Not just any old consumer advocate will do. City Council members made clear Thursday night that they were far from convinced that Oxford Advisors LLC, a firm proposed by Austin Energy to serve as an advocate for Austin ratepayers, was qualified to represent the best interests of average Austinites during the upcoming cost of service study. […]
Jack Craver
Posted inWhispers
Ethics commission supportive, but skeptical of dark money resolution
Commissioners on the Ethics Review Commission are enthusiastic about a proposal from Mayor Steve Adler that aims to force groups involved in local elections to disclose their spending and donors. After only a few minutes of discussion at a meeting last week, the commission voted quickly to recommend the resolution, which directs city staff to […]
Posted inBudget
Does Austin spend enough on parks?
The Parks and Recreation Department is growing. And, though the department’s funding is much larger now than in past years, department leaders say Austin isn’t spending nearly enough on parks to keep the city competitive with other parks systems across the country. At $75 million, the 2016 General Fund budget approved for the department by […]
Posted inCity Hall
Ethics Commission recommends controversial lobbying ordinance
To the delight of city ethics reformers and over the strong objections of developers and real estate professionals, the Ethics Review Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to recommend to City Council a resolution aimed at overhauling city lobbying rules. The recommended language was the result of months of back-and-forth among Council Member Leslie Pool, the measure’s […]
Posted inZoning
Developers and neighbors come together on Austin Oaks charrette
Negotiations between neighbors and developers over the proposed Austin Oaks Planned Unit Development are going swimmingly, according to what representatives involved in the process told the Zoning and Platting Commission on Tuesday. After agreeing in September to engage with neighbors through a charrette, an intensive planning process in which area stakeholders seek to find consensus […]
Posted inCity Hall
Ethics Commission reprimands Historic Landmark commissioner
Two weeks after sanctioning City Council Member Don Zimmerman for campaign finance violations, the Ethics Review Commission reprimanded Arif Panju, after finding that he had violated city conflict of interest rules by participating in a discussion over a proposed historic preservation district that would include his own home. The reprimand followed nearly three hours of […]
Posted inZoning
How much can a city zone?
You don’t need a badge and a gun to have police powers. Just ask the members of the Zoning and Platting Commission, who on Tuesday listened as Assistant City Attorney David Sorola gave a presentation outlining the extent of the volunteers’ authority. “The courts have said that zoning is a valid use of the police […]
Posted inDevelopment
Mobile home development stokes hope and fear
The Zoning and Platting Commission narrowly approved a recommendation Tuesday for an 855-home expansion of the Oak Ranch mobile home park on the east side after three hours of contentious testimony from neighbors on both sides of the issue. The commission voted to recommend rezoning the property from small lot single-family (SF-4A) and medium density […]
Posted inLocal Government
Commission tells city to cut ties with state on coyote control
The Animal Advisory Commission approved a number of recommendations last Monday aimed at getting the city to set up its own wildlife management service. Since 2012 the city and county have contracted with Texas Wildlife Services, which has assigned a full-time wildlife biologist to reduce conflicts between humans and coyotes. The decision appears to have […]
Posted inAustin, City Council
Ethics Commission reprimands Zimmerman
The Ethics Review Commission voted unanimously to sanction City Council Member Don Zimmerman for two violations of city campaign finance code Tuesday night. They also voted unanimously to issue a written reprimand to Zimmerman, though they did not recommend prosecuting the matter further. A reprimand is the second-most severe written sanction given by the commission. […]
Posted inCity Council
Council urges restraint in reporting immigrants to ICE
City Council is putting pressure on the Travis County Sheriff’s Office to stop reporting undocumented immigrants who are processed at the county jail to immigration authorities. While the body voted Thursday to approve a one-year, $6.58 million interlocal agreement with the county that will allow those detained by city police to continue being processed and […]
Posted inDevelopment
Connectivity concerns complicate Cooper Lane rezoning
A zoning change requested for 30 new condominium units on Cooper Lane prompted some hard questions for city staff at a Tuesday meeting of the Zoning and Platting Commission. The panel voted overwhelmingly to change the zoning for the parcels at 7513 and 7603 Cooper Lane from Development Review (DR) and Single Family-2 to Single […]