Austin Monitor

Austin City Council Member Mike Martinez is making an effort to prevent a strike by Capital Metro drivers this week. The leadership of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1091 announced on Friday their drivers would walk off the job on Wednesday after having worked for the past several months without a contract. However, Martinez, who […]

As Austinites flock to the polls to vote not only on who will be the nation’s next President, but also on the Stop Domain Subsidies charter amendment, the city has quietly paid Simon Property Group, the owner of The Domain, more than $970,000 in tax rebates.   The first payment comes less than a week […]

Downtown neighborhood advocate and attorney Chris Riley said Wednesday that he plans to run for a seat on the City Council next spring. However, Riley, who resigned his seat on the Planning Commission in order to be actively involved in the downtown neighborhood plan, said he no longer plans to run for the Place 5 […]

The Planning Commission is recommending a zoning change from MF-4 to MF-6-CO for a SMART housing development on Lamar Square Boulevard. The recommendation comes with a list of conditions requested by the Zilker Neighborhood Association, which includes a stipulation that the zoning not be used to set a precedent for other high-density residential zoning in […]

The final campaign-finance reports heading into the Nov. 4 election show the Keep Austin’s Word PAC with a substantial fund-raising edge over the Stop Domain Subsidies group supporting Proposition 2. However, both groups are reliant upon a handful of contributors to make up the bulk of their accounts.   For Stop Domain Subsidies, that contributor […]

Council Member Lee Leffingwell said Thursday he wants some answers from the Solid Waste Services Department, both on the subject of the Materials Recycling Facility that was stopped in the middle of the design process and on the question of curbside recycling of plastic bags.   Leffingwell was reacting in part to story in Thursday’s […]

A state district judge on Wednesday declined to issue a temporary restraining order to prevent the Austin City Council from acting on an inter-local agreement with the Westlake Fire Department during today’s Council meeting. However, the Austin Firefighters Association will be allowed to make its case against that agreement next month when Judge John Dietz […]

The Austin Firefighters Association plans to file a lawsuit this morning in an attempt to block the City of Austin from renewing an agreement with the Westlake Fire Department. AFD officials say the agreement with Emergency Services District 9 is necessary to provide fire protection to neighborhoods around Westlake and to newly annexed areas where […]

Supporters and opponents of Proposition 2 on the Austin ballot stepped up their campaigns on Monday as early voting got underway in Travis County. Members of Stop Domain Subsidies used literature produced by Simon Property Group opposing city subsidies for a competing developer in El Paso to bolster their argument against retail subsidies in general, […]

Some proposed changes to the city’s regulations relating to prosecution of homeowners who fail to maintain historic houses sparked a small battle Thursday between two Council Members who have expressed an interest in running for Mayor in 2009.   Council Member Lee Leffingwell has championed the idea of preventing what is called “demolition by neglect” […]

City manager Marc Ott, acknowledging flaws in the system for providing Council Members and the public background information for items on the Council agenda, said he would be recommending changes in the process that might delay some decisions.   Specifically, Ott wrote in a memo to Council, “there will likely be an impact for some […]

The Travis County Republican Party — joining a most unlikely coalition — has voted to endorse Proposition 2 on the Nov. 4 ballot. Prop. 2 is a City Charter Amendment that would severely limit the City Council’s ability to enter into tax abatement agreements with retail stores and undo an agreement signed years ago.   […]