of Texas, getting a bachelor's in history, a master’s in public affairs and a law degree. He is a Texas Longhorn through and through!

Chito was elected on a pro-housing platform and his focus has been on making Austin a more affordable city. He has passed important changes to Austin's land development code designed to reduce the cost of housing. He has also been very active around transportation issues, championing Project Connect, Austin's light rail plan, and working to cap as much as possible of I-35 as part of its reconstruction through central Austin. He has also championed civil rights, passing a measure to de-prioritize abortion crimes in Austin when Texas criminalized the procedure after the right to an abortion was overturned by the US Supreme Court. Dozens of cities passed legislation modeled on Austin's approach. 

Before his election to the Austin City Council, Chito was an attorney in private practice specializing in immigration and criminal defense. His previous legal work includes serving as General Counsel to a Texas State Representative and as an Assistant Attorney General in the Open Records Division of the Texas Attorney General's Office. Chito has been very active in the community. He was president of the board of Worker’s Defense Project, a Texas nonprofit that fights for low-wage immigrant workers. He was also president of the Blanton Elementary PTA, the Austin ISD school his children attended. He served as City of Austin planning commissioner for his predecessor on the Austin City Council, Greg Casar.

He has lived in the Windsor Park neighborhood for almost 20 years. He is married to Fabiola Flores and has three children. Austin has been a welcoming city and home for Chito and he works to ensure that's the same for everyone who wants to make a home here. He firmly believes Austin must be a  welcoming city for the working class, not a playground for the wealthy.