Early voting began Monday and the race for one city council seat is going negative.  Incumbent Jennifer Kim is targeting her opponent Randi Shade’s commitment to the environment.

Kim declined to speak to KVUE News, but she’s attacking her opponent in cyberspace.

“We thought it was important before people go out and vote that they know about Miss Shade’s position on this,” said Elliott McFadden, a consultant for the Kim campaign.

In an e-mail letter first sent out last week and again on Monday, Kim criticizes comments Shade recently made about the Save Our Springs (SOS) ordinance.  It claims Shade is willing to negotiate or bargain instead of protecting the springs, saying “We were stunned to hear last week Austin City Council candidate Randi Shade said at a public forum that she thought the city should have compromised with developers instead of passing the SOS ordinance.”

“That couldn’t be further from the truth,” said Shade on Monday.  “I think it shows an obvious desperation on the first day of early voting.”

Shade says she supported SOS back in 1992 and today.

“I think that conversation was so taken out of context,” she said.

Shade says she wasn’t surprised to see Kim’s campaign go on the attack on the fist day of early voting.

Early voting lasts until May 6th.