Stories by Emma Freer
City announces police pay package ahead of police labor contract expiration
The city of Austin announced a plan to preserve police pay and benefits and to address long-standing staffing shortages when the current police labor contract expires at the end of this month with no likely successor in place. “We are…
Police • By Emma Freer • Mar 3, 2023
Ordinance would extend officer benefits if police labor contract expires
City Council will consider an ordinance Thursday that would preserve the current police labor contract’s provisions for officer pay and benefits, even if the contract expires without a successor in place, after the Austin Police Association said it wouldn’t negotiate…
Police • By Emma Freer • Feb 21, 2023
Notley/Monitor Poll: Austinites want more police officers, more accountability
More than two years after Austin City Council endeavored to “reimagine” public safety, a slight majority of residents believe there are too few police officers while a strong majority believe there is too little accountability in police-involved shootings and in…
Public Safety • By Emma Freer • Feb 13, 2023
Council delays vote on one-year police contract extension, citing confusion
After nearly a year of negotiations, with just seven weeks to go until the current police labor contract expires, with city staff and the police union working to finalize a tentative four-year agreement and in the run-up to a local…
Police • By Emma Freer • Feb 10, 2023
CM Vela proposes one-year police labor contract extension
As the city of Austin and the Austin Police Association continue to negotiate a new, four-year labor contract, several Council members have endorsed a short-term extension of the current agreement that would allow voters a chance to weigh in. District…
Police • By Emma Freer • Feb 6, 2023
Winter storm prompts widespread power outages, with no estimate of restoration
Another historic winter storm left more than 147,000 Austin Energy customers without power and more than 100 work crews struggling to repair downed power lines, with no estimate of when the outages would be resolved. “We had hoped to make…
Energy • By Emma Freer • Feb 3, 2023
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Public Safety Commission calls out APD’s resistance to training academy reform
The city’s Public Safety Commission criticized the Austin Police Department for stonewalling a committee formed by City Council in 2021 to review the police training academy curriculum as part of a broader push to “reimagine” public safety. “Just to summarize,…
Police • By Emma Freer • Jan 26, 2023
Pflugerville FD board rejects tax rate petition
The Pflugerville Fire Department Board of Commissioners unanimously rejected an initiative petition that sought to reduce the department’s local tax revenue. “Based upon the advice of (legal) counsel and having duly considered the petition presented, we understand it is not…
Public Safety • By Emma Freer • Jan 24, 2023
City, police union move toward removing OPO from labor contract
With less than three months until the current police labor contract expires, the city of Austin and the Austin Police Association recently returned to the bargaining table and moved closer toward consensus regarding civilian oversight of the Austin Police Department. …
Police • By Emma Freer • Jan 23, 2023
Pflugerville FD, city residents raise alarm about tax rate petition
Officials from the Pflugerville Fire Department and city residents fired back against an initiative petition they say would slash the department’s budget and force layoffs if approved by voters. “Without that revenue, we would not be able to maintain and…
Fire • By Emma Freer • Jan 12, 2023
Travillion: Charting the path to job opportunity for county residents
After nearly three years of Covid-19 pandemic response, plus unprecedented challenges like Winter Storm Uri and rapidly rising housing costs across the Austin metro, Travis County Precinct 1 Commissioner Jeff Travillion said his high point of 2022 was workforce development. Travillion,…
Travis County • By Emma Freer • Jan 5, 2023
Andy Brown intends to double down on overdose prevention efforts in 2023
Coming off a landslide reelection victory in the November election, Travis County Judge Andy Brown is proud of how the Commissioners Court responded to challenges in 2022, from staffing shortages and new state laws threatening civil rights to housing affordability…
