Austin Monitor

Voter turnout for Saturday’s election was less than 8.5 percent, which means that just fewer than 36,000 people cast their ballots in the city elections. Winning candidates incumbent Lee Leffingwell and newcomer Randi Shade both received just over 22,000 votes. Leading Place 4 candidate Laura Morrison received nearly 13,000 votes.   Although that may seem […]

Early Voting Early Voting results: Leffingwell 67 percent; Shade 62 percent; Laura Morrison 37 percent; Cid Galindo 30 percent; Robin Cravey 18 percent. Runoff likely.

With Saturday’s City Council election looming, a spokesman for the Public Utility Commission has contradicted statements made by a Jennifer Kim campaign consultant about the status of robo calls from the campaign attacking opponent Randi Shade. And Kim’s consultant, Elliott McFadden, has “clarified” statements he made to reporters at a press conference on Wednesday.   […]

The argument over whether Place 3 candidate Randi Shade had made any specific promise to boost public safety spending continued Wednesday, as Council Member Jennifer Kim’s campaign consultant, Elliott McFadden, unveiled what he called more evidence to support the claims made in a robo-call from the Kim campaign.   McFadden cited a news release on […]

There is no prohibition in the Austin City Charter that would prevent one Council Member from endorsing another—as Council Member Mike Martinez has done for incumbent Lee Leffingwell—according to Austin’s City Attorney David Smith.   On Wednesday, Leffingwell’s opponent Jason Meeker, raised the question of whether Martinez’ appearance in a television spot for Leffingwell might […]

Three challengers in the race for City Council Place 4 – Robin Cravey, Cid Galindo and Laura Morrison – were on hand for Wednesday’s KXAN televised debate, although Cravey was late due to traffic. Galindo has made a strong showing in the race, telling In Fact Daily Wednesday he had raised $210,000 for his campaign […]

Austin Fire Chief J.J. Adame, the first Hispanic leader in the department’s 167-year history, is apparently on his way out. KVUE News reported that there was an emergency meeting at City Hall last night to make decisions about the leadership of the Fire Department. News 8 Austin had a similar story. A formal announcement is […]

Leaders of the unions representing Austin’s police, firefighters, and EMS workers on Monday blasted an automated phone call placed to voters by the Jennifer Kim campaign. The “robo-call” claims Randi Shade, who is challenging Kim for Place 3 on the Council, has promised to “increase funding for management positions without having seen a budget,” and […]

The Austin City Manager’s office is losing another experienced staff member. Assistant City Manager Laura Huffman has been named as the new Executive Director of the Texas Nature Conservancy.   Those who have worked closely with Huffman during her six-year tenure as an Assistant City Manager are confident the new job will be a good […]

The candidates for Place 4 on the Austin City Council clashed over affordable housing, the future of Capital Metro, light rail, and the city’s efforts to make older homes more energy-efficient during a debate sponsored on News 8 Austin. The debate, moderated by anchor News 8 Austin Crestina Chavez and reporter Reagan Hackleman, included all […]

Press release from The Nature Conservancy of Texas:   Laura J. Huffman Named Director of The Nature Conservancy of Texas Will assume new leadership role following almost two decades of public service to Texans   AUSTIN – Laura J. Huffman will lead The Nature Conservancy of Texas as the organization’s new state director. She will […]

A staff photographer for the Austin Chronicle says he will be speaking with a lawyer to find out what rights he may exercise since his copyrighted photo of Place 1 challenger Jason Meeker has been used without his permission in a TV spot put up by a business owner who is angry at the City […]