Pilot Knob, revisited… Over the weekend, City Council’s recent Pilot Knob deal got a lot more ink. As you might remember, the Austin Monitor first wrote about the deal, which will bring affordable housing to the planned unit development, at a cost of millions to Austin’s water utility. Since then, plenty of other places have […]
Austin Monitor
Posted inCity Council
Kitchen petition watch continues
At last word yesterday, the Austin Monitor was still waiting to hear that a petition to recall City Council Member Ann Kitchen had been submitted to the Office of the City Clerk for verification. But, as was the case on Monday, that doesn’t mean there wasn’t news. On Tuesday afternoon, Texans for Accountable Government put out […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Late nights and postponements
Late meeting, again… Early in its tenure, the new City Council took pains to promise the public that the era of late Council meetings was over. A year later, that promise has not come to fruition, and Thursday some Council members took a minute to air their frustration with the current state of things. During […]
Posted inElections
January campaign finance filings are here
It’s January, and that means that local elections are starting to heat up. Jan. 15 campaign finance reports are in, offering insight into spring elections and crumbs for speculation about fall elections. For candidates seeking office in Travis County this year, it’s a dead sprint between now and the March 1 primaries, and after Friday’s […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Peacocks and loose lips
Wherever you go, there you are… Though it seems that former Austin Energy General Manager Larry Weis is eager to put Austin behind him, it looks as though he may be taking a bit of his history with him to Seattle. And that may not be a good thing. Last week, the Seattle Times reported that […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: The squirrel can’t help it
Is this on?… He was upfront about recusing himself from the vote, but City Council Member Don Zimmerman didn’t sit quietly during the discussion of legal fees associated with the lawsuit he has filed against the city over campaign finance rules. In fact, it was Zimmerman who pulled the item for questions in the first […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Departures and Debriefings
That’s that, then … On Friday, the Austin Monitor learned that Richard Viktorin has resigned from his part-time position in City Council Member Ora Houston’s office following her vote on tax incentives for the Circuit of the Americas. Word of his resignation spread quickly after he sent letters to those Council members who did vote […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: In so many words
Last week, the Austin Monitor reported on a press conference held by the Travis County Taxpayers Union to announce the group’s opposition to Travis County’s $287 million Civil & Family Courts Complex bond. Due to space constraints, we included in that story only a snippet of remarks made by the bond campaign’s manager, Genevieve Van […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: This will be on the test
Political perspective… Travis County politics, though technically partisan, are generally free of the bitter squabbling that typifies ossified proceedings in more visible bodies such as the state Legislature or U.S. Congress. But occasional events sometimes serve as a reminder that commissioners are not immune to ideological categorization. A county staff member provoked one such event […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Monitored
Lost Highway… There’s something missing from the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization’s 2040 Plan, but not for long. While working on a story about the 290 East Toll, also known as the Manor Expressway, one Austin Monitor reporter was left scratching his head early Friday morning, trying to figure out why the highway isn’t listed in the […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Deals, badges and gems
Council Member Pool and the Case of the Adelaide Opal… On Friday, a member of City Council Member Leslie Pool’s staff made an announcement on the City Council Message Board: “Council Member Pool will offer a resolution to return the infamous Adelaide opal to its rightful home across the oceans.” The declaration comes in advance […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: The lighter side of budgets?
Tuesday morning quarterback… Despite Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt’s recent attempts to rein in off-topic monologues, the public communications portion of the Travis County Commissioners Court’s weekly meetings remains a source of colorful commentary. Last week, one rather notorious local communicant opted to use his three minutes before the dais to offer his take on the […]