Austin Monitor

Last week, a group of Austin environmental leaders sent out an email criticizing Place 3 challenger Randi Shade for remarks she made about the passage of the SOS Ordinance and subsequent legislative action. The Jennifer Kim campaign reiterated those remarks in a press release and the Shade campaign has accused Kim’s campaign of “willfully misrepresenting” […]

Plans by the Solid Waste Services Department to replace more than 50 trash cans along Congress Avenue ran into a road block at the Historic Landmark Commission Monday night. While the Department is proposing to replace the aging cans with a newer, more efficient design, most Commissioners found the appearance of the new cans to […]

With just under two weeks to go before Election Day, a City Council campaign that has been flying below the radar of the average Austin voter will begin making its presence known to the masses in the form of television ads designed to drive voters to the polls, if not to distraction, as well.   […]

City Council Place 3 challenger Randi Shade is criticizing incumbent Jennifer Kim for expenditures she has made during her time in office and promising to post her own expenses and office calendar on the Internet if she is elected.   “If I’m elected, my commitment is to post all of my office expenses and my […]

The City Council will take another step today to help a social service organization dealing with increased costs and a cutback in funding from United Way.   Council Member Lee Leffingwell is leading the effort to waive $10,251 in development fees associated with the expansion of the Meals on Wheels and More facility at 3225 […]

The City of Austin is facing a budget shortfall in 2008-09 of anywhere between $20.6 million and $36.8 million if the Council plans to continue to provide city services at their current level. That assessment, delivered Wednesday by the city’s Budget Office, is based on a continued growth in city revenues but an even greater […]

A new audit shows that Time Warner Cable failed to accurately track which of its customers lived inside the city limits of Austin, which resulted in a shortfall in the company’s payment of fees to the city as part of its franchise agreement. While the company charged some customers in the ETJ a fee that […]

Travis County Commissioners will decide today what type of message, if any, they want to send to state lawmakers in Austin Wednesday during a meeting of the Senate Committee on Transportation and Homeland Security. Commissioners are concerned with the state’s road funding plans and could signal their interest in a bill allowing an election on […]

Angry operagoers, many of whom missed some or all of “Carmen” in the Long Center on Sunday afternoon due to parking problems, deluged Austin Lyric Opera General Director Kevin Patterson with emails Monday and he forwarded them on to the City Council.   For Council Member Brewster McCracken it was a sure sign that the […]

Place 1 challenger Jason Meeker and incumbent Lee Leffingwell punctuated an otherwise low key Austin City Council Candidate Forum Thursday night with accusations of improper fundraising. The counter-charges came during a forum sponsored by the Ethics Review Commission and moderated by the League of Women voters, held in the City Council Chambers.   The candidates […]

As he prepares for the first work session with the Council on the city’s budget, City Manager Marc Ott says police, firefighters and EMS unions should take note of the current economic climate.   “I want everyone to know and I want all the public safety departments to know that we are in a posture […]

Engineers say the most dangerous time for creeks, caves and other critical environmental features is when there is construction nearby, increasing the possibility of erosion and sedimentation from poor or nonexistent pollution control barriers.   With that in mind, staffers in the Watershed Protection and Development Review department are in the first phase of drafting […]