Council unanimously gave first-reading approval last week to new planned unit development zoning for the small property known as the Taco PUD just across the street from Lady Bird Lake at Riverside Drive. Although the Taco Cabana has not operated at that location for several years, the name has stuck to the property at 211 […]
Jo Clifton
Jo Clifton is the Politics Editor for the Austin Monitor.
Posted inWhispers
Thrower also pledges no haircuts
Last week, the Austin Monitor noted that Planning Commissioner Greg Anderson had pledged not to cut his hair until Council approves a new Land Development Code. On Monday, we learned that Ron Thrower of Thrower Design has likewise pledged not to cut his hair until there is a new code. Thrower said via email: “To […]
Posted inCity Hall
Urban Renewal Board extended for just nine months
City Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison expressed serious reservations about the need to continue Austin’s Urban Renewal Agency and its board during Wednesday’s Council work session and again at Thursday’s Council meeting. In the end, she convinced her colleagues to extend the life of the Urban Renewal Board for just nine months, instead of the 12 […]
Posted inWhispers
Anderson goes on ‘haircut strike’
Greg Anderson, a member of the city’s Planning Commission and director of community affairs at Habitat for Humanity, feels so strongly about the need for a new Land Development Code that he has vowed not to cut his hair until Council approves the new ordinance. It’s already been a few months, he said, but Anderson’s […]
Posted inPlanning
Asian American center plan could include Rutherford Lane campus
At today’s meeting, City Council will likely direct City Manager Spencer Cronk and his staff to come up with a proposal to incorporate the expansion of the Asian American Resource Center into a master plan for the center as well as the adjacent Rutherford Lane campus. The proposal comes from Council Member Jimmy Flannigan, who […]
Posted inCity Council
City facing challenges in changing sidewalks
When Stephanie Hayden, director of Austin Public Health, sent out a memo last Friday explaining improvements the city was making to the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless, she underlined one sentence: “Please note the sidewalk construction is scheduled to begin Monday, September 16 and is estimated to last two weeks.” Although the announcement just […]
Posted inWhispers
Two Council meetings Wednesday
Council has two meetings scheduled at 1 p.m. Wednesday. According to a post by Mayor Steve Adler on the City Council Message Board, Council will begin with its work session, with a briefing on the new Land Development Code and a special called meeting with four items related to homelessness. It isn’t clear which agenda […]
Posted inCity Council
Advocates cheer abortion aid funding; Zimmerman sues city
As city leaders and advocates for reproductive choice gathered for a press conference Thursday morning, most of the conversation focused on how Austin became the first city in the country to allocate funding for logistical support, such as transportation and child care, for abortion. On Tuesday, Council voted to add $150,000 to the upcoming budget […]
Posted inBudget
$7.7 million added to housing trust fund
Council agreed during Tuesday’s budget meeting to more than double the funds in the city’s housing trust fund, by adding $5 million for rental housing development assistance and $2.7 million for a new home repair program. The trust fund now totals $14.4 million. The home repair program has yet to be designed, but Rosie Truelove, […]
Posted inBudget
Cronk promises employee pay raises next year
Austin city employees were expecting a 2.5 percent pay raise for Fiscal Year 2020 from the time staff’s proposed budget was revealed. But many of them, after reading about the 3.5 percent tax cap imposed by the state Legislature, were concerned that this year’s raise might be the last one. During Tuesday’s budget adoption process, […]
Posted inCity Hall
Auditors report on community policing efforts
The Austin Police Department has made considerable progress in implementing recommendations from the 2016 Matrix Consulting Group study on community policing, according to an audit update from the city auditor’s office recently provided to the mayor and City Council. The report states that APD has implemented 40 out of 60 recommendations from the Matrix report. […]
Posted inWhispers
Eiserloh announcing for Travis County attorney
After nine years as an assistant county attorney, Laurie Eiserloh will announce today that she is running for county attorney in the March Democratic primary. Eiserloh, who has served for nine years in the county attorney’s office and leads the labor and employment team, was an assistant city attorney for eight years before moving over […]