It may have a name only a wonk could love, but Travis County’s brand-new PID policy could have sweeping implications for a large swath of residents whose every thought isn’t consumed with local governance. On Tuesday, the Commissioners Court approved a policy framework that will guide the county as it creates Public Improvement Districts, or […]
Caleb Pritchard
Posted inLocal Government, Monitor News & Media, Radio, Travis County
Austin Monitor Radio: The Palm School
Austin Monitor freelancer Caleb Pritchard joins Travis County Pct. 3 Commissioner Gerald Daugherty to talk about options for the Palm School and the property it sits on. Austin Monitor Radio is made possible by Austin Water. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/244590997″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]
Posted inAustin
Group calls for shake-up at CTRMA
An unlikely coalition of activist groups is calling on the Travis County Commissioners Court to shake up the board of directors at the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority. On Wednesday afternoon, attorney Fred Lewis led the group’s debut press conference in downtown Austin urging the court to turn down CTRMA Board Member Charles Heimsath’s application […]
Posted inWhispers
Eckhardt, Gómez make immigration PSAs
Two top Travis County officials are encouraging tens of thousands of residents to take advantage of President Barack Obama’s executive actions on immigration policy. County Judge Sarah Eckhardt and Commissioner Margaret Gómez each star in separate public service announcement videos that were released on Monday, both gently imploring residents to start figuring out if they […]
Posted inTravis County
County reboots civil courthouse project
Less than three months after voters rejected a nine-figure bond to build a new civil courthouse, the Travis County Commissioners Court voted on Tuesday to effectively reboot the process that had been more than 15 years in the making. The 4-0 vote, with Commissioner Ron Davis off the dais, approved a modification to the county’s […]
Posted inTransit
Cap Metro board greenlights central corridor study
Project Connect is returning to Central Austin. The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority board of directors unanimously approved on Monday a contract with the engineering firm AECOM to guide a new study of transportation in the urban core dubbed the Central Corridor Comprehensive Transit Analysis, or CCCTA. The eight-member board voted 7-0 on the measure, after […]
Posted inPremium Types
TipSheet: Travis County, 1.26.16
The Travis County Commissioners Court meets at 9 a.m. Tuesday. In the interest of space, we’ve decided not to post the entire agenda here. The County Clerk’s office hosts a copy at its website. 3. Consider and take appropriate action on the following documents regarding the Public Assistance Declaration for the 2015 Halloween Floods: a. […]
Posted inWhispers
Nortey releases affordability plan
James Nortey, candidate for Precinct 1 Travis County commissioner, released on Thursday an exhaustive plan addressing affordability in the region. The plan lays out 18 separate proposals listed under four categories: expanding affordable housing, preserving existing affordable housing, increasing economic opportunity and working for fair tax policy. The proposals range from deploying tax increment financing […]
Posted inWhispers
More campaign finance filings fall in
It’s been nearly a week since last Friday’s campaign finance filing deadline, and the reports are still slowly trickling onto the Travis County Elections Division’s website. As of Wednesday night, the forms submitted by all three Democrats running for district attorney were finally available. Despite a series of rocky headlines about a tumultuous divorce that […]
Posted inWhispers
Candidate for sheriff publishes pot policy paper
A candidate for the Democratic nomination for Travis County sheriff issued a policy paper late Wednesday afternoon that called for relaxed enforcement of marijuana possession laws. In the paper, Constable Sally Hernandez cites data provided by the American Civil Liberties Union that shows racial disparities in the arrest rates among African-Americans and whites. Adding to […]
Posted inWhispers
County still cleaning up after October floods
Travis County Commissioners Court heard its first briefing of 2016 on the ongoing cleanup effort in the wake of severe weather in 2015. Transportation and Natural Resources staff members told the court that they’re still receiving requests from landowners to come remove debris scattered after the Oct. 30 floods. However, they said that the volume […]
Posted inWhispers
PID petition pushed forward despite no PID policy
Even though Travis County still has no policy framework for governing the creation and maintenance of public improvement districts, or PIDs, the Commissioners Court this week pushed forward the first project seeking that special designation. The court voted 3-0 on Tuesday to advance the petition on behalf of the Wildhorse Ranch development in northeast Austin. […]