About the Author
Chad Swiatecki is a 20-year journalist who relocated to Austin from his home state of Michigan in 2008. He most enjoys covering the intersection of arts, business and local/state politics. He has written for Rolling Stone, Spin, New York Daily News, Texas Monthly, Austin American-Statesman and many other regional and national outlets.
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Most Popular Stories
- Cap Metro to shelve 46 new electric buses for a year after manufacturer bankruptcy
- Mobility Committee hears public concern regarding expansion of MoPac
- Red River music proponents see city funding as sign of support, progress
- Ethics complaint against Watson campaign still unsettled after hearing
- Austin Energy proposes gas peaker units, not larger combined cycle plant
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Stories by Chad Swiatecki
Dripping Springs neighbors object to plans for outdoor music venue
Residents of rural Hays County are pushing hard against a planned 5,000-seat outdoor music venue that will sit along a two-lane road and potentially impact water flowing into the Edwards Aquifer. Plans for the venue emerged last year from California-based…
Development • By Chad Swiatecki • Feb 27, 2023
Austin Energy shares recovery, emergency preparation plans
Leaders of Austin Energy have started to move forward in the aftermath of the winter storm earlier this month that left hundreds of thousands of Austinites in the dark for days at a time. The next steps outlined include streamlining…
Energy • By Chad Swiatecki • Feb 23, 2023
Chamber partnership looks to strengthen connection to startup community
The Austin Chamber of Commerce has extended its reach to become directly involved with launching startups in the city, bringing the business incubator Founder Institute Austin into its offices downtown. The one-year pilot program allows the institute, which has chapters…
Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Feb 21, 2023
Notley/Monitor Poll: Austinites feel disconnected from Council on city priorities
As a new City Council continues to adjust to its roles and responsibilities, new data show a large portion of Austin residents feel disconnected from the priorities and concerns of their elected leaders. Those were some of the conclusions from…
City Council • By Chad Swiatecki • Feb 17, 2023
Notley/Monitor Poll: Austinites want reinstated camping bans on the homeless enforced
Austin residents feel the city isn’t doing enough to manage the effects of homelessness throughout the area, according to a January/February poll of 429 voters commissioned by Notley and conducted by national pollster Change Research for the Austin Monitor. Homelessness has…
Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Feb 16, 2023
City stalled on land use changes intended to preserve creative spaces
Six months after a pair of unanimous City Council votes, the city has made little progress in adopting changes to the land use code intended to incentivize the creation of music venues and other creative spaces at risk for displacement…
Land Development Code • By Chad Swiatecki • Feb 14, 2023
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Council votes clear path for April rollout of Live Music Fund
The city will begin taking applications for the Live Music Fund in April, after City Council approved two resolutions Thursday clearing the way for the awarding of grants to musicians and event promoters. The two items approved on consent were…
Music & Entertainment • By Chad Swiatecki • Feb 13, 2023
Task force sees COTA disability work as starting point for other venues, businesses
Praising the dozens of improvements made at Circuit of the Americas over the past year to address disability issues, members of a task force organized by the racetrack and concert venue want other Austin venues to use their work as…
Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Feb 8, 2023
Ice storm communication sparks emergency performance review of city manager
The breakdown in the city’s communication to residents and employees during last week’s disastrous ice storm appears to be the main motivation behind City Council’s push to evaluate the performance of City Manager Spencer Cronk. Mayor Kirk Watson added the…
City Council • By Chad Swiatecki • Feb 7, 2023
Ice storm damage to get Council attention at Tuesday work session
Tuesday’s City Council work session looks like it will be heavily focused on discussion about the impact of last week’s ice storm, which disrupted power to more than 250,000 people at some point during the three-day freeze. The city and…
City Council • By Chad Swiatecki • Feb 6, 2023
Exodus: Census shows musicians leaving Austin over affordability
Austin’s political and business leaders now have clear data to back up years of anecdotal evidence that local musicians are being driven out of the city due to the high cost of living and the general affordability crisis. The cost…
Music & Entertainment • By Chad Swiatecki • Feb 3, 2023
New cultural arts awards bring opportunities, disappointment for applicants
Staff in the city’s Cultural Arts Division prepared themselves to hear some frustration in response to the selection of the first recipients of a radically structured system for awarding arts contracts. During last week’s Arts Commission meeting, staffers reviewed the steps…
