By Lisa Dreher and Elizabeth Pagano Though it has already been sued by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Austin City Council can now pursue its own case against Texas’ “sanctuary cities” law. On Thursday, Council voted to allow the city to sue the state over Senate Bill 4, and go to court even if Paxton’s […]
Austin Monitor
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Not our jam
Bit of turbulence during that pilot program… An attempt by the city’s Parks and Recreation Department to make “data driven decisions” went slightly off the rails at Tuesday’s City Council work session, where Council members learned that a “parks pass” pilot program may be having unintended consequences. The pass, which is a voluntary program implemented […]
Posted inPremium Types
TickTock: Austin City Council meeting 5.11.2017
TickTock is the sortable transcript of @austinmonitor Tweets from the most recent Austin City Council meeting. ITEMS 3 8 9 22 25 TickTock for Friday, May 12, 2017 Participants: austinmonitor 37 Thursday, May 11, 2017 9AM Commission on Immigrant Affairs responds to SB 4 — via @JosephCaterine https://t.co/1XbBfPLuwr May 11, 2017 09:00 AM Council Member […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Return of the hat
Return of the Commission Commission?… Once upon a time, there was a Boards and Commissions Transition Task Force that put together a long report on how the city might best manage its boards and commissions in light of the switch to single-member districts and came up with about 44 pages of recommendations. Now some members […]
Posted inPremium Types
TickTock: Austin City Council meeting 5.4.2017
TickTock is the sortable transcript of @austinmonitor Tweets from the most recent Austin City Council meeting. ITEMS 2 8 12 17 18 56 57 58 63 TickTock for Friday, May 5, 2017 Participants: austinmonitor 72 MateoClarke 1 DanKeshet 1 Thursday, May 04, 2017 9AM All Access Readers! Get a head start on today’s Council meeting […]
Posted inRadio
Austin Monitor Radio: Evolve Austin’s Andy Cantu
Evolve Austin executive director Andy Cantu joins Austin Monitor publisher Mike Kanin to chat about CodeNEXT as part of our radio series that examines the differing points of view that surround the rewrite of the City of Austin’s Land Development Code. Audio is embedded below. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/321478650″ 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 inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: CodeISSUES
CodeNUDE… CodeNEXT might not represent as radical a change as some may hope (or fear). For instance, the draft of the new code that City Council is now examining made absolutely no changes to how the city will define “adult-specified anatomical areas.” For instance, a business is still considered an adult-oriented business and therefore subject […]
Posted inCity Council
Reporter’s Notebook: It’s the little things
Honorifics Olympics… Mayor Steve Adler appears to be having a tough time deciding how to refer to Council Member Alison Alter on the dais. The mayor tends to address his Council colleagues as “Mr.” or “Ms.” during meetings, but on at least one occasion during the most recent Council meeting he began to say “Ms. […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: But what came next will surprise you
I, Stuart Harry Hersh… A few months ago, long-time housing advocate and former city staffer Stuart Harry Hersh bought a house. While undoubtedly a big moment for Hersh personally, it’s also been a transition at City Hall where for years, Hersh has been introducing himself by saying, “I’m Stuart Harry Hersh and, like most in […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Honoring Mary Gay Maxwell
Remembering Mary Gay… A year after her death, the Environmental Commission remembered its former chair, and longtime Austin conservationist, Mary Gay Maxwell. The commission unanimously passed a resolution to rename the Slaughter Creek Management Unit on Wednesday night. The land’s new name will be the Mary Gay Maxwell Management Unit. The unit is composed of […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Which came first?
Rock ‘n’ roll is here to stay… Don’t expect the early evening musical performances at City Council meetings to go away anytime soon. Asked recently about a city staff recommendation to remove the quickie concerts from the agenda of Council’s notoriously lengthy meetings, Mayor Steve Adler said that he hasn’t heard from any Council members […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Gondolas! Open Letters!
High time… Perhaps in accordance with the leisurely speed at which its subject is known for, a long-awaited report on aerial gondolas is taking its sweet time in being made public. The high-flying transit alternative captured headlines last September when the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority Board of Directors opted to bankroll the study of […]