The city of Austin continues to disfavor minority- and women-owned businesses in its contracting, a 750-page study finds. Jon Wainwright, a senior vice president with NERA Economic Consulting, which authored the study, spoke to City Council’s Economic Opportunity Committee on Monday. “We examined a total of over $4 billion across more than 3,500 prime contracts […]
Audrey McGlinchy, KUT
Posted inCity Hall
New city commission takes on economic prosperity
With a new year comes a new city commission. The Economic Prosperity Commission met for the first time Wednesday, although the meeting was mostly administrative. The commission, whose creation was initiated by the previous City Council, will advise the full Council on construction and job creation in the city. In other words, growth. “Right now […]
Posted inHousing
Oracle: when a tech company expands in Austin
Demolition, it seems, follows Robin Wilkins. Wilkins, 54, moved into the Lakeview Apartments on South Lakeshore Boulevard after another apartment building she was living in was slated to be torn down. She stayed for five years, paying no more than $720 a month for a two-bedroom apartment. Nonetheless, throughout that stay she knew the fate […]
Posted inAustin
Seniors lead East Austin trike revival
As James Maxwell tells it, the first journey nearly broke him. “I almost gave up bike riding,” he said. “These are something else.” Maxwell, 68, stares down a line of five glossy, red tricycles. While at the moment they’re idling in the rear parking lot of East Austin’s Conley-Guerrero Senior Activity Center, later in the […]
Posted inAustin, City Council
Austin to return Australian opal to its hometown
From our City Hall reporting partners at KUT, an update on the Australian opal story we covered in this week’s Reporter’s Notebook: [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/225095031″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]
Posted inParks
Naming Parks: The struggle continues
A park’s namesake must be dead. Members of the Land, Facilities and Programs Committee discussed this and other new stipulations as part of a first look Wednesday at a naming ordinance for Austin parks and recreation buildings. After more than an hour of debate, though, proposed rules were sent back to Parks and Recreation Department […]
Posted inAustin
Plans for expanded Convention Center laid out for Council committee
As design consultants laid out the plans for an expanded Austin Convention Center to members of the Economic Opportunity Committee on Monday, they emphasized the inability of the current center to accommodate a growing city with a growing roster of visitors. “The No. 1 reason we lose business now is because we’re not available or that […]
Posted inAustin, City Council
Council permits additional entertainment at Springdale Farm
As more than one City Council member noted, the conclusion to a 5-acre farm’s appeal for more outdoor entertainment allowances had been a long time in the making. And on Thursday it ended in favor of the farm owners. With a vote of 10-1 (with Council Member Ora Houston opposing), Council members granted an appeal […]
Posted inParks
Parks Department dives into future of Austin pools
Next week signals the close of many Austin municipal and neighborhood pools. Diving boards active throughout the summer months will be hushed as the kids who once tumbled from them head back to school. During these final days, volunteers with the city’s Parks and Recreation Department will be conducting informal surveys of pool users, asking […]
Posted inCity Council
Committee forwards short-term rental changes to Council
Testimony stretched for more than four hours. Members of the City Council Planning and Neighborhoods Committee dug into the first public hearing Monday on more than a dozen recommendations made by Council Member Sheri Gallo about how the city should amend its short-term rental regulations. At the end of a marathon meeting that closed early […]
Posted inAustin
How to change a street name in Austin? It’s tricky.
The statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis will stay put on the University of Texas at Austin campus, for now. While a request for a temporary restraining order is holding up the statue relocation, the original decision to move it came after the school convened a panel of professors, alumni and current students. The process of […]
Posted inThe Code
Council committee will consider “parallel” changes to short-term rental ordinance
City staff has been whittling down an assortment of 123 suggested changes to the city’s ordinance on short-term rentals. The result, sent in a memo on Thursday to Mayor Steve Adler and City Council members, is a list of 13 recommendations, including a penalty for those operating with an expired short-term license and a requirement […]